Out of the Sketchbook

The Story of a New Year's Eve Party, Enacted Entirely By a Small Professional Company of Theatrical Cartoon Sheep

Out of the Sketchbook: Romance Edition

Out of the Sketchbook: Holiday Edition

Jabber Jabber Jabber

The voices in my head have started shouting again. Video transcript follows.

This Might Sting a Little

Compare and Contrast

An Animated Discussion

Halloween 2010 is but a memory–a hazy memory for some in this household. Between us and the gift-oriented holidays lies only the blip of Thanksgiving. Now dawns the sobering realization that we may already be too far behind to catch up.

I was talking about this with my therapist just last week. She suggested that I deal with my holiday angst in a constructive fashion by putting my heated inner dialogue down on paper so that I could properly analyze it. But I was out of paper, so instead I made an animated cartoon starring Albert Einstein and the Queen of England.

That will strike you as an odd coupling until I explain that whenever I experience a heated inner dialogue, that's who the voices in my head sound like. (Although sometimes instead of Einstein I hear Fanny Brice; but the animation Web site doesn't offer a Fanny Brice avatar.)

The result is that I still don't have my holiday knitting under control and I have to find a new therapist.

Anyway, here's the stupid cartoon.

A Public Service Announcement

With the holiday travel season fast approaching, a timely reminder seems well advised.

Urban Legends of Knitting No. 2

EZ Photo: T.S. Zimmermann

Franklin Goes West

I'm knitting and writing about fourteen hours a day right now, finishing up as much work as possible before I take off for what is turning out to be quite a nice little tour of the West Coast. Here are the details:

Seattle, Washington

Sept. 20, 2010: Two events at The Fiber Gallery (7000 Greenwood Avenue North). From 5 pm–6 pm: book/calendar signing. From 6 pm–9 pm, "Photographing Your Fiber." To register for the photography class, call (206) 706-4197.

Sept. 22, 2010: "Introduction to the History, Methods, and Styles of Lace Knitting" at The Weaving Works (4717 Brooklyn Avenue NE); call (206) 524-1221 for information and reservations.

Eureka, California

A whole weekend at the wonderful Northcoast Knittery (320 Second St, Ste. 1A).

Saturday, Sept. 25: "Introduction to the History, Methods and Styles of Lace Knitting" 11 am–2 pm and "Lace Edgings: Before, During and After" from 3 pm–6 pm.

Book and calendar signing to follow!

Sunday, Sept. 26: "Photographing Your Fiber" from 11 am–2 pm.

For information and to register for classes, call (707) 442-YARN (9276).

Urban Legends of Knitting, No. 1

Out of the Sketchbook

I'd like to have done a more finished version of this, but–well, read the caption and draw your own conclusions.

Out of the Sketchbook

Over the Water

I'll be popping across the pond in just two short weeks. On November 10 at 6* in the evening, I'll be at I Knit in London for an informal but lively evening of knitting, talking and reading from works old...and new.

In the Shop

The annual knitting ornament is newly available for your Christmas tree, Festivus pole, Hanukkah bush, Kwanzaa privet hedge, Solstice rubber plant, or Secular Humanist creeping charlie.

I enjoyed making it for you. I hope you will like it.



* Whoops. I mistakenly wrote 7 pm on first writing.

Love Snack

Hi, it's Dolores. And shit, am I ever excited.

Today, the fourteenth of February, is my Day of Days.



As heiress to the Love Goddess tradition embodied through the ages but such hotcha gals as Venus, Cleopatra, Delilah, Helen of Troy, Mata Hari, and Mamie Eisenhower,* it is my duty on this sacred occasion to spread the message that love is grand, love is universal, and love makes the world go 'round.

As I once said to Paul McCartney in a tender aprés-schtupp moment, "All you need is love, cupcake." Guess what happened next.**

And let me tell you, to celebrate love you don't need anybody else in the room. A lover can be nice, don't get me wrong–even if it's just the temporary kind you pick up at the market along with a bag of Cheese Doodles and a bottle of Pellegrino.

But if you're alone, see, you can still have a snack and a drink and you don't risk a fight in the afternoon because somebody forgot to wash his hands after eating the Cheese Doodles and now you've got sticky, neon orange fingerprints all over your underpants, the new satin sheets, the headboard, the kitchen table, and the privacy fence next to the Jacuzzi.

If you're having a solo Valentine's Day, why not get yourself a little something nice to nibble on and have a romantic film festival for one? Or for you and your best like-minded pals? Since this blog caters to yarn-centric types, Harry and I put together a list of romantic knitting classics:

1. The Way We Worsted
2. Cashmere to Eternity
3. Feltin' in the Rain
4. A Colorway Named Desire
5. Sheepless in Seattle
   
6. Yarnstruck
7. The Postman Always Purls Twice
8. The Last Tangle in Paris
9. The Koigu and I
10. It Happened One Knit
11. The Yarn Stores of Madison County
12. It's a Wonderful Laceweight
13. The Unbearable Lightness of Kidsilk Haze
14. When Harry Met Sally Melville
15. Gone with the Ball Winder

And if you're feeling bitter about the romance thing, there ain't no law against throwing a handful of Cheese Doodles at the screen when the kissing starts.

Now, if you're really out of the love loop and would prefer to see people struck by chainsaws rather than Cupid's dart, ponder our list of stasher movies. You might achieve catharsis.

But remember, kids, you're never truly unloved. I love you, as how could I not considering the earth-shaking extent to which you love me? Mama's got more than enough Valentine going on here for anybody who can handle it.

Just remember to wash the Cheese Doodles off your fingers if we shift into second gear.

* Seriously. I knew Mamie. Trust Me.
**Note to Paulie: Where's my effing royalty check, you cheap bastard?

Yarns in Dialogue, Episode #07246C

Out of the Sketchbook

Greetings of the Season, y'all.

Scenes from TNNA

I've been back home from TNNA for two days, and already my memories of the weekend have taken on the candy-colored hyperreality of an especially lucid, potent dream. The things I'm remembering can't be true, can they?

Did I really sign previews of my little book? Did I really sit under an umbrella and chitchat with Clara Parkes? Did Annie Modesitt and Janel Laidman really give me copies of their new books?Did I even go at all?

I would say no, except the pile of stuff still waiting to be sorted indicates otherwise.



I have no photographs, as there were advance warnings that anyone snapping a camera on the show floor would be flogged with iron rods and dragged naked through the streets of Columbus. I had to resort to making little notes and sketches, which it is my pleasure to share with you now.

I wish I could have taken you all with me, but there was only one bed in my hotel room and I snore, so you would not have got much sleep.

This is me at TNNA.



Here is me with my fun friend Carol Sulcoski and her fun friend Laura Grutzeck. They wrote Knit So Fine.



I got to meet Jess and Casey! I got to meet Mary-Heather, too, but she moved before I could finish the picture.



This is a diagram of our dinner table on Friday night. (I had a salad and Yarn Harlot put a sock in my mouth.) You can see actual photos at Anne's blog.



At the Interweave Press booth I finally got to meet Anne Merrow, who is the editor of my little book.



And I got to meet Eunny Jang who edits Interweave Knits.



Jeane Hutchins, the editor of PieceWork, showed me the advance copy of the article I wrote about my Grandma for the summer issue. I was happy I could express my appreciation in person.



On Saturday morning I signed previews of my book, it was fun!



At TNNA when you are not working you can wander around the show and collect free samples, but you have to be pretty good at sweet-talking the vendors. I wasn't very successful at first.



Here is something I noticed about three famous people I met at the show.



I had male bonding with Drew Emborsky, the Crochet Dude.



I ate miraculous Jeni's Ice Cream with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and Sandi Wiseheart. Mine was Belgian Chocolate. Sandi is even nicer in person than you would think. You should meet her.



I walked around the show for a little while with Stephanie. It took us two hours to move fifteen feet because some people recognized her and wanted to say hi.



Some of the vendors were wicked nice to me.



I kept meeting cool people and being geeky at them.



Really geeky.



There was terrific yarn everywhere! And I got some!



Abby Franquemont even gave me some yarn she spun herself. I loved watching her spin; she's so masterful the fiber and the spindle are like extensions of her hands. She has very graceful hands, like little white birds that dance together in the air.



I hated to leave but at some point you just have to go home or your head will explode. Thanks, everybody, for making the new boy feel so welcome. I can't wait until next time.

Listen to This

A couple of weeks ago I had a long, jolly chat with David Reidy (the sexiest male voice in knitting podcastery) and the interview is included the latest episode of Sticks and String. I've been listening to Sticks and String for a long time, so it was funny to tune in as usual and hear myself. The segment is so well-edited that I sound almost coherent.

David, it was great talking to you. Let's do it again, next time in Australia, preferably when it's February in Chicago.

Sometimes a Knitting Needle Is Just a Knitting Needle

I'm getting the gear ready for this weekend's shoot at Yarnover in Minnesota. (Thank you 1,000 times to The Yarnery of St. Paul for being my host; information is on their Web site.) In sorting everything I ran across the images of knitters–most of them yarn store owners or managers–that were made during the shoot at the Yarn Market News conference.

That reminded me of a sketch I drew while sitting in the back of the room during a marketing presentation. Sitting there and listening to the owners discuss their daily highs and lows gave me a new and visceral empathy for the folks in the business–particularly in the wake of so many Ravelry threads about how yarn shops that don't offer a free lunch buffet and foot massages simply aren't meeting their customers' needs.

I guess it spilled over onto my notebook. I've substituted a printed caption for my illegible pencil scrawl; otherwise this is the rough page as I left it.



Hope everybody's having a good week so far. I'm looking forward to meeting some of you this weekend.

Edited to Add: I must be distracted. I forgot to offer thanks to you for all the kind comments about the Tomten Jacket. My advice is that if it looks at all appealing, knit one. Have fun with it...play with the yarns you want to use...experiment. And don't worry if you don't have a kid to knit one for. One will show up. Or you can just make one for yourself; Brooklyntweed did a gorgeous adult variation I can't wait to dig into.

Happy First Day of Spring!

XOXO

Love,
Franklin