3 things I’m liking

Ok,that I’m  loving.

1-The new Berroco Yarn booklets arrived! I photographed them in September, and enough time  has passed that they look fantastic and fresh and of course I love seeing how the creative team chose to use what we shot together  on the photoshoot. I am so proud of these! The online versions of the books look good but the printed booklets are gorgeous. .

And there are some pretty fabulous new patterns and yarns. I’m going to single three out next week I think !

(Um, wait.... can you single three? )

2) a Blogger mobile app that seems to work? I’m trying it out right now! It has been a challenging week schedule-wise here,  so I’m thrilled that I might have found a way to make a quick post from my phone. I’ve tried  do mobile posts in the past and found it...clunky and awful.

   3)  Adult Ed Microsoft Excel! Go ahead and laugh but I am authentically excited to finally learn alllll about how this application works and tricks to making my spreadsheets behave themselves. I love a good spreadsheet but my self-taught Excel skills were making me crazy! In just the first class earlier tonight, I already solved a problem that had been plaguing me for years.

bts: Minnesota 52

In early May, I bopped off to Minnesota for a wonderfully whimsical book project: Minnesota 52: 16 Knits Inspired by the Road.

Megan Williams & Cori Eichelberger, aka KnitCahoots, were self-publishing their first book project . They'd reached the "whoaa...this is really happening and we need a photographer stat...and whateverelsehappens on a photo shoot, too". Fortunately we share a friend and top notch tech editor, Ellen Silva, of The Twinset Podcast, who made the connection.

We had to stop and scout this location: a sheep quilt painted on the side of a barn in Zumbrota MN.

Cori & Megan's theme is their  friendship and the knit-related adventures they've  had traveling between their homes, 100 miles apart, along Minnesota Highway 52. They wanted playful, small town locations that matched up with the spirit of their story, and their colorful designs.

So there we were, cruising along Mn 52 seeking locations. That's Cori and Megan on the right,  pre-enacting the cover image we shot 24 hours later-with much smoother light, you'll notice--on the left.  Here's how it looks on the book:

 I knew they both love color--especially Cori--and I knew they had a joie de vivre ---joie de knit? that had to be communicated but without going overboard into the "gee aren't we kooky" kind of pictures that try too hard. It had to feel real.

A rare instance where the overused cupped hands mitten shot actually works! Minnesota stone FTW.

We shot in  some small towns, a park, and a farm. 

Because you can't do rural Minnesota and not have a farm. (I urge you to play that for the sound effects)

And the, on the day of the shoot, the magic started happening right away.  We told our models--all part time models and full time scientists-- the shoot would be playful. Jo showed up just after dawn in the Pine Island Cheese Co parking lot with...her unicycle! She's wearing the Snow Thank You Sweater, which is high on my Want to Knit list . Don't you love the shoulder construction and lace, with the striped sleeves? It's designed by Megan Williams.

Nancy, the lovely woman who let us invade her farm, offered us various props....including a gosling. And a rabbit. 

FYI: Minnesota girls are not afraid of gosling poop dripping down the wardrobe, and a big armful of bunny is a welcome addition. That's Jen in the Nice-capades Sweater

We had a blast. Everyone pitched in...the authors hauled scrims, Ellen the tech editor became my photo asst, the models smiled and posed and looked beautiful  in wool all day despite some spring heat, and helped on set when they weren't posing.

It was one of those days when all the pieces came together and made the shoot match the spirit of the book. It's full of colorful, clever and very wearable designs----I tell you, Minnesota knitters are a whole 'nother scene of knitter, and these two are all in. I learned about SQ's  (sweater quantities of yarn) and VKN's (Virtual Knit Nights) where groups of knitters log in online, via  google hang out , enjoying  weekly knitting nights with each person in their own home spread far and wide. The Knit Cahootsters introduced me to a whole slew of indie dyers I didn't know about, and led me to a fabulous shoe store Luya Shoes, in the most unlikely location of Zumbrota MN.  I learned that Subway makes chopped salads as well as sandwiches, Walleye Pike is still delicious when freshly cooked, and Minnesota Nice is as true as ever.

Loved working with these ladies! I'm sure we made quite a scene--a photo crew shooting models and wielding 6 foot reflectors isn't seen everyday in rural Minnesota.   Anyway..... that's getting off topic. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry. I'll be casting on at least one, as soon as I get my queue in order!

pompano tank tunic underway + the DROP DEAD EASY KNITS giveaway winner

Thank you for all of the wonderful comments on our little video for Drop Dead Easy Knits, and for the book itself.  The giveaway winner: Liza Kirschner. Come on down!
Our book launch was a blast.  We were stunned, and thrilled, to sell out of copies right away.(I mean, for that night! Plenty more to go around, online and in stores and at events).

Seeing as we were at FibreSpace surrounded by gorgeous yarn, we knew how to to fill our time. I was seized by the need to cast on a wool version of the Pompano Tank, I am thinking of it as the Pompano Tunic. I'll be wearing it as a layer over a long sleeved top, with dark jeans, styled differently than our model Katrina in her linen version of this fabulous design.  In my mind, it's what you'll see me wearing at Rhinebeck....in two and a half weeks....

I chose this yarn, Brooklyn Tweed Loft, a nice dark tweedy purple**. I have been acquiring purple yarn in unrelated yarn-acquiring incidents all of September, without realizing the vast cumulative purple-ness of it all.  I am declaring it my new neutral. Officially. 

The Pompano Tank it is a delightful knit, just as you'd expect, as it is designed by Kirsten Kapur. The last two weeks have had  little needle time for me, so I've only completed the first few repeats of the holey bottom edge.  It's fun knitting this texture, and after this, it's all stockinette with some shaping.  One piece from the bottom up. I can get some steam going- and if I have some knitting time--then there is  hope I'll have it done for the NY Sheep & Wool Festival,  
If you want to check it out or even better, come get a copy of DROP DEAD EASY KNITS  signed by me and my co-authors, and touch all the samples from the book, we will be on a teeny tiny tour.

Saturday & Sunday OCT 15 & 16th in Rhinebeck NY at the  NY Sheep & Wool 
Saturday 10-11:30 am and 4-5pm
Sunday  10am-1 pm
booksigning and trunk show in the barn where all the author events take place

Tuesday October 18th at Knit New Haven* in New Haven CT 4-6 pm (or so)
 trunk show & booksigning

Thursday October 20 at Knitty City in NYC, Upper West Side, 6-8 pm
we'll present a fun slide talk about making the book and all that is in it, along with signing books and trunk show

* it'll most likely be Mary Lou Egan and myself in New Haven. You can always snag that third signature when Kirsten comes to Knit new Haven inNovember to teach a workshop from the book. 

** Normally indecisive picking out yarn for projects, I surprised myself (and my eyball-rolling friends) by quickly nabbing this colorway, Plume. Then I cracked open the pattern and realized I'd subconsciously gone for the shade most similar to the sample in the book. D'oh! Does that happen to you, too?