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Self-publishing a book, any book, is A LOT of hard work. Tanis is no stranger to the publishing world, having worked for Vogue Knitting and Interweave; quick turnarounds (during the holidays) were a snap. And her pictures were great. It's always interesting to work with designers (and tech editors) whose processes or writing styles are different from what I'm familiar with. As someone with a traditional print background, I found working with online vendors a bit challenging, but I suppose printing has to evolve to address demands. Capitol Knits in production encountered a few small glitches, but by and large, Tanis and I are satisfied with how the book finally came out.

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The pages you see here are my favorites. I like to think that my primary strength is in high-level concepts, which filter down to the smallest details on my designs. Look closely and you'll see that those star outlines are made of crochet hooks, circulars, and double-pointed needles. Look closely and you'll see that the leaf silhouettes behind the page numbers are from trees that are planted in the surrounding areas of a specific neighborhood that inspired the project. Too much detail? Too subtle? And yet, the book would not have felt complete without those things....

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Capitol Knits is available on Amazon and as single patterns through Deep South Fibers. Go here for the Ravelry project page.

March! Oh, how time flies. I've worked on quite a few projects, but sorry to say that I can't possibly blog about some of them, at least the ones with NDAs attached. But someone else has been very, very creative, so I'll blog about his work instead:

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Dordogne River View (2011)
Frank Eber
Watercolor on paper

I'm proud to say that this traditional landscape of the Dordogne was accepted into the American Watercolor Society's 135th Annual International Exhibition! Not only that, it was given the Alden Bryan Memorial Award and medal, and it will be part of the coming year's Travel Show. We. Are. So. Excited!

Come April 3, we're heading to New York (en route to Europe!) to attend the opening reception. If you're in the area and interested in seeing some great watercolors, please drop by the Salmagundi Club at 47 5th Avenue in Greenwich Village. The exhibition begins at 1pm, and we'll be there from 6pm onwards.

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Merindol-les-Oliviers (2011)
Frank Eber
Watercolor on paper
Sold

I love the sheep here, don't you? There are more olive trees and vineyards in the area, actually, but an idyllic pastoral is always a lovely thing. (And why paint something verbatim when you can add or subtract elements and make it unique?) Merindol is one of those little villages off the main road, accessible by the narrowest roads. If you're not a villager you really just drive by it, but we didn't. We stopped by the side and fed horses sugar cubes, and petted errant dogs, and took pictures, and admired the view. On a clear day you can see kilometers and kilometers everywhere (south to Ventoux, to orient yourself), and we promised ourselves that one day we'd go back.

And in April, we will.

PS: Did anyone else see that FABULOUS Cartier commercial on Sunday night?

1. Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand Biscuit!!! Good read. 
   
2. Unbroken, Lauren Hillenbrand I could not put this book down. My husband could not put this book down. Everyone I knew who read it could not put this book down. It was good.
   
3. Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food, Paul Greenberg Very informative.
   
4. The Perfection Point: Sport Science Predicts the Fastest Man, the Highest Jump, and the Limits of Athletic Performance, John Brenkus Fascinating look into man's physical achievements and limitations.
   
5. Nerve: Poise Under Pressure, Serenity Under Stress, and the Brave New Science of Fear and Cool, Taylor Clark
6. Extreme Fear: The Science of Your Mind in Danger, Jeff Wise
7. War, Sebastian Junger
8. Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen, Mark Blake Loved the music, liked the book.
   
9. The Golden-Bristled Boar: Last Ferocious Beast of the Forest, Jeffrey Greene
10. Young Michelangelo: A Biography, John T. Spike A rather insightful look at Michelangelo.
    
11. The Art Detective: Fakes, Frauds, and Fins and the Search for Lost Treasure, Philip Mould I liked this.
    
12. The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2, Jennifer Jordan This was good, too.
    
13. The Beekeeper's Bible: Bees, Honey, Recipes & Other Home Uses, Richard A. Jones, Sharon Sweeney-Lynch
    Niiicely done. We visited a beekeeper in Germany, and of course we
    sampled all sorts of raw, unfiltered honeys when we lived in France. My
    favorite honeys are acacia and sunflower....
    
14. Anselm Kiefer: Works on Paper in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
15. The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century, Edward Dolnick
16. Theo: The Other Van Gogh, Marie-Angelique Ozanne and Frédérique De Jode
17. The Shakespeare Thefts: Stealing the World's Most Famous Book, Eric Rasmussen
18. Beneath the Sands of Egypt: Adventures of an Unconventional Archaeologist, Donald P. Ryan, PhD
19. Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession, Craig Childs
    
20. True Food: Eight Simple Steps to a Healthier You, Annie Berthold-Bond, Wendy Gordon
21. The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, David A. Kessler
22. American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food, Jonathan Bloom
23. Living Large: From SUVs to Double Ds, Why Going Large Isn't Going Better, Sarah Wexler
24. You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness, Julie Klam
25. The Dog Who Couldn't Stop Loving: How Dogs Have Captured Our Hearts for Thousands of Years, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
26. Dog, Inc.: The Uncanny Inside Story of Cloning Man's Best Friend, John Woestendiek
27. Last Dog on the Hill: The Extraordinary Life of Lou, Steve Duno
    
28. History of a Suicide: My Sister's Unfinished Life, Jill Bialosky
29. On Rereading, Patricia Meyer Sacks
30. Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints, Sam Brower
31. Freemasons for Dummies, Christopher Hodapp 32°
32. Fire, Sebastian Junger
33. Worm: The Story of the First Digital World War, Mark Bowden. This read much like a third or fourth draft. I think he could have written it better.
    
34. What Your Body Says (And How to Master the Message): Inspire, Influence, Build Trust, and Create Lasting Business Relationships, Sharon Sayler
    
35. The Good Daughter, Jasmin Darznik
36. Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves, Crystal Renn, Marjorie Ingall. Meh. This model is actually back to model-thin, so this book is really about her insecurity.
    
37. Alek: From Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel, Alek Wek
38. Enter Night: A Biography of Metallica, Mick Wall
39. The Secret of Chanel No. 5
40. Samurai Tales: Courage, Fidelity and Revenge in the Final Years of the Shogun, Romulus Hillsborough
41. Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love, Matthew Logelin

1. A Brief History of the Dead, Kevin Brockmeier Finally read this and liked it very much.
2. Innocent, Scott Turow The bookend to his Presumed Innocent. I liked this.
   
3. The Heartbreak Lounge, Wallace Stroby Not as good as Gone 'til November.
   
4. City of Falling Angels, John Berendt Makes me long for Venice!
   
5. The Blasphemer, Nigel Farndale Good story.
6. Bury Your Dead, Louise Penny I really liked this mystery set in Quebec.
   
7. Ruslan, Barbara Scrupski
8. Matchless: A Christmas Story, Gregory Maguire
9. The Peach Keeper, Sarah Addison Allen. Meh.
   
10. The View from the Seventh Layer, Kevin Brockmeier
11. The Weird Sisters, Eleanor Brown
12. The Truth About Celia, Kevin Brockmeier
13. Girls in Trucks, Katie Crouch
14. Men and Dogs: A Novel, Katie Crouch
15. The Maid, Kimberly Cutter
16. Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall, Kazuo Ishiguro
17. Don't Breathe a Word, Jennifer McMahon
18. Left Bank, Kate Muir
19. Foreign Bodies, Cynthia Ozick
20. The Still Point, Amy Sackville. Boooring.
    
21. Bad Blood, John Sandford
22. Dark of the Moon, John Sandford
23. Leaving Van Gogh: A Novel, Carol Wallace
24. A Rule Against Murder, Louise Penny
25. The Brutal Telling, Louise Penny
26. Second Nature: A Novel, Jacquelyn Mitchard
27. Still Life, Louise Penny
28. City of Veils, Zoe Ferraris
29. The Tailor of Panama, John le Carré
30. The Night Manager, John Le Carré
31. Single & Single, John le Carré
32. A Most Wanted Man, John le Carré
33. The Enchantress of Florence, Salman Rushdie
34. Luka and the Fire of Life, Salman Rushdie
35. East, West: Stories, Salman Rushdie
36. Color Blind, Jonathan Santlofer
37. The Sherlockian, Graham Moore
38. Dog Walks Man, John Zeaman
39. An Impartial Witness, Charles Todd
40. The October Killings, Wessel Ebersohn
41. One Fifth Avenue, Candace Bushnell
42. Kill the Messenger,  Tami Hoag
43. The Alibi Man, Tami Hoag
44. Deeper than the Dead, Tami Hoag
45. Broken, Karin Slaughter
46. The Almost Moon, Alice Sebold
47. The Inspector and Silence: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery, Hakan Nesser, Laurie Thompson (Translator)
48. Sunset Road, Paul Auster
49. Invisible, Paul Auster
50. Last Night in Twisted River, John Irving
51. A Lion Among Men (Wicked Years, #3), Gregory Maguire
52. Mirror, Mirror, Gregory Maguire
53. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Gregory Maguire
54. Son of a Witch, Gregory Maguire
55. Dracula My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker, Syrie James
    
56. Fragile, Lisa Unger
57. An Object of Beauty, Steve Martin
58. Limitations, Scott Turow
59. The Charming Quirks of Others, Alexander McCall Smith
60. Port Mortuary, Patricia Cornwell
61. Captive, Jere Van Dyk
62. The Red Garden, Alice Hoffman
63. My Name Is Memory, Ann Brashares
64. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte Meh. I know. It's a classic... borefest...
    
65. Amphigorey Also, Edward Gorey
66. The Headless Bust, Edward Gorey
67. Tinkers, Paul Harding
68. Deliver Us From Evil, David Baldacci
69. The Queen's Lover, Vanora Bennett
70. Corduroy Mansions, Alexander McCall Smith
71. The Brightest Star in the Sky, Marian Keyes
72. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
    
73. The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
    
74. Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
    
75. The Ice Princess, Camilla Läckberg
    
76. The Russia House, John le Carré
    
77. Through A Glass, Darkly, Donna Leon
78. Suffer the Little Children, Donna Leon
    
79. About Face, Donna Leon
    
80. The Girl of His Dreams, Donna Leon
    
81. Death in a Strange Country, Donna Leon
82. The Wings of the Dove, Henry James
83. Chloe Zhivago's Recipe for Marriage and Mischief: A Novel, Olivia Lichtenstein

1. Venetian Stories, Jane Turner Rylands Nice short stories told from the point of view of various Venetian citizens.
2. Turner and Venice, Ian Warrell Turner's work is fantastic; Venice is so beautifully depicted by him.
   
3. Venice Sketchbook, Huck Scarry (Useless trivia: The author is Richard Scarry's son and is no doubt the inspiration for Huck the Cat in Richard Scarry's books.)
4. Venice 697-1797: A City, A Republic, An Enigma, Alvise Zorzi
5. Art and Life in Renaissance Venice, Patricia Fortini Brown
6. Venice, Alexandra Bonfante Warren
7. No Vulgar Hotel: The Desire and Pursuit of Venice, Judith Martin
8. The da Fiore Cookbook, Damiano Martin
9. Venetian Taste, Adam Tihany, Francesco Antonucci, and Florence Fabricant
10. The Photographer's Guide to the Maine Coast: Where to Find Perfect Shots and How to Take Them, David Middleton
11. Best Places Central California Coast: Santa Cruz to Santa Barbara, Judith Babcock Wylie
12. Compass American Guides: Maine, 4th edition, Charles Calhoun
13. Maine: The Seasons, Terrell S. Lester
14. Golden Country: Touring Scenic California, Susan M. Neider
15. Saltwater Seasonings: Good Food from Coastal Maine, Sarah Leah Chase, Jonathan Chase

1. The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques, Margaret Radcliffe
2. The Complete Book of Traditional Guernsey and Jersey Knitting, Rae Compton Invaluable resource
3. The Complete Book of Traditional Knitting, Rae Compton Great resource on the origins of the craft
4. Reversible Two-Color Knitting, Jane F. Neighbors
5. The Knitter's Book of Socks: The Yarn Lover's Ultimate Guide to Creating Socks That Fit Well, Feel Great, and Last a Lifetime, Clara Parkes
6. The Knitter's Book of Wool, Clara Parkes
7. Knitting 24/7: 30 Projects to Knit, Wear, and Enjoy, On the Go and Around the Clock, Véronik Avery
8. The Magic of Handweaving, Sigrid Piroch
9. The Weaver's Idea Book: Creative Cloth on a Rigid Heddle Loom, Jane Patrick
10. 1000 Chairs, Charlotte & Peter Fiell
11. New French Country: A Style and Source Book, Linda Dannenberg
    

1. The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook: A Year in the Life of a Restaurant, Michelle Rizzolo, Michelle Wojtowicz, Michael Gilson, Catherine Price, Phillip Wojtowicz Loved this cookbook; I want to eat there! (And one of their vendors shares a birthday with me!)
   
2. Becoming a Chef, Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page
3. The Making of A Chef, Michael Ruhlman
4. Avec Eric: A Culinary Journey with Eric Ripert, Eric Ripert
5. On the Line, Eric Ripert
6. Spiced: A Pastry Chef's True Stories of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen, Dalia Jurgensen. Meh.
   
7. What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained, Robert L. Wolke, Marlene Parrish
8. What Einstein Told His Cook 2: The Sequel: Further Adventures in Kitchen Science, Robert L. Wolke
9. Women Who Eat: A New Generation on the Glory of Food, Leslie Miller
10. The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food, Judith Jones
11. Food Heroes, Georgia Pellegrini
12. Medium Raw, Anthony Bourdain
13. The I <3 Trader Joe's Party Cookbook, Cherie Mercer Twohy
14. The Turkish Kitchen, Ghillie Başan

1. Vaughan Oliver: Visceral Pleasures, Rick Poynor I've been a fan of Vaughan Oliver's work since college. This is a good look at all his work for 4AD.
   
2. Inspirability: 40 Top Designers Speak Out About What Inspires, PASH Great tactile cover, and a nice way to present the designers.
   
3. A Treasury of the Great Children's Book Illustrators, Susan E. Meyer
4. Logolicious, Peleg Top Some great logos, some good logos, and an astonishingly bad one that fails at context.
   
5. Creative Solutions: Logos: Making a Strong Mark: 150 Strategies for Logos That Last, Anistasia Miller, Jared Brown
6. 2 Color Graphics: Unlimited Design Solutions, Templin Brink Design
7. The Big Book of Bags, Labels and Tags, Christian Campos
8. The New Big Book of Layouts, Erin Mays, Katie Jain, Joel Anderson
9. Catalog Design: The Art of Creating Desire, Dianna Edwards, Robert Valentine
10. The Best of Brochure Design 7, Wilson Harvey
11. Fashion Design Course, Steven Faerm
12. Breaking Into Freelance Illustration: A Guide for Artists, Designers and Illustrators, Holly DeWolf

1. Batman RIP, Grant Morrison, Tony S Daniel
   
2. Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul, Grant Morrison, Paul Dini, David Lopez
3. Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 2, Greg Rucka, et al
4. Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 4, Greg Rucka, et al
5. Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 5, Greg Rucka, et al
6. The Death of Superman, Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Roger Stern
   
7. The Return of Superman, Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson

Swatches are like sketches. When I'm online I always have a sketchbook at the ready; I find that parsing inspiration immediately is the best way for me to work. An instant hook, that emotional pull, is usually my barometer for liking something: this is also true in fine art, where I've witnessed people snap up piece$$$ because it resonated with them personally. So I see a bit of detail such as a keyhole neckline, draw a series of tops around it, add notes about surface treatment or fiber, then move on. While Pinterest and Flickr are good for online archiving and bookmarking, a sketchbook is portable and lets me work in color and a variety of media. (Call me old-fashioned!) Even better, there is no undue influence, and all the ideas I create are mine.

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So. These are what I see in my project list for the next year: knit-and-purl textures, reversibility, pompoms, and my current color favorites cardinal, robin's egg, and cool medium grey. (Oh dreary light.)

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In 2012 I see a car coat (no to poms), a scarf, a wrap (perhaps with poms), a shawl, a hat (definitely YES to poms!). Maybe my resolution for next year should be to knit more than 3 items! Ha ha. Maybe it should.

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Happy holidays! Sometime before the end of the year I'll post my list of 2011 books. I read plenty. And you know I mean 100+.

The beach, Thanksgiving weekend.

I've been thinking about direction and focus lately. This year has been a particularly interesting one. In many ways I can't wait for it to be over, but then reality slaps me in the face because WAIT! You have projects due in January! You can't make the days go faster or you'll never make deadline!

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One day at a time.

I went back to this post to see if I had made, and kept, any resolutions, and it appears I have. For trying something (almost) new, I attempted detestable bobbles on one project, and for improving on the old, I did some lo-fi cable technique on St Léger. Cables on a single-color background are easy-peasy, but cables on a striped, 3-color background in the round are absolutely FUN, not the least bit complicated, and I highly recommend that you try it for yourself. As for detestable bobbles, it popped up in my radar from the mental list of knitterly things I'd like to try. (Process knitter that I am.) So now that I was successful with this year's resolutions, I need to come up with another non-committal one for next year! Steeks, perhaps?

Anyway, on to reading material!

The first two books, Nerve by Taylor Clark and Extreme Fear by Jeff Wise, are related to each other. In both, the authors discuss the amygdala, that portion of the brain that governs the fear response. They cited many examples, even the same ones, most of them having to do with flight, wild animals, and nuclear destruction. All really interesting stuff (really, it *is* interesting), but the passages that drew me in where the ones about sport. It's fairly common knowledge that mental training is as important as physical training in any sport and at any level, but particularly for professional athletes and Olympians. The books examined the mental games of ball player Larry Bird (here's a snippet from the book) and speed skater Dan Jansen, among others, and how they and other athletes pushed (or failed to push) through the mental barrier. However, whereas Nerve and Extreme Fear just examined causes and examples, the last book offered solutions.

Lanny Bassham's With Winning In Mind is all about sport psychology; the name says it all. While I am neither an Olympian nor a pro climber, I think the techniques discussed in the book are highly relevant because they are all about overcoming mental barriers that keep people from succeeding in competitions physical and otherwise. (The otherwise part applies to every aspect of life, really. I mean, Lamaze breathing technique is all about calming the expectant mother and reducing panic, right?) What got me reading this book was my fear of falling: years ago I fell 20 feet from a route (the average 2-story building), and while I'm still climbing, that fear has never really left me. Routines and repetition are all good, yes, and I've been able to break through my fear to redpoint some f*cking hard routes. But once in a while the fear comes back, and that's where Bassham's book comes in handy. I highly recommend this to anyone who's hit a mental or physical wall.

Happy Monday!

When Alana Dakos and Hannah Fettig first approached me to work on Coastal Knits, I immediately said Yes! As a freelancer, roughly two-thirds of my work is done at home, in a vacuum; my interaction with clients is mostly through email, and with one in particular the visual aesthetic, team, and work flow is solidly established that the projects are executed like clockwork. A book, on the other hand, was something new (and exciting): it meant at least 2 months of work developing a look-and-feel, formatting patterns, taking pictures, proofing, production, and pre-press. In addition to the two designers and head technical editor Tana Pageler, it involved illustrator Neesha Hudson, photographer (and Madder Made/Quince & Co. designer) Carrie Bostick Hoge, and New Hampshire-based Puritan Press. Fun project? Take a look for yourself.

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Anyone familiar with either designer's patterns will see that they are 2 very different people.Whereas Alana's Never Not Knitting patterns use texture and are feminine, Hannah's Knitbot patterns are simple, what one would call updated classics. Their pattern layouts reflect their design aesthetic, even their websites. They lived on opposite coasts: California and Maine. So I decided to explore duality and dichotomy.

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The title developed from an exploratory sketch by Neesha, which I combined with yarn "doodles" of California and Maine coastal landmarks. As visual clues to who designed what, the two watermarks incorporated elements of the designers' own logos. The principal colors were coastal in nature: deep ocean blue, light sky blue, misty cool grey, and sunny, warm gold. And the typefaces: contemporary sans- and slab serif faces contrasted well with the hand-drawn titling face. Elements like the belly band, seen on the cover, were repeated in the chapter dividers, as were the yarn doodles. Visual continuity was heavily stressed; someone recently told me that she liked that the book felt complete, and that's successful design. As a concession to Alana's love of scrapbook layouts, Alana's pattern images had "vintaged" photo borders. As a nod to Hannah's love of minimalism, I made some pages pure color and text or single branded images.

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Coastal Knits tells the individual stories of Alana and Hannah. They shared influences, inspiration, and personal photos. (Can you see the visual play in these 2 layouts?)

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And it offers ten designs and so much more: mood boards with personal narratives about the locations that inspired the knits; written directions and pictures; schematics, charts, and written directions for the chart-phobic. It's in these particular pages that one encounters the work contributed by each designer and the technical editors, sample knitters, photographers, illustrator, and graphic designer. I am *utterly* proud of these.

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After months of exchanging pdfs, last-minute uploads, late-night emails, and phone calls, Alana and Hannah signed off on the book. Hi-res production was completed (that's 83 out of 92 total pages with backgrounds in Photoshop, yo) and the book was sent off to Puritan Press. A huge thank you to the team of Kurt, Kathleen, and Donna, who patiently addressed all the questions and concerns, and guided Hannah through the press check! Thank you to Alana and Hannah, for giving me free reign on the concept of coasts and knitting. It was a great experience, and I'm looking forward to future collaborations from the two of you!

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Please make sure to visit the designers, sample knitters, and all the other bloggers on the Coastal Knits blog tour. See the dates below. Have a good week!

Saturday, October 15: Never Not Knitting Podcast hosted by Alana and Hannah
Monday, October 17: Kate Oates of Tot Toppers
Wednesday, October 19: Mary Joy Gumayagay, graphic designer
Friday, October 21: Romi Hill of Designs by Romi
Monday, October 24: Andrea Sanchez adventures of a sample knitter
Wednesday, October 26: Kelbourne Woolens, distributors of The Fibre Company
Friday, October 28: Allegra Wermuth of Petite Purls
Monday, October 31: Susan B. Anderson
Wednesday, November 2: Carrie Bostick Hoge, of Madder Made and Quince & Co.
Friday, November 4: Wendy Bernard of Knit and Tonic
Monday, November 7: Nicole Dupuis, sample knitter chronicle
Wednesday, November 9: Ariane Caron-Lacoste of Falling Stitches
Friday, November 11: Deirdre Kennedy, adventures of a sample knitter
Monday, November 14: Shannon Cook of Luvin the mommyhood
Wednesday, November 16: Anne Hanson of Knitspot
Friday, November 18: Julie Crawford of Knitted Bliss
Monday, November 21: Margaux Hufnagel of tentenknits
Monday, November 28: Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops
Wednesday, November 30: Jaala Spiro of Knit Circus
Friday, December 2: Cecily Glowik MacDonald of Winged Knits
Monday, December 5: Veronika Jobe of Yarn on the House

Today two pallets landed on Alana's doorstep, which means Coastal Knits will soon be in your hands. (In mine, too!) Pre-orders are still open until midnight Friday, so if you're interested in the book, the yarn giveaway, or signings and trunk shows, I highly recommend you go here. And of course, there's a blog tour! I'll be blogging about my part of Coastal Knits, as its graphic designer, next Wednesday October 19. Do drop by the podcast and other blogs on the days scheduled below.

Saturday, October 15: Never Not Knitting Podcast hosted by Alana and Hannah
Monday, October 17: Kate Oates of Tot Toppers
Wednesday, October 19: Mary Joy Gumayagay, graphic designer
Friday, October 21: Romi Hill of Designs by Romi
Monday, October 24: Andrea Sanchez, adventures of a sample knitter
Wednesday, October 26: Kelbourne Woolens, distributors of The Fibre Company
Friday, October 28: Allegra Wermuth, of Petite Purls
Monday, October 31: Susan B. Anderson
Wednesday, November 2: Carrie Bostick Hoge, of Maddermade and Quince & Co.
Friday, November 4: Wendy Bernard of Knit and Tonic
Monday, November 7: Nicole Dupuis, sample knitter chronicle
Wednesday, November 9: Ariane Caron-Lacoste of Falling Stitches
Friday, November 11: Deirdre Kennedy, adventures of a sample knitter
Monday, November 14: Shannon Cook of Luvin the mommyhood
Wednesday, November 16: Anne Hanson of Knitspot
Friday, November 18: Julie Crawford of Knitted Bliss
Monday, November 21: Margaux Hufnagel of tentenknits
Monday, November 28: Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops
Wednesday, November 30: Jaala Spiro of Knit Circus
Friday, December 2: Cecily Glowik MacDonald of Winged Knits
Monday, December 5: Veronika Jobe of Yarn on the House

I can finally break my (blog) silence on what has been a fantastic summer design project for two popular knit designers. Presenting Coastal Knits: A Collaboration between Friends on Opposite Shores by Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting and Hannah Fettig of Knitbot. Ten fresh designs perfect for fall and winter. A book for gift-giving. An early holiday present to yourself.

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The book will be out October 15 but it's now available for pre-order. To get you started, you'll receive 2 patterns, Rustling Leaves Beret by Alana and Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah. You'll also get coupons to use toward Never Not Knitting and Knitbot patterns. You'll get a snazzy "shopping list" bookmark you can take with you to your lys. Lastly, you'll be entered into a drawing for yarn for these projects!

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You may be familiar with these two. Alana designed the bestselling Cedar Leaf Shawlette, while Hannah created the ever-popular Featherweight Cardigan. There is so much to be said about Alana and Hannah, the creative process, and the book itself, but I'll save that for another post or two. For now, go pre-order the book, join the Coastal Knits Ravelry group, cross your fingers for the giveaway, and start knitting!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

I mentioned this project to just a few people while I was working on it, and since it's finally been published, here it is! (Sorry for the crappy pictures! I'll take better ones when I get them back.)

Wool People. (If you scroll down, all the way down, there's a black-and-white of all the designers, and there's me! That was actually taken at St Leg', Face Nord, after a redpoint, and I was looking at my next project.)

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My designs were a hat and cowl set called St Léger, after my favorite climbing area in Southern France.

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Knit in Brooklyn Tweed SHELTER in Sweatshirt, Woodsmoke, and Nest.

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I was just as surprised as everyone else when it finally came out! Fourteen knitters, fourteen design aesthetics, fifteen beautiful woolly items. I'm quite flattered to have been part of this guest designer series; my sincere thanks to Jared for letting me move forward with a hat and cowl set, and to Leila for patiently reading through my long-winded emails!

I hope you'll find something in Wool People to knit.

Have a good weekend!

Of course, there are more surprises: August 1!

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And good things are coming tomorrow! At least I hope so!

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This was taken aaages ago in 2007. I overnighted in Perpignan having driven through the Pyrenées (scary bendy roads, scary bent drivers) from Siurana, Spain. It was late October and the sun just barely rose that morning, so all my pictures that day took on a somber quality. From Perpignan I drove toward Montpelier, up the A7 to Lyon, then right from Besançon and Mulhouse to (deep and low German accent) zuh Fazuhlahnd. Little did I know, this would be my standard route for the next few years as I went back-and-forth between the countries for climbing trips. (I did take Alpine roads too, and those tunnels are crazy long. 30km+ tunnels, anyone?) The scenery never ceases to amaze me, even driving on the highways.

If you're ever brave enough to try, I highly recommend renting a car when you're on vacation because you get to see so much more in the countryside. For the love of God, don't take my advice if you're staying only in the city, but if you want to take more time and enjoy yourself, definitely rent a car.

Vive la France!

I read ahead on the Tour de France website about the upcoming stages and discovered that it will indeed be passing through our ole neck of the woods! Just by a hair, really, in the 16th stage! St-Paul-Trois-Chateaux, Tulette, Nyons (pictures featured here), Condorcet (allo, Veryan!), Rémuzat, Serres, Rosans, Gap.... all places I've passed through or visited. (Gap especially, as it's close to Céüse, a major sport climbing destination and home to a few good runouts!) *Le sigh!* The road from Nyons to Condorcet to Buis is hilly, not mountainous, but it's rather twisty and bendy, and most times I've driven on it, everyone passes little old me, even the little old ladies! (But they've never tackled the LA freeways, yo.) It's quite an adventure, especially on snowy or wet days!

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High above Nyons is this 13th century tower, once known as La Tour Randonne, erected by the lords of Montauban. Later on, the tower was converted into a tiny chapel and a 3-level arcade and virgin were added. Today it's known as the Notre Dame de bon secours.

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Luckily, I found it! Apparently it's half a kilometer.... that way.

(Taken April 2008; passing by Brain en route from Fontainebleau [bouldering!] to St-Léger-du-Ventoux [sport climbing!], France.

And speaking of St Léger.......... watch this space!

To stave off the last few weeks' boredom/pity party/melodramatic fits I picked up the knitting. And the reading.

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Take three for Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark's Girl Friday. I prefer smaller projects in general, but this particular cardigan drew me because of its stitch pattern. Blocked well, the peaks and valleys of stitches become texture, angles, symmetry. I'm a sucker for geometric patterns.

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It's always enjoyable to knit someone else's pattern: the numbers have been calculated, the pattern has been positioned, and all a knitter has to do is follow directions. But I decided to knit my version from the top, because I love to tinker (and if you like tinkering too, try Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top). I cast on stitches for the neck and shoulders, placed yarn markers to indicate the neck opening, and at this point I'm about to start ribbing on the back. I briefly thought about making this a raglan but ultimately went with the set-in sleeve: in this case you see more of the pattern at the shoulders, as opposed to having a raglan line disrupt it unnecessarily.

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As a nod to summer evenings, I decided to knit a longer body and shorter 3/4 sleeves, as opposed to Mercedes' classic silhouette. This will be my go-to summer cardi, to pull over tank tops and shorts or spaghetti strap dresses.

The airport near where I grew up is known as Zamperini Field, and until I read Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, I had no idea about its namesake. I've had discussions with people about what makes ordinary people extraordinary or excel (mainly regarding rock climbing), and it really *is* about the personality. Louie Zamperini was one of those people, not necessarily the smartest person around, but the one who never took "no" for an answer, never let a mere broken foot get in the way.

Some of you may remember Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years), but did you know he's written two other sequels? Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men are good, but I still think his first was the best. Paul Greenberg's Four Fish presents historical and scientific information about tuna, salmon, cod, and sea bass. It's a well-written book that doesn't overload the reader with too many facts, and presents sustainability, fish farming, environmental issues, and other fishing industry topics in an honest direct way. Finally, John Brenkus' The Perfection Point: Sport Science Predicts the Fastest Man, the Highest Jump, and the Limits of Athletic Performance explores the limits of human ability. Overall I liked this book as I could pick and choose the chapters to read (no baseball and golf, thank you). And while I'm totally opposed, he was quite honest about the role of performance-enhancing drugs in certain sports and presented a logical argument.

I hope your summer has been good so far!