As I gear up to head to the first double-header weekend I’ve ever attempted (and probably the last), I feel like I’ve been out of touch with my adoring public for longer than usual. In reality, it’s been a month. But what a month!
I set a deadline for myself to get all of my projects done by the end of March. As such, it’s been an enormously productive month. All of my sample-knitters have returned their pieces. The magnum opus is finished and I’m currently blocking its nearly 8′ wingspan in the guest room. The newly designed Atyria hat is finished and looking fantastic. And the elusive double-knit intarsia hat is on the needles and well on target for finishing before I return from my long weekend. I may even restart the necktie, which I wasn’t sure about including — and which I knew I couldn’t do before my deadline anyway.
But I didn’t really need to. Why the arbitrary deadline again? It was so that I had a chance to take photos of the pieces while we still had snow on the ground here in Boston. But Punxsutawney Phil, that dastardly rodent, saw fit to end Winter early and Spring has sprung. To be fair, I’m not sure Winter ever really arrived. So the model shots will have to be done differently after all. Instead of going for a “winter in nature” thing, I’m going for “weird Boston architectural features” which actually does a fair bit to echo my design aesthetic anyway. The necktie I’ll probably model myself, and without concern about outdoor scenery.
For folks in VT and NYC, I’m going to be making a couple of short appearances here on my own coast before heading back to CA for VKL Pasadena. On April 17th I’ll be visiting White River Yarns for an intro workshop — and on April 24th, I’ll be doing a couple of workshops at Lion Brand Yarn Studio in Manhattan. There’s space in both; check out my calendar for more info.
In the coming month, when I’m not running around and teaching, I’ll be beginning to organize the book itself. I have finished 30-40 pages of text but that’s far from where I need to be. I’m going to need to take model photos, hand photos, and probably some videos. I’ve got writing and layout to do. I’ve got patterns to finish and get tech-edited. I’ve got some techniques to hone and probably a couple of small pieces to re-knit. In short, I’ve still got my work cut out for me, but I’ve got 6 months to do it in. Oh, and did I mention that I’ve finally gone part time at work to cope with all this? I’m officially a 75% FTE, which translates to Mondays and Fridays off, so there’ll be more time to work and more ease of travel.
Thanks for all your support! Stay tuned next month …