Corespinning!

Inspired by yesterday's spin-in at The Spinning Loft, I'm giving it a try. I'm using crochet cotton as the core and Louet Northern Lights to wrap it on my mega jumbo Lendrum bobbin. So far, so good!

Back from TNNA

Unpacking, exhausted. Lots of nice goodies this time! Lined up some work, saw 4 books I tech edited and my new designs for Nashua, Mission Falls, Louet, Aslan Trends, Alpaca With a Twist, Knit Simple, and Vogue Knitting, plus plenty of older ones on display. Lots of chances to chat with great people I only see once a year plus met lots of people in person that I only knew through emails. Jae was a fabulous roomate and Beth o' The Spinning Loft was fun as ever. Giant and delicious cupcakes at the Interweave booth.

Next stop? Things to follow up on and getting ready for the big dance recital tomorrow.

Presenting... Spinnerino!

Emma was yearning for a wheel that suits her personality, so last night after ballet we went to Michael's and got some wheel jazzing-up supplies (and can I just say, that Krylon Fusion spray paint for plastic is really awesome?) And now, her ordinary wheel has been transformed into "Spinnerino."

Emma's New Wheel!

Here she is trying out her new Babe Pinkie.

Toe Up Wonderfulness

I've been helping Chrissy Gardiner with the tech editing on her upcoming all toe-up, circular-and-dpns-alike sock book over the past few months. Today I had the delight of taking a final peek at the laid out pages, and I have to say I was blown away. Even for a rabid sock-knitter like myself, Chrissy has tons of tidbits to share so there's something new for everyone to learn (and more than enough information and photos for the newbie to get started, including detailed descriptions of various toe-up heels, toes, etc). The patterns are gorgeous-- about half are sized for little wee people up to big strapping men, the rest are fancy socks for the ladies (several of which give Cookie a run for her money, seriously!) Best of all, there are cool little worksheets that you can copy and use to tweak your sock knitting to fit just right, using a variety of different toes and heels. Anyway, as a public service, I thought I should spread around that it's up for presale on Amazon, so have at! Toe Up!

So proud of my girl!!

Emma has become quite the spinner already! Here she is holding the yarn she spun over the weekend. She took it to school to show her class yesterday, and she said she explained to them about drafting and plying and the whole bit.

Since she's already threatening to hog my beloved Victoria (she tried the Lendrum but prefers double treadle- my Lendrum is an ST) I'm getting her a little double treadle Babe Pinkie of her own (hey the price is right and she doesn't need anything fancy yet. Plus we can paint it red, which she absolutely wants to do).

As for me, I'm back to a fairly heavy load. I'm reknitting a sweater I designed for the fall issue of Vogue Knitting (the yarn company wants a copy for their booth at TNNA), plus doing a sweater for another yarn company, one for Knit n' Style, and copious amounts of tech editing to do before TNNA in a few weeks.

Emma's First Yarn!!

Emma asked to learn to spin today... so I gave her a quick lesson on the wheel. This is the result-- better than my first try, that's for sure! She's totally into it now- I'm so excited!!