What I've Been Up To

Writing, well actually, revising. I'm collaborating on a mystery series and we've been working on the rough draft. Today, I finished the first set of revisions. And it felt good. Really good. Even though I wrote the last couple of chapters and knew how the book ended, I found myself racing to read the pages and see how the book turned out. It's good. I like it. A lot!

Now my collaborator, Tracy, and I have to exchange our revisions and read each other's notes on what we've done. And then come to a consensus on where do we go from here on the next draft. Lots of work? Yes. But you know what? I feel like I'm taking a simple ball of clay and shaping it into a piece of art. Like in knitting when you start out with a length of yarn and a couple of needles and you create something spectacular from the parts.

At least, I hope that's what we're doing.

And in my spare time, I'm knitting socks. I'm working on the second Shibui knit toe-up sock and I'm also working on the Knitter's SOTM kit from last month (picture of yarn and pattern at the top of this post). This is knit cuff down and I'm about 2/3rds of the way down the cuff. It's a pretty pattern and fun to knit. I get bored doing ribbing designs and love the challenge of lace.

I've also been spending money ordering yarn and patterns to do more socks and a shawl or two. We'll see. I'm still very happy with the gratification that sock knitting gives me.

Plus, I love wearing them and showing them off. The best will be when I do a booksigning and can wear a really cool pair of socks.

Hope your creativity is flowing.

Kat

The Cat and the Sock and My Daughter

Here's Ben and my latest sock creation, the Ariel. Doesn't he look happy? Not.

The Ariel was made out of Soxx Appeal and knitted on size 1 double-pointed needles. It seemed to take me forever to make this one sock. It may suffer second sock syndrome for a while.

Maybe Ben is just mirroring my expression. I like fast projects. It does look pretty on my foot though.

Here's a picture of my daughter BJ and me from my recent Charlottesville trip. She's neither a writer nor a knitter, but she's very creative with a special flair for floral arrangements. We had a great visit.

And no, I don't love Ben best because he got top billing on this blog post.

Kat

Luxury Socks

Here's a picture of my favorite sock. It's from a SOTM club pattern called This Way and That and refers to the cables that go every which way on the sock. The yarn is wonderfully soft and feels so good to wear. It's from Pagewood Farms and is in the colorway Prism. I'd definitely use this yarn again. The socks were fun to knit and I've received a lot of compliments on both the pattern and the feel of the finished product. And I have both socks made. It doesn't get much better than this.

New Yarn Store Discovered and Booksigning

Last week, I visited my daughter in Charlottesville, VA and discovered a wonderful yarn shop, It's A Stitch. The staff was friendly and helpful and the yarn was beautiful - but is there really an ugly yarn to a sock knitter?

I went into the store only planning to buy enough yarn to do one new pair of socks and came out with some gorgeous cream Panda silk to knit a lacy scarf and enough sock yarn to keep me busy for months.
After a sumptious dinner with my daughter and a visit to her apartment, I bopped back over to Barracks Road Barnes & Noble to catch the Romance Panel during Virginia Festival of the Book.

The panel was moderated by New York Times best-selling author, Cathy Maxwell. Cathy and I have served together for the last five years working as program co-ordinators for Virginia Romance Writers. A couple of years ago, Cathy dedicated her book "In the Bed of a Duke" to me. At the booksigning that followed the panel discussion, Cathy signed a copy of that book for my daughter. Talk about smiles all around.

The panel was composed of Mary Burton, Joanna Bourne and Patrice Michelle - all accomplished writers who had a lot of valuable information to share with the audience.

After the event was over, I was so happy to have a chance to talk with one of the most awesome and knowledgeable booksellers in the business, Sandi Cararo. During our chat, Sandi found out about my story in the up-coming Cup of Comfort for Cat Lovers anthology and asked me to do a signing at the store. Of course, I said YES. The book comes out in July, so I have a lot to do before then. This will be my first foray into signings and promotion.

Yarn and books. Knitters and writers. It just doesn't get much better.
My mind was popping on the way home! And hasn't stopped yet.

Super Socks

These are my first attempt at knitting socks. I call them my super socks because they were very easy to do and they make me feel super when I wear them. Made out of Paton's Kroy self-striping yarn, the pattern was a simple knit every row. Lots of fun to do and even more fun to hear people's comments.

The Writing and Knitting Life

Today I met with two of my writer friends. I'm collaborating with one of them on a mystery series, and we're working on editing book one in the series. This isn't the cover for the mystery series. Read on to find out what this cover represents.

Editing is my least favorite part of the creative process. You use a different set of muscles to edit than those that you use to write. I much prefer the initial writing, but I have to admit that it is the editing that shapes the project and makes it shine.

While I'm in edit mode, I'll use my spare time to create some beauty in my life by knitting some more socks or buying some wonderful yarn. I dream about future sock projects just like I dream about new stories to write.

Both writing and knitting have been passions of mine most of my life. I started spinning stories as soon as I learned to talk and began writing them down when I was about 4. I learned to knit from the ladies in my neighborhood when I was about 7 and loved to listen to the stories of their lives and to watch as they created beautiful woolen projects.

Some exciting news - this July the non-fiction story I wrote about our unloveable cat's reaction to my husband's cancer diagnosis and many surgeries will be published in CUP OF COMFORT FOR CAT LOVERS. The title of my story is "Man's Best Friend." A copy of the cover is shown above. I'm very proud of this accomplishment.

Not only does the story involve my darling husband, our cranky cat (who we love in spite of his attitude), but it also has yarn in it. When I first saw the cover and noticed the ball of yarn, I thought it could not have been more perfect.

Until next time when I share some photos of my hand-knit socks and my yarn stash.