And we have a winner!

AK Torgerson, of Washington, was the first one to spot a copy of Hand-Knit Socks on the shelf.

Thanks for playing AK- your signed copy of Fearless Fair Isle Knitting is on the way!

Book Giveaway at SAFF

In honor of my 5th year of teaching classes at SAFF, I've decided to give away a signed copy of Fearless Fair Isle Knitting in each of my 5 classes!

All you gotta do to enter is sign up for one of my classes. If you sign up for more than one class, you'll be entered in each one.

This year I'm teaching:   


EEK! A Steek (Friday, all day, assorted colorway kits to

 choose from)


Exclusive SAFF 2013 Fair Isle  Fingerless Mitten (Saturday 

morning- assorted colorway kits to choose from)


Little Tips and Knitting Tricks (Saturday afternoon)


Writing Patterns for Publication (Sunday morning)


Design Your Own Fair Isle Fingerless Mitten (Sunday 

afternoon- design only, no knitting done in class)


Hope to see you there!

Monday Contest #2- Two more Taunton's Threads Selects Booklets!

Just like last week- two of Taunton's Threads Selects booklets are up for grabs.

This week's prizes are Fair Isle Flower Garden, with patterns and projects for children's wear, from Fearless Fair Isle Knitting, and Lace Socks, from The Big Book of Socks.

To enter, leave a comment (and be sure to leave your name, if you're posting anonymously) on this post. I'll draw a winner on Saturday and announce the lucky person on Monday.

I'll sign the booklets any way you like, and if you're not a knitter, they'll still make good gifts for the knitter (or the library) in your life.

Have fun!

Look what arrived today!!!!

More info tomorrow, but here's a teaser:

Like a Proud Mama

A group on Ravelry has chosen my Prairie Earth and Sky cardigan, from Fearless Fair Isle Knitting, as a KAL (knit along, for the three non-knitting blog readers). They're making amazing progress- just look:

Aren't they absolutely beautiful? I'm so proud and honored that I'm about to burst. And now I sort of want to knit the sweater again, in the gray/rose colorway. Here's a set of Flickr pics of some of the other sweaters.

And then there's Georgienne, who took one of my classes last year at the Michigan Fiber Festival, and then came back for more this year. This time, she signed up for the Design Your Own Fair Isle Hat class, which is a fairly intensive full-day class during which students work on design elements and then assemble them on a chart to create their own original Fair Isle project.

Above is the hat she designed in class. Isn't it gorgeous? I love the motifs, and I love the colors Georgienne chose.

And then she went home and did what I hope every single student in every single one of my classes does: she played with the techniques some more, and came up with her own variation.

This is the hat Georgienne designed and knit on her own. I could not be more proud!

Thanks so much for sharing these pics with us, Georgienne!

BTW- I am teaching a half-day version of the Design Your Own Hat (and Stocking) class at NCFF this weekend, and at SAFF in late October. Neither class is full... jus' sayin'

Threads Selects- Fair Isle Flower Garden

Taunton is publishing a series of booklets featuring patterns from other books they've already published, for readers and crafters who are only interested in a few patterns at a time, rather than the entire book.

The first booklet with my patterns will be the Threads Selects- Fair Isle Flower Garden, with the children's patterns from Fearless Fair Isle Knitting. This is going to be a totally adorable and handy booklet. It's going to press soon, and should hit the stands in November. 

In addition to the Flower Garden patterns, other projects from both Fearless Fair Isle Knitting, and The Big Book of Socks will be featured.

I'm thrilled with this new series, and I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on the progress and availability.

This 'n That

 Did you know that there is such a thing as Glow in the Dark Bubbles? I sure didn't, but the Grandgirls did. And man, did they love them! (BTW, there are 4 bubble-coated girls in this shot).

 The quilt is coming along really well. I'm amazed at how quickly the stars are quilting up.

 Constellations everywhere!

 I mowed for the first time this morning (it was about 39 degrees, I wore a hat and gloves), and was thrilled to see that Bee Girl's bare root Crab Apple tree survived the winter. Go Tree!

Did I mention that a group on Ravelry is doing a KAL (knit along) of the Prairie Earth and Sky cardigan from Fearless Fair Isle Knitting? They're graciously allowing me to post pictures of their progress. Above are the swatches (they're doing the sweater as a class). Aren't those colors marvelous? I am absolutely tickled (and honored) that they chose my pattern.

And finally, a young writer who is near and dear to my heart has started a blog for movie reviews. The two reviews posted so far are pretty darn good, if I say so myself.

Cool Beans!

Here's a wonderful You Tube review of Fearless Fair Isle Knitting from Jeanne and Sandy at Jimmy Beans Wool!  Too Cool!

Shameless bragging

Scroll about  halfway down the page, for Knitty's absolutely wonderful review of Fearless Fair Isle Knitting.

I would be embarrassed about posting this, but I'm too busy celebrating!

I'm Baaack!

So, MG Fantasy V2.0 is off to my agent. If it needs more work, it'll come back to me. If it's ready to go, then the real nail biting starts. In the meantime, I have my days back now. Except that I don't. I have about six bazillion things to do before we leave for SoCal (and some Fearless Fair Isle booksignings- the first in Sioux Falls on Feb. 10). It's Proposal Submitting Season, and there are several festivals with looming deadlines waiting for my paperwork. And I have sewing to do before we leave, including some for a Birthday Sister. And I probably ought to clean, just a little bit.

Speaking of Fearless Fair Isle (which is shipping from online stores even as I type)...

 Look what arrived the other day! These are my freebie copies. Once they're gone (and they disappear pretty fast, I have a big family), I have to buy them, just like everyone else.

 But I keep 3 for myself. One is my reading copy, that I trot around to all of my booksignings (and to the grocery store, and the post office, and anywhere else I think anyone might possibly ask me what I'm doing carrying that book around, so I can say, "Oh this little thing? Did I bring that with me? It's just my latest book." ) And then two copies (of all of the books, the ones I wrote, and the ones where I am a contributor) go on my office shelf, where I keep every edition of every book (if I can find them)- ARCs (advance reading copies), 1st editions, multiple printings, new versions. I look at them sometimes, and think, "Wow, that's pretty cool. Why aren't I rich?"

Note some of the writers on the shelf below- Laura Lippman, Elizabeth George, Jerrilyn Farmer, and of course, Alan Beechey. The shelf below is the G.M. Ford/Dennis Lehane shelf. All of them signed, neener neener.

 And when I'm not admiring my oeuvre, I have been knitting. I'm nearly done with the latest pair of leftover socks. These will go winging to New Owner on Monday. I want her to have them before it warms up, not that that is going to happen any time soon.

 And last, but most certainly not least, Blog Reader/Facebook Friend Valerie knitted a couple of mitered-square leftover yarn hats, here modeled by Reanna (below) and Megan above. Thanks so much for sharing, Valerie. The hats and the models are all adorable!

As always, if you've made something from any of my patterns and would like to share, I love posting pics! Just e-mail them to me: kathleentaylor1952atgmaildotcom

Monday Monday

I'm deep into my revisions, and the clock is ticking, so I only have a moment to post this morning.

My friend Mary knitted the Genevieve's Graduation sweater for Fearless Fair Isle Knitting. It was her first large stranded project, and her first ever steek! She did such a fantastic job, and now that the book is close to hitting the strands, she can actually talk about the process. Check out her blog for some very cool pics!

But even hard-working, clock-watching, serious-about-doing-this-on-time-and-doing-a-good-job types need an occasional diversion. I recommend 1890 Yourself. It's a hoot.

Check out that wasp waist. Looks just like me. (I orginally typed, and posted. *1980 Yourself*, which might be even more amusing.)

And yeah, AI is starting on Wednesday. I gotta say, I've never been less enthusiastic about the beginning of an Idol Season. It's not that Simon left (I wasn't a big fan of his anyway), it just feels worn out. I'll watch, and I'll recap (though I have some traveling scheduled in the next few months, and will miss a few episodes), but the show is on Double Secret Probation (especially since it moved to Thursdays, so that I now have to watch my Favorite Shows on Friday). We'll see how it goes.

Wordless Wednesday

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Alive!

Fearless Fair Isle Knitting will hit the stands Feb. 15, 2011!

The Amazon listing shows an earlier cover, here's the final:

Woohoo!