I love Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series and her latest book comes out the end of this month on the 23rd, White Witch, Black Curse. She's been kind of having these Dirty Harry-ish titles that are fun. Looking at her event page, because Powell's is currently only showing February, she's going to be in town on March 3rd!
You know where I'll be on that date - bright and early so I get a good seat too! I may even be lucky enough since its not just a couple days after the book release that the Science Fiction Book Club will have shipped it and I will have received it in time to have it on hand to be signed. As it is I'll have last year's Outlaw Demon Wails in hand to be signed.
I have an email into Powell's to find out about April to see if they'll have Jim Butcher back for his new book Turn Coat. Fingers crossed on that one. He has early events that Scifi should be able to ship that one and have it arrive in plenty of time for a book signing, if they have one. Please let them have one! Pretty please? He was really awesome last year!
ETA: This just in from Powell's "We don’t have an event with Jim Butcher currently scheduled for the months ahead, and I don’t think we’ll be fortunate enough to host him for this book." Darn it!
Showing posts with label authors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label authors. Show all posts
Friday, February 6, 2009
Book Signing & WIPs & a yarn
Which order to go in? ...........ok
I arrived at the book signing at 6:30pm and was surprised to see over half of the seats filled. Last year when she was there I think there was a modest 15 people. That has clearly changed! So I didn't get a seat as close as I would have liked, and the only end seat was on the outside (aisle is best, you know for getting into the actual signing line).
Patty opted not to do a repeat of last year and attempt to sit on the stool provided especially since she's had back surgery since then. There was a twenty minute reading and then she moved into the Q&A portion. We learned that there are three more books for this series and at least two for the other that ties into this one. Yea!
Powell's opted to do the free-for-all get in line method that they hadn't been using for a lot of the book signings I've been to over the last couple years. Usually there's the orderly 'get in line by row'. If they had gone that route I would have missed chatting with Honor while we waited to get our books signed.
Honor was there to get books signed for a friend who lives in Florida and couldn't wait until Patty is there in October for them to be signed. Nice friend! Turns out that Honor has in the past tatted and been involved with SCA. While a child there was few years spent living in Australia where the neighbor taught her mother how to shear sheep and then spin and knit so she had a sheep to sweater that as she said had tons of lanolin still. Mom is getting up in years and no longer spins but still has some of those fleece. I didn't ask after them because honestly I'd be afraid of them this many years old. Honor had walked from MAX and when I found out she lived by the Quatama stop I offered to give her a ride, which she gratefully accepted.
Book signing photos:
blurry because she kept moving!
While at the book signing I completed half of the pink crane and started and finished the yellow crane:
These were fascinating to the five year old little boy sitting in front of me once he noticed that I was knitting. Little carrot top with big brown eyes. He informed me that he was knitting a cat but that it only involved 10 stitches. He asked how many I was working with. ;^)
Since I'd used up both of the crane yarns that I came with and still had plenty of time to spend doing something productive, I cast on the Salmon Dave Sunset Highway Scarf:
Yarn is Stitchjones dyepot worsted in the Salmon Dave colorway and the pattern is Kathleen Fajardo's Sunset Highway Scarf. I have spun up Sharon's rovings but this is the first time using one of her yarns. It is delightfully soft and nice to work with. I'm looking forward to using the other two and getting more of her yarns in the future!
Last but not least is the second Abstract Fibers sample yarn I have done, her BFL in Shady Glade colorway. I opted to n-ply it just to see the colors stay the way they were. Definitely get less yardage with this method and I think I got about 31 yards.
I arrived at the book signing at 6:30pm and was surprised to see over half of the seats filled. Last year when she was there I think there was a modest 15 people. That has clearly changed! So I didn't get a seat as close as I would have liked, and the only end seat was on the outside (aisle is best, you know for getting into the actual signing line).
Patty opted not to do a repeat of last year and attempt to sit on the stool provided especially since she's had back surgery since then. There was a twenty minute reading and then she moved into the Q&A portion. We learned that there are three more books for this series and at least two for the other that ties into this one. Yea!
Powell's opted to do the free-for-all get in line method that they hadn't been using for a lot of the book signings I've been to over the last couple years. Usually there's the orderly 'get in line by row'. If they had gone that route I would have missed chatting with Honor while we waited to get our books signed.
Honor was there to get books signed for a friend who lives in Florida and couldn't wait until Patty is there in October for them to be signed. Nice friend! Turns out that Honor has in the past tatted and been involved with SCA. While a child there was few years spent living in Australia where the neighbor taught her mother how to shear sheep and then spin and knit so she had a sheep to sweater that as she said had tons of lanolin still. Mom is getting up in years and no longer spins but still has some of those fleece. I didn't ask after them because honestly I'd be afraid of them this many years old. Honor had walked from MAX and when I found out she lived by the Quatama stop I offered to give her a ride, which she gratefully accepted.
Book signing photos:
blurry because she kept moving!
While at the book signing I completed half of the pink crane and started and finished the yellow crane:
These were fascinating to the five year old little boy sitting in front of me once he noticed that I was knitting. Little carrot top with big brown eyes. He informed me that he was knitting a cat but that it only involved 10 stitches. He asked how many I was working with. ;^)
Since I'd used up both of the crane yarns that I came with and still had plenty of time to spend doing something productive, I cast on the Salmon Dave Sunset Highway Scarf:
Yarn is Stitchjones dyepot worsted in the Salmon Dave colorway and the pattern is Kathleen Fajardo's Sunset Highway Scarf. I have spun up Sharon's rovings but this is the first time using one of her yarns. It is delightfully soft and nice to work with. I'm looking forward to using the other two and getting more of her yarns in the future! Last but not least is the second Abstract Fibers sample yarn I have done, her BFL in Shady Glade colorway. I opted to n-ply it just to see the colors stay the way they were. Definitely get less yardage with this method and I think I got about 31 yards.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
One Row Karma Scarf
I finished up the One Row Karma Scarf last night. I soaked it in hot water and got a few extra inches out of the soak. It's only 46 inches long so drapes around the neck and a decent length down the chest. It's intended for a teenage girl, so hopefully it will work for her:
Today there was spinning at Panera Bread again. We had three spinners and one knitter. A nice mix. ;^) I plied up the Abstract Fibers BFL in the Shady Glade colorway. Lovely greens and blues. I decided to also n-ply this yarn and I think it came out nicely. It's resting on the bobbin and will come off tomorrow and have a nice hot soak and see how much there is to play with.
I then started in on the last of the Abstract Fibers sample - Superwash Merino in the Autumn colorway. Mine is lacking in the green and so if I wanted to I could call it Sunset another colorway she has that just lacks the green. ;^) The colors are coming out really vivid. I think I'll also n-ply this one.
Before going to the spinning group I had knit one of the Cranes for the Knitnotwar that Knit/Purl is doing for the month. I'm going to use some of my leftover Cascade 220 from the Cascade Lizard Ridge blanket. It's a nice quick easy knit that just needs to be felted. I'm going to use these as a break in between scarf projects. ;^)
I had also started another project that will be nameless until after it is given since the giftee is also known to look at my blog, reading, I'm not sure. So that safe rather than sorry thing. Why am I mentioning it then? Because they use the same needle size as the cranes. I'd started it and then put it on the craft table so it wasn't visible while I was gone. Silly me, I left the needles with the yarn.
I had stopped at Jo-Ann's on my way over to Haggen's to try to find a copy of the Simply Knitting magazine. They were all out of them, or they hadn't yet come in. I did use my 40% off coupon to get a copy of Interweave's Piecework. They had been advertising the Baby Inca Hat. Interesting article on knitting two socks at once - inside each other, I don't think I'm ready for that. No knitting needles meant that I did a lot of socializing - fondling finished projects - knit and spun and looking through the magazine. Rachel had also brought along some 'free yarn' from Debby Accuardi. I picked up a couple of sock yarns:
A sock kit - pattern, yarn and beads:
Tiggywinkleknits also had given me an almost full skein of Paton's Beehive Baby Sport in white so that I can make Ruby the Snowgirl a husband. I'll also make her another friend, since the pattern is a grouping of three. ;^)
Tomorrow there's knitting with the Insomnia group but even better than that, a book signing at Powell's! Patricia Briggs is in town again for her new book Bone Crossed. A Mercy Thompson book out in hard back. I of course have had it on request to be shipped from the SciFi Book Club for a month now. They of course wouldn't ship it out until its release date of the 3rd. Anyone seeing where I'm going with this yet? Yes, the price I have to pay for getting it cheaper (saving $11 off the list price) is that it will probably arrive on my doorstep on Friday. It at least shows that it shipped today where it hadn't yesterday, so more likely arrival is Saturday. I do have a book for her to sign (all the other ones were done last year) and it will be fun to hear her do a reading and the Q&A. Might even get to say hi to another local author - Lili Saintcrow, she often comes to these events too.
Today there was spinning at Panera Bread again. We had three spinners and one knitter. A nice mix. ;^) I plied up the Abstract Fibers BFL in the Shady Glade colorway. Lovely greens and blues. I decided to also n-ply this yarn and I think it came out nicely. It's resting on the bobbin and will come off tomorrow and have a nice hot soak and see how much there is to play with.
I then started in on the last of the Abstract Fibers sample - Superwash Merino in the Autumn colorway. Mine is lacking in the green and so if I wanted to I could call it Sunset another colorway she has that just lacks the green. ;^) The colors are coming out really vivid. I think I'll also n-ply this one.
Before going to the spinning group I had knit one of the Cranes for the Knitnotwar that Knit/Purl is doing for the month. I'm going to use some of my leftover Cascade 220 from the Cascade Lizard Ridge blanket. It's a nice quick easy knit that just needs to be felted. I'm going to use these as a break in between scarf projects. ;^)
I had also started another project that will be nameless until after it is given since the giftee is also known to look at my blog, reading, I'm not sure. So that safe rather than sorry thing. Why am I mentioning it then? Because they use the same needle size as the cranes. I'd started it and then put it on the craft table so it wasn't visible while I was gone. Silly me, I left the needles with the yarn.
I had stopped at Jo-Ann's on my way over to Haggen's to try to find a copy of the Simply Knitting magazine. They were all out of them, or they hadn't yet come in. I did use my 40% off coupon to get a copy of Interweave's Piecework. They had been advertising the Baby Inca Hat. Interesting article on knitting two socks at once - inside each other, I don't think I'm ready for that. No knitting needles meant that I did a lot of socializing - fondling finished projects - knit and spun and looking through the magazine. Rachel had also brought along some 'free yarn' from Debby Accuardi. I picked up a couple of sock yarns:
A sock kit - pattern, yarn and beads:
Tiggywinkleknits also had given me an almost full skein of Paton's Beehive Baby Sport in white so that I can make Ruby the Snowgirl a husband. I'll also make her another friend, since the pattern is a grouping of three. ;^)
Tomorrow there's knitting with the Insomnia group but even better than that, a book signing at Powell's! Patricia Briggs is in town again for her new book Bone Crossed. A Mercy Thompson book out in hard back. I of course have had it on request to be shipped from the SciFi Book Club for a month now. They of course wouldn't ship it out until its release date of the 3rd. Anyone seeing where I'm going with this yet? Yes, the price I have to pay for getting it cheaper (saving $11 off the list price) is that it will probably arrive on my doorstep on Friday. It at least shows that it shipped today where it hadn't yesterday, so more likely arrival is Saturday. I do have a book for her to sign (all the other ones were done last year) and it will be fun to hear her do a reading and the Q&A. Might even get to say hi to another local author - Lili Saintcrow, she often comes to these events too.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Sore fingers - Day 13 Tour de Fleece
I spent a couple of hours working on the last of the BFL from the first sliver. It's all done and looking pretty good. Unfortunately I finished just as it was starting to get dark, so no good pictures. I'll take those tomorrow and post the update view. I have a second drop spindle planned to work with the second one that way I can use my high tech shoe box lazy kate to get them both off and plied.
I'm tempted to break things up tomorrow and spend more time working with Karma. I'll try to be dedicated though and continue working with the BFL. Really should come up with a name for it too.
While waiting in line last night by the light of a parking lot light I cast on the Basket Rib Hand Towel using the Coral Cotlin out of my Summer Sampler from Knit Picks (it's the center top one). It was a nice light color and a simple pattern. Yes, the Cascade Lizard Ridge is an easy pattern but takes too much counting to work easily while standing in the dark.
Dark Knight really is a must see movie if you like the fantasy genre at all. Heath Ledger really did an awesome job as the Joker. It really was an amazing movie for holding your attention through the whole two plus hours. Go see it! Well if you can, they're saying that if you don't already have tickets you won't be able to see if for several weeks because tickets are pre-sold out. Wow!
I did add a few rows in the car this afternoon while driving with Will on his errands. It's a nice easy pattern and the Cotlin feels nice to work with.
Since we went to PCC Rock Creek Campus and were by The Knitting Bee I popped in to try to pick up some Cascade 220 for the border and the seaming. Stephanie thought the blocks looked nice and is looking forward to seeing the finished project but suggested that I wait until I have it all seamed together and bring it in to pick out the border color then. Something about it being easier to tell what would look well against the whole from her experience with quilting. She's a different quilter than I am. I usually planned ahead and bought my border and backing at the same time as I picked up my block material. Obviously different styles but thought she might have something so left without buying yarn. Yes, you read that correctly. No new yarn came home with me. ;^)
A trip to Home Depot and lots of effort looking in various locations of the store finally yielded a black plastic grommet for one of my last to be put together drop spindles. No that's not true, there's a green donut that didn't sit correctly and needs to be re-glued to the dowel. I need Brandon to pre-drill a hole in the dowel for me and I need to polyurethane the dowel and it will be ready for use. I think I'll save it for the Hydrangea. I'll have a picture of it completed soon, but may wait to post until I have some yarn on it so I can safely put in my 'stash' at Ravelry. I'm walking the line with my stitch markers in there. ;^)
Going to bed early to catch up on sleep but also to get some good reading time in on Small Favors. I really enjoy The Dresden Files world. It was one of the series I was just recommending to my mom as well as Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series, oh and Iris Johansen's Eve Duncan series. I had already gotten her started on Kay Hooper's Bishop series and the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.
Hopefully fun things tomorrow, so we'll have to wait and find out about those - Good night!
I'm tempted to break things up tomorrow and spend more time working with Karma. I'll try to be dedicated though and continue working with the BFL. Really should come up with a name for it too.
While waiting in line last night by the light of a parking lot light I cast on the Basket Rib Hand Towel using the Coral Cotlin out of my Summer Sampler from Knit Picks (it's the center top one). It was a nice light color and a simple pattern. Yes, the Cascade Lizard Ridge is an easy pattern but takes too much counting to work easily while standing in the dark.
Dark Knight really is a must see movie if you like the fantasy genre at all. Heath Ledger really did an awesome job as the Joker. It really was an amazing movie for holding your attention through the whole two plus hours. Go see it! Well if you can, they're saying that if you don't already have tickets you won't be able to see if for several weeks because tickets are pre-sold out. Wow!
I did add a few rows in the car this afternoon while driving with Will on his errands. It's a nice easy pattern and the Cotlin feels nice to work with.
Since we went to PCC Rock Creek Campus and were by The Knitting Bee I popped in to try to pick up some Cascade 220 for the border and the seaming. Stephanie thought the blocks looked nice and is looking forward to seeing the finished project but suggested that I wait until I have it all seamed together and bring it in to pick out the border color then. Something about it being easier to tell what would look well against the whole from her experience with quilting. She's a different quilter than I am. I usually planned ahead and bought my border and backing at the same time as I picked up my block material. Obviously different styles but thought she might have something so left without buying yarn. Yes, you read that correctly. No new yarn came home with me. ;^)
A trip to Home Depot and lots of effort looking in various locations of the store finally yielded a black plastic grommet for one of my last to be put together drop spindles. No that's not true, there's a green donut that didn't sit correctly and needs to be re-glued to the dowel. I need Brandon to pre-drill a hole in the dowel for me and I need to polyurethane the dowel and it will be ready for use. I think I'll save it for the Hydrangea. I'll have a picture of it completed soon, but may wait to post until I have some yarn on it so I can safely put in my 'stash' at Ravelry. I'm walking the line with my stitch markers in there. ;^)
Going to bed early to catch up on sleep but also to get some good reading time in on Small Favors. I really enjoy The Dresden Files world. It was one of the series I was just recommending to my mom as well as Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series, oh and Iris Johansen's Eve Duncan series. I had already gotten her started on Kay Hooper's Bishop series and the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.
Hopefully fun things tomorrow, so we'll have to wait and find out about those - Good night!
Monday, April 28, 2008
an author (long so split into smaller ones)
Last Tuesday for the Yarn Harlot's visit, I managed to acquire 64 points for the Portland Inexplicable Knitting Behavior Scavenger Hunt. I spent waaaaay too much time on making a Google map of my endeavors, putting photos on easily viewable printed pages to discover that Blue Moon Fiber Arts people did a simple - Those of you who earned 5 points please stand (we received a nice pin for this), continue standing if you have 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 (there were five of us standing at this point), 65 (I had to sit down - put Wait! They noticed this and asked how many I had "64", so they had me come up and get a skein of yarn from the overflowing tote they had up front - I scored a beautiful Silkie Socks That Rock skein, valued at $24). They continued on until there was one person standing, Susan with 88 points. She had maps, many maps and had planned it all out.
But I forget, before this was the acquisition of more photos, you can see them at the web albums linked previously. Picking up something to eat and heading to the MAX station. The car I was sitting in did not appear to have any other knitters on board. Getting off at the Zoo there were four others just before 5pm. We walked through the pouring rain to get to Miller Hall at the Forestry Center where luckily they were opening the doors to let people inside. This is where someone didn't put a lot of thought into the layout. You had to go by the yarn, special one for the event with $3 going to Doctors Without Borders, the colorway called 'Knitters Without Borders' and you were limited to one skein per person and picking up your copy of the current book, and any other past ones you wanted to add to your library. (I forgot one of mine at home, darn it!) Then the long line came if you were doing a credit purchase. I could have made money charging to let people go through the line to get into the seating area. Lots of money.
Then there was the two hour wait before Stephanie came out to talk. That's where I was the abnormal person. Everyone else is pulling out their knitting and getting started. Me, I'm people watching and checking out what people are knitting, and really some of the interesting people that showed up. There were even, men, who came to see her talk. Okay, there were a couple that came with their significant others, I'm not sure if they came willingly or not, I didn't ask. I did talk to Bob, you can see him in the pictures I took wearing a blue and green cardigan that he designed himself, in line. Very amusing and fun to talk with as he knitted from his 'emergency knitting' he'd brought in from the car just as Stephanie was talking about just such a thing. It was a hat that hadn't fit the way he wanted so he was redoing.
I saved a seat for Camille who was coming from grad classes at PSU. By the time she arrived, it would have been challenging finding a seat. It was fun chatting with her and by then I was ready to pull out my knitting. I brought my 'sock in progress' but I wasn't going to start on that there, so I had also brought my 'Odessa' hat. I worked on it during most of the talk and then put it away towards the end. The long wait came during the signing portion. They were going to do it by rows but that quickly went bye bye. So I jumped in line behind Sarah and crew from Knit/Purl which also had Bob with them and chatted with them through the line. I have photos of their simulation of a 'Charlie's Angel's' type knitting pose in the Yarn Harlot photo album. Along with a couple photos of Camille and her first sock with Stephanie. I gave Stephanie some stitch markers, she quickly recognized would be good for socks (my intention) and had my book signed. I didn't ask to have my photo taken with her, I really hate having my picture taken, but I kind of regret it now.
But I forget, before this was the acquisition of more photos, you can see them at the web albums linked previously. Picking up something to eat and heading to the MAX station. The car I was sitting in did not appear to have any other knitters on board. Getting off at the Zoo there were four others just before 5pm. We walked through the pouring rain to get to Miller Hall at the Forestry Center where luckily they were opening the doors to let people inside. This is where someone didn't put a lot of thought into the layout. You had to go by the yarn, special one for the event with $3 going to Doctors Without Borders, the colorway called 'Knitters Without Borders' and you were limited to one skein per person and picking up your copy of the current book, and any other past ones you wanted to add to your library. (I forgot one of mine at home, darn it!) Then the long line came if you were doing a credit purchase. I could have made money charging to let people go through the line to get into the seating area. Lots of money.
Then there was the two hour wait before Stephanie came out to talk. That's where I was the abnormal person. Everyone else is pulling out their knitting and getting started. Me, I'm people watching and checking out what people are knitting, and really some of the interesting people that showed up. There were even, men, who came to see her talk. Okay, there were a couple that came with their significant others, I'm not sure if they came willingly or not, I didn't ask. I did talk to Bob, you can see him in the pictures I took wearing a blue and green cardigan that he designed himself, in line. Very amusing and fun to talk with as he knitted from his 'emergency knitting' he'd brought in from the car just as Stephanie was talking about just such a thing. It was a hat that hadn't fit the way he wanted so he was redoing.
I saved a seat for Camille who was coming from grad classes at PSU. By the time she arrived, it would have been challenging finding a seat. It was fun chatting with her and by then I was ready to pull out my knitting. I brought my 'sock in progress' but I wasn't going to start on that there, so I had also brought my 'Odessa' hat. I worked on it during most of the talk and then put it away towards the end. The long wait came during the signing portion. They were going to do it by rows but that quickly went bye bye. So I jumped in line behind Sarah and crew from Knit/Purl which also had Bob with them and chatted with them through the line. I have photos of their simulation of a 'Charlie's Angel's' type knitting pose in the Yarn Harlot photo album. Along with a couple photos of Camille and her first sock with Stephanie. I gave Stephanie some stitch markers, she quickly recognized would be good for socks (my intention) and had my book signed. I didn't ask to have my photo taken with her, I really hate having my picture taken, but I kind of regret it now.
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