We're seeing the occasional ray of sun at the Abstract Fiber studio in Portland The weather is finally warming and lace knitting season has arrived! We love using MightySock for lace. 50% Tencel makes it drape beautifully, and gives it sheen. MightySock comes in any of our solids or colorways to suit your project. Give MightySock a try in your next lace project. You're gonna love it! Check AbstractFiber.com for a list of retailers or shop online anytime
At Purlescence Yarns we're head over heels for weaving. From rigid heddle looms like Jasmin's favorite Schacht Cricket to table and floor looms for weaving beautiful textures, Purlescence Yarns is your resource for the best in weaving equipment and supplies. Call today to order your loom!
Discover jacket mastery: see how easy it is to get the fit, confirm it as you knit, and know that every jacket will fit on Opening Day with Jean Frost. Take classes from the most talented designers in the Knitting Universe. Shop-till-you-drop in the largest fiber market in the Midwest. See the hottest new knit designs at the Fashion Show or take to the runway yourself -- showing off your knits during the Student Banquet. If you love knitting, YOU CAN'T MISS THIS! Go to KnittingUniverse.com/Events for all the details. If it has to do with knitting, you will find it here. STITCHES Midwest is open to the general public August 25th-28th. For more information please join us online at http://KnittingUniverse.com/Events/ or call 1-800-237-7099.
- June 4th: Spinning at the Retzlaff Winery - June 11th: WWKIP Day. Location TBD. - June 24-26: Black Sheep Gathering. We're staying at the Courtesy Inn in Eugene, OR.
Contest: (10:47)
We announce the Three Bites contest! Try something new, anything, and tell us about it! The contest closes Monday 6/27/2011. Gigi shares a three bites story about seafood.
Jasmin is selling the extra weight from the fleece from Duchess (which she spun into her Seneca sweater) for $40/lb, plus shipping. Jasmin answers a question about how to keep colors in handpainted fiber from getting muddy and dull.
After Melbourne, I was off to Auckland, New Zealand. It struck me as I exited the plane that this was the first time in a while I'd set foot on a country I'd never visited before. The last time was Japan two years ago, but even then that wasn't quite accurate, as I'd set foot on the Tokyo airport as a child.
The weather when I arrived was amazing. As I walked towards the airport exit I couldn't resist taking a picture of the scene outside of the window--the sky was amazingly large:
And here's the sky from the airport parking lot:
I was eager to ask my driver for some tips on what to do on my one day off. However, it turned out that the driver, Gun, had just move to Auckland from Brooklyn! In fact, he had lived in Fort Greene, a neighborhood in Brooklyn adjacent to my own. He did give me a few thoughts on New Zealand, though, but mainly recommended that I try to get out of the city. Alas, I didn't have time for that.
That night I walked around the city, had dinner at a Thai place in a little food court in front of an Asian grocery store, and later spied the Sky Tower from afar:
Before my trip, my friend Rose had said, "The Biggest Loser went to Auckland, and they jumped off the Sky Tower! It looked like something you would do!" Indeed. I signed up for a combo Sky Walk and Sky Jump for the next day.
Unfortunately, the next day, Wednesday, was stormy: wind and pouring rain does not make a happy Sky Tower walk and jump--I rescheduled for that Saturday, and decided to trek over to the Auckland Domain to go to the Auckland Museum instead. First, I stopped in a little French cafe for a breakfast crepe and a flat white (coffee with milk):
my view of the rainy street
Then I was in the Auckland Domain, which is kind of like Central Park. I loved this tree:
It was a great museum, and the perfect introduction to New Zealand, in terms of geography and natural history, background, and culture.
I also saw a Maori cultural performance:
Here's their haka performance:
The Maori dancing and language reminded me a bit of Hawaiian, which makes sense because both are originally Polynesian cultures.
That night, Creative New Zealand hosted welcome drinks for the visiting publishers and authors in their offices. I met most of my fellow participants in the publishing program, including two senior editors from NY (both in adult publishing): Tom Mayer of WW Norton and Alexis Washam from Random House and her fiance Isaac (who does some iPad and iPhone app development); Steven Maat of Bruna in the Netherlands (they were all heading to Sydney after Auckland, like me); and Hal Wake, the Director of the Vancouver International Writers' Festival. The five of us, plus one of the guest authors/poets who goes by his last name, Rives, went to dinner together at a kind of fancy food court--the kind of place where you can buy a bottle of wine, purchase some wine glasses, and drink in the center tables.
Thursday started with a small group of about 20 people including publishing folks, Creative New Zealand, the New Zealand Book Council, and NZ author Emily Perkins for an introduction of the book publishing industry in NZ. Some of the things I learned: -NZ has a population of about 4 million people. It's very much a reading country. -Sales of 1200 copies is considered a success. The publishing industry is all about the economy of scale. -Few NZ authors make it into the international market, partially because NZ publishing tends to be focused on NZ-specific issues. NZ and Australia tend to have to contend with the "tyranny of distance" -The top publishers in NZ are Random House and Penguin, followed by Harper Collins [edited to add: according to my Hachette NZ colleague,. Hachette is also up there with RH and Penguin.] -NZ publishing is not an agenting culture--there are very few literary agents. One way NZ authors can make it internationally is to get an agent from Australia, the UK, or the US
After the morning meeting, we checked out one of the local bookstores, and then Tom, Hal, and I were hosted to lunch by Auckland University Press director Sam Elworthy. When I had been extended the invitation by the organizers, I asked if AUP had published children's and YA, and was told, "No, but you have an author in common"--when I met Sam, I asked who our author in common was. "Well, I worked for Princeton University Press for many years, and lived in New Jersey next door to Peter Brown's family!" Small world indeed. It turns out that Peter's mother would send Sam Peter's books over the years, so he'd been able to keep tabs on his career.
I now realize I was horribly neglectful in taking pictures in Auckland, but I did manage to take a picture of my dessert. I got pavlova! I had always thought of pavlova as an Australian dessert, as my Australian friend Tamara had initially introduced this wonderful combination of fruit and meringue to me, but apparently (as with many things) there's a bit of a controversy as to whether the dessert originated in NZ or Australia. And I can understand why both countries would fight for credit, because it is DEE-LI-CIOUS.
In the afternoon, publishing guests and authors were treated to a traditional Maori welcome, or Powhiri. We took a bus up to the Orekei Mirae. This land had been taken away from the Maori and then returned. It was easy to see why the land was being fought for. Here are the views:
We walked up to the meeting house and were greeted by a haka. Then we removed our shoes and entered the structure:
We had been prepped that there would be speeches, and then we would be expected to do the traditional Maori greeting, or the hongi, with our hosts. The hongi is like the Maori handshake, but it involves the two people greeting each other to press their noses and foreheads. It symbolizes trust and the sharing of the breath of life (although, thankfully, you don't actually have to exchange breaths). To be honest, this was what most of us were worried about having to do--it's such an intimate gesture to do with strangers--but in reality it was painless and lovely, even. I don't think it will catch on in the States, though.
Later that night was the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival's opening gala that I posted briefly about last week, followed by the Festival Opening Party and then drinks at the hotel bar where I met authors Garth Nix, Margo Lanagan, and Sean Williams for the first time. Garth had contributed a short story for Geektasticand we had exchanged emails but had never met. Lovely, friendly, and down-to-earth people they were all. And, as I discovered, all fans of the Sea Breeze cocktail--a lovely fruity drink with lots of vitamin C, perfect to drink while traveling, apparently. I would have a few sea breezes in the hotel lobby during my time in Auckland.
This post is getting long, so I will continue next week. In the meantime, I've now recovered from both jet lag and BEA. For some great pics and a wrap-up of the first days of BEA, check out Laini Taylor's blog here.
When I was a child and a teenager, I would read almost anything: just gulp it down and the fatter, the better (picture books were thin books, chapter books were fat books to us). Now I’m much pickier – but last week I had the flu for a few days and I read the way I read as a kid when I couldn’t go outside: I just put a big stack of fat books next to me and when I finished one, started the next. One of the books I read was Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright (Newbery winner, 1938). It opened to this:
--and my first thought was: the author must be the illustrator (she was). I kind of like the drawings in this book – they’re just so bizarre. And I also always liked Arthur Ransome’s drawings for Swallows and Amazons, which was published in the 1930s, too. They’re charming and suit the books.
I’m guessing that these authors weren’t ever professional illustrators (girls, what do you think?). And do you think authors this amateurish could get away with illustrating their own chapter books today? I hope it’s possible, even if the illustrations aren’t up to Grace’s charming drawings in the equally charming Year of the Dog, it’s just FUN to find colorful illustrations like these scattered throughout a book, especially when the author is the illustrator: The girl on the left is described as fat -- I’ve never seen the word “fat” mentioned so often in a book as it was in Thimble Summer. People were also described as “fleshy,” as when someone says, “They are one fleshy family.” I didn’t know people were that preoccupied with weight in the 1930s – or was it just this author? Pigs were mentioned a lot, too – one is described as “unusually greedy and selfish, even for a pig.” This isn’t a criticism, I enjoyed the book; I just found this sort of thing unusual:
“Garnet watched Mrs. Hauser [the mother in the “fleshy family”] get into the car. Did she imagine it, or did she really see the Ford sink down a little on its springs, as if it sighed under a great weight.”
That made me laugh, though I was half-relieved and half-disappointed to see that this character’s daughter, also described as “fat,” was the perfectly normal-looking girl with a bob above. Fuse8 worried in her review that children, seeing this, would think that THEY were fat and be troubled; I am not. I weigh a lot more than I once did and already think I'm fat. When I saw this picture, I was reassured. I thought, "Oh, fat doesn't look so bad." Maybe it really doesn't!
I was super-duper honored when I was told that Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was chosen as the book for the 2nd annual Kids Reading Across Rhode Island event. It is a one book-one state reading program and it is such a thrill to think so many RI kids will know the book! So, of course, I was happy and eager to go to the big kick off event at the State House a couple weekends ago. It was a blast, but it was so busy that it went by way too fast! It happened so quickly that most of the day is kind of a blur.
First, there was a lion dance:
Someone told me it was in my honor, which I wasn't sure to believe. But I did get to feed one of the lions with lucky lettuce:
Which they spit onto the audience (always a crowd pleasing trick!):
I want to get these guys for my next book launch! Think that's too much for a bookstore?
Then I gave a talk: to a lot of people in a really fancy room: And then I signed books for a long, long time: The Kids Reading Across Rhode Island program was giving away a copy of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon to every family for FREE! That explains the long line: I felt like a rock star! Too bad I can't give away my books for free more often!
More than fifteen years ago, I began work on a collection of rhyming fairy tale poems. I’ve never submitted the collection to a publisher. Still, I have enjoyed writing—the mostly humorous—poems. Some of the poems are written as soliloquies, some as conversations, some as letters, and some as classified ads.
I used to do an extensive unit on traditional literature in my second grade classroom. We had great fun! We read different versions of many different folktales and fairy tales. We compared and contrasted the different versions. My students wrote letters from one fairy tale character to another. (Many of them were hilarious.) My students created fairy tale wanted posters. They wrote fairy tale poems that were wonderful. They inspired me to write my own fairy tale poems. I learned a lot about writing poetry from helping my students write their own poetry.
Here is a fairy tale poem from the collection in which Snow White’s frustrated and envious stepmother speaks to her magic mirror.
THE EVIL QUEEN SPEAKS TO HER MAGIC MIRROR by Elaine Magliaro
Mirror, mirror on the wall, You say Snow White is best of all. She may be lovely, I’ll agree— But she’s a moron. Can’t you see? Thrice I fooled her she’s so trusting. I think her brain needs readjusting. I’ve never seen her reading books. She only cares about her looks. I’m not as pretty as the kid… But she’s no smarter than a squid. Why, I’ve earned ten advanced degrees From seven universities! I’ll change the question. Now I’llbe The best in this vicinity: Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who’s the SMARTEST one of all?
********************
At Wild Rose Reader, I have another original fairy tale poem that is written in the form of a FAX from the Seven Dwarfs to Snow White.
As you've probably heard, Ryo Ishikawa played his way into the OWGR top 50 last weekend, and in so doing secured a spot at Congressional for the 2011 US Open.
This week the stylish Japanese teenager is playing in the Diamond Cup... an annual tournament on the JGT... where he took an early lead and created quite a bit of buzz among followers of fairway fashion.
You see, there's something a bit different about the way Mr. Ishikawa is accessorizing these days, and it has everything to do with his headwear.
It's different... but familiar. The slightly oversized cap, with a flat bill and a touch of hip-hop styling... Ryo is clearly channeling Rickie Fowler with this look and Japan's golf fashion scribes are loving it.
Thank you Noriko for the "heads up" on Ryo's Rickie Look!
U.S. Girls gon' get in a Jeep with Noveller and come to a city near you. Noveller will be sportin' her new album on Weird Forest, "Glacial Glow". U.S. Girls will be flashin' a new split 12" with Slim Twig on Palmist Records + various goods.
NOVELLER + U.S. GIRLS JUNE JEEP TRIP
6/11 - Arlington, VA / Queering Sound Festival 6/12 - Philadelphia, PA / Hong Kong Garden 6/13 - Hudson, NY / The Spotty Dog 6/14 - Northampton, MA / Feeding Tube Records 6/15 - Providence, RI / Paragon 6/16 - Boston, MA / Aviary Gallery 6/17 - Montreal / Casa del Popolo 6/18 - Toronto / Double Double Land 6/19 - Ann Arbor, MI / Elks Lodge 6/20 - Chicago, IL / The Empty Bottle 6/21 - Madison, WI / Good Style Shop 6/23 - Lafayette, IN / The Black Sparrow 6/24 - Cincinatti, OH / CS13 6/25 - Columbus, OH / Skylab 6/26 - Brooklyn, NY / Bruar Falls
------------------------Toronto poster by Slim Twig
book, and she is slowly working on her Garter Yoke Cardigan out of her handspun from Tour de Fleece 2011. Gigi is knitting her Daybreak out of Cascade Heritage 150 and a Conjoined Creations Flat Feet in Rainbow. Jasmin mentions Kristi's beautiful blanket with the mitered squares.
) incorporating her husband's hair into a sweater for him, maybe. 
by Janet Rehfeldt. We don't care for it, and would recommend Socks from the Toe Up
by Wendy Johnson or Toe-Up! 
by Chrissy Gardiner as a better value.
.
