Pretty wild huh? Now it might make more sense why I’ve been completely swamped. Well, more than normal anyway.  And that trip to NYC a few weeks ago? That was to meet with Melanie Falick, my editor, to go over the book and my deadlines for the next year. We’ve been in talks now for almost two years about this book so it was nice to finally meet her in person. And yeah, almost TWO YEARS! I first contacted her when I found out I was going to be on Knitty Gritty in the fall of 2006 because I had an idea for a book. It wasn’t exactly this book I am writing now but many aspects of what that book would have been will be able to get into this book. Over the past year and a half or so we’ve been shaping the book into what it has now become; a book on dyeing fiber.  There have been lots of outlines, project samples, writing samples, yarn samples all going back and forth between us until we finally hammered out exactly what would work best. I am beyond excited, a lot proud and whole buncha scared! Maybe scared isn’t really the right word but I definitely get surges of feeling overwhelmed by the hugeness of this. I mean hello. Melanie Falick? Me? Working with her? Harry N. Abrams, Inc. :: STC Craft? Have you seen their books?  (below are a few of the new ones)  They are gorgeously done and appeal to this photographer’s eye like no other. To be honest, I still can’t believe I am doing a book with them. But I am.

I’m not sure how many of you know that I used to be a high school English teacher. I have my Masters of the Arts in Teaching too. After Superboy was a year and a half old we moved from Boulder, Co to New Hampshire and I stopped teaching. While there I even got my Real Estate License but never used it because we moved to Albuquerque and before I knew it I started up Scout’s Swag. If you got to listen to the Y KNIT podcast, you heard that I grew up knitting and crafting. To me, this whole thing is truly full circle. My mother who passed away 15 years ago, was a teacher and an amazingly talented knitter. I’m pretty sure she’d be so happy and proud that I’m taking everything I’ve learned over my whole life and pouring it into this book. Not many people get to take something they are so passionate about and make a living out of it. I know how fortunate I am.  I guess hard work does pay off sometimes?  Maybe?  I loved being able to tell my father about the book deal and how he could be happy I was using my college degree again so he could feel better about all of that money he spent on me to go to school. He’s always been really proud of me but this made him extra proud.

Along with the writing of this book, I am really going to make more of an effort to write here too. I miss my blog and think the redesign will help motivate me to come here more. Now that the cooler weather is coming I will be knitting more. I might even go knit with some friends again on a regular basis. Mona? Feel free to cattle prod me to get me to come hang okay? But the new blog will be more suited to what I have going on in my life now. I want a place where I can talk about my photography, work, crafting, writing, kids, cooking, etc. You know, more than just the crafty part. I’ve felt for a long time that if I didn’t have any knitting to share, I had nothing to talk about here. I don’t want that anymore. Cynthia and I have already started working on the redesign and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.

Well I think that covers it all. For now at least. Aslo? I want to thank all of you out there who have supported me over the past years. I couldn’t do this without you, and you and you and YOU! Really.  I hope you know how much I appreciate the love and support you give me on a daily basis. Without you I wouldn’t be where I am right now. My hope is that over the next few years I will get around a lot more and get to meet a lot of you. That’s the plan Stan and I’m sticking to it!I turned my first two chapters in on Monday and this month is Chapter 3. And Sock club. And school starts. And……..yeah.