Best Quote I Heard All Day
I like it when a flower or a little tuft of grass grows through a crack in the concrete. It's so fuckin' heroic.--George Carlin

I'm feeling like I've been pushed up through the concrete this week. And I do feel fuckin' heroic. And particularly cranky. Concrete will do that to ya.

Peeing into the Mainstream
Lately I've been wondering why I get so bored so easily with some things. And I had a revelation, perhaps of Biblical proportions.

Anything that becomes hugely popular becomes hugely homogenized and thus becomes a bore to me.

When everyone kisses the popular thing's ass, whatever it may be, I'm outta there. Because if it appeals to that many morons, it has already lost any uniqueness and is now Boiled-Down Common Denominator crap.

Which is why I read The AntiCraft on a regular basis, as opposed to some of the more "popular" blogs, which I don't bother with. I don't always like all the designs and ideas in The AntiCraft but I like their spirit. Of course, if you're a Bible-lugging, JesusChrist-kneebending, sweetness-and-light kind of person, you'll not be amused that they are Wiccans. I have a daughter who is a Wiccan, so I can dig it.

Check out their crafty idea for using broken doll pieces bought on eBay as garden planters. I think I see a Tiny Tears in my future.

Your writer is a woman who once fell in love with a ship model shaped like a fish. What can I say? I wish I owned it.

Wired Up
So I'm sitting at my computer last night and on top of the scanner, where many things reside, is that spool of fine silver wire that I bought at Habu two weeks ago.

Now, there's no worries about doing a gauge swatch with this shit, that's for sure. But I had to noodle around with it. It would appear that three stitches would be sufficient for a small bracelet for Ms. Liz.

This was a tough item to photograph, needless to say. The little beads on the cast-on end are the ones that I bought for this project. Small but just right. I stuck them on the end to see how they would look.

It was amazingly easy to work with this stuff. I was quite surprised. I chose an old #1 dp because A) I don't use it for anything and B) I wanted a small needle so that I could control the size of the loops. Obviously you don't need to do more than just an e-loop for a cast on. But then I decided to throw, or for lack of a better word, position, the yarn with my right hand rather than attempt any Continental nonsense.

My only concern with this wire is that it is almost too flexible, which may cause a problem when being worn, in that the stitches will lack any rigidity and their definition will get distorted with wear. However, adding beads will help.

Get me my Fucking Ruby Slippers, Tinman
Emerald City continues apace, even though I have very little time other than Saturday and Sunday mornings to spin.

Let's see what's behind Bobbin #1, Don Pardo.

This is what's on top. However, what's underneath is completely different.

I want to pack as much as I can on each bobbin. I'm like Joe--the more yardage I can get onto one skein, the better I like it.

Where Dat Book At?
I've been approached by not one but two publishers. That means that neither Franklin nor I need to go the self-publishing route. I'm not at liberty to say who, what or when but I will when I can. It's looking like Spring 2008, at this point. And that's fine because both Franklin and I are up to our earballs in making a living.

The bottom line is, I'm dumping a good deal of what I have already written. In part due to Franklin's honest assessment early in May (F, hope you don't mind if I quote you from that e-mail):

I was re-reading the ms. the other day and I had one thought.

I wish there was more Marilyn in it. Your life has been unusual, and fascinating, and you write about it so well. When you first mentioned the book I remember your working title was along the lines of "My Life in Knitting."

So...I was just wondering, will you be writing about your early knitting, and your Mom, and working in the mags, and such along with the knitting tips?

Because La Harlot just did her knitting tips book, and it's nice, but one thing she does not have is your life to write about. She is Everyknitter, and you are not, and I think that's one of the things that's wonderful about you.

He's right, insofar as there's a glut of knitting tips books out on the market and what do we need with my dollah-three-eighty? This was something that had been plaguing me while I was writing. I don't know that my life is that fucking fascinating but apparently at least one publisher does, as well. And concurred with Franklin's assessment.

So I was thinking, why not? So I'll write about my knitting life, throw in some patterns that mirror what I've knitted and learned along the way--how about a scarf made in my first Red Heart yarn? What a laugh!

Even if three people buy and read the book, that's really not the point. The point would be to leave a legacy for Liz and Ian and perhaps their children. So that they would have something of Gram that would stay with them always.

And what better reason to write a book? Certainly not to make personal appearances, that's for sure. Because for those of you who have met me at Rhinebeck and Stitches, you know I'm really not a public kind of person, other than writing this blog. I'm just me doing what I do. And to leave a book for the kids--now that's a rare and handy goal.