A Busy Week - Full of Books
"Autograph Anyone?"

The week has been filled with lots of exciting adventures as well as the day to day routines. To begin with, I approved the printing of The Crafty Welsh Corgi Knits - Pembroke and Cardigan. I had a lot of fun creating this book and it is dedicated to my late friend John Lang who was a longtime obedience club member and who had a amazing bond with his Pembroke Welsh Corgis over the years. John was always interested in forwarding the interest of the breed.

On Thursday, I stood in line with hundreds of others for the chance to meet Martha Stewart at the book signing for her new book Cupcakes at RJ Julia Bookstore. This is a wonderful shop in Madison, Connecticut. The line stretched the length of the block which gave me a chance to chat with those around me. I entertained my new friend, Joanne, by telling her all about Kanine Knits and the Crafty Dog Knits book series that I write. When I got to the front of the line, she took these photos. Martha autographed her book Cupcakes and then I showed her two of my Kanine Knits: Portraits of Dogs in Knitting patterns that showed her breeds. One pattern showed the Chow design I created that had been knit by Victoria Pettigrew of VIP Fibers using the hair spun from her own Paw Paw. She then checked out the Crafty Bernese Mt Dog Knits book of the series. She enjoyed it and was delighted with my concept of single breed knitting portrait books.

Saturday I was off to Greenwich Kennel Club to sign some autographs myself. It was fun sharing the tent with a bunch of very talented authors. I got to talk about my books and patterns, autograph and talk to exhibitors about future books. The Portuguese Water Dog group decided they definitely need a knitting book and some Poodle exhibitors said they would like to send me photos of their dogs for the book I'm working on now. It was a perfect day for showing with temperatures cool enough for the dogs and the sun out. This was a great place to show off my books as well as "talk the talk if not walk the walk" of showing that has been such a large part of my life for more than forty years.

Just to finish the weekend on a theme, I drove over to the Fabric Bug in Thomaston, CT to attend my friend Marie Bostwick's autograph session for her new novel The Thread of Truth. This is the second in her wonderful series that is based around a quilt shop in Connecticut so it was appropriate that she'd be signing books as quilters worked merrily away around her. The first book in the series, A Single Thread, introduced us to these strong interesting women and the challenges they face.

It was a wonderfully busy week with old friends and new. I look forward to what next week will hold.

New Book from Kanine Knits!

The Crafty Welsh Corgi Knits
Pembroke and Cardigan

Due out on June 10, 2009

20% Pre-publication Discount Available till June 1st.

This book, like the others in the Crafty Dog Knits series, contains stories about the Welsh Corgis which inspired the 25 charted intarsia knitting designs which can be worked into 25 different patterns for sweaters, hats, scarves, afghans, etc. in sizes from infant to mens 2x. The book is filled with wonderful photographs of these dogs in action.

To learn more about the book and take advantage of the pre-publication discount that is ONLY good till June 1st, just click on the webpage http://www.kanineknits.com/crafty_welsh_corgi_knits.htm.

For those of you who might be attending, I'll be autographing my books at the
Greenwich Kennel Club Show on June 6th at
Taylor Farm Park, Canfield Ave. & Calf Pasture Beach Blvd.
East Norwalk, CT
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Judging starts at 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Rain or Shine.
Come and say hi.

Congratulations "Bo" on your new home!

Today is the day that Portuguese Water Dog, "Bo", makes his official debut at the White House and becomes the First Family's dog. This six month old puppy, who was returned to his breeder, has now found a permanent home with a family that will love him. We hope he enjoys his new home.

The Portuguese Water Dog is a wonderful, playful, sporting breed that makes an excellent family pet. Their curly water-repellent coat softens the head and body that is classic to the sporting style. At Kanine Knits, the design is in the puppy or pet style rather than the Lion Cut that is used for adults in the show ring.

To view this pattern and those of over 100 other breeds, as well as the Crafty Dog Knits book series come to www.kanineknits.com.

Meet a Friend & Fellow Author/Designer
Donna Druchunas

Donna and I recently got together to talk about her new book Ethnic Knitting Exploration - Lithuaina, Iceland and Ireland. I thought I'd share some of that conversation with you. Since I work in Intarsia and Donna works in Fairisle, I thought that you would enjoy the variety.

Peggy - " You call the book Ethnic Knitting Exploration. Why did you choose to use the term Exploration? "

Donna - "This is a three book series. The first book was called Discovery because it was a introduction into the world of ethnic knitting. The second book is Exploration because it provides more techniques for the knitter to go further and explore different sweater constructions and shapes. The last book will be Adventure, because it will go beyond traditional techniques into the adventure of modern ethnic knitting in different countries and it is my hopes that each knitter will depart on their own knitting adventures. "

Peggy - "How do patterns from Lithuania, Iceland and Ireland differ from those in other parts of the world such as South America and Asia? "

Donna - "In Iceland and Ireland, interesting shapes of sweaters have been made. The Icelandic yoke sweater is a seamless design that flows and drapes over the shoulders with no seam-lines to break up the patterning that is knitted on the yoke. It's a flattering design for many figure types, although it may not be appropriate for women with narrow shoulders. My favorite part of knitting yoke sweaters is that when knitted from the bottom up (as they are in Ethnic Knitting Exploration), you start with a large number of stitches after joining the front, back, and sleeves into one piece, and then you decrease several times, so you have fewer and fewer stitches and your knitting goes faster and faster until all that's left to knit is the neckband.

In Ireland, the Aran sweater developed as a variation of the Gansey that was knitted in the round with shoulder straps that separated the front and back of the body and added depth to the neckline. After time, knitters started working these designs back and forth in pieces, with saddles instead of straps. The saddle extends from the top of the sleeve to the neckline. The effect is similar to that of a strap, but the construction is completely different. This design works particularly well on Aran sweaters, because a cable panel that is worked up the center of the sleeve can be extended to the neckband, creating a very striking design feature.

In Lithuania sweaters were not knitted as part of the traditional costume, but they became popular, as they did in Western Europe and America, in the twentieth century. Raglan sweaters are similar, except the decreases are lined up so they create phony "seams" that break up the patterning. This can be used to advantage by those with narrow shoulders. By placing a horizontal band of patterning around the yoke on a raglan sweater, it can create the illusion that one's shoulders are wider. Normally the raglan design is the least flattering on those with narrow shoulders. The raglan shape was popular for Aran sweaters knitted in Ireland in the mid-twentieth century because the shape was easy and fast to make for production knitting. These Aran raglans were knitted flat in pieces and sewn together. The raglan shaping also became popular in Lithuania in the mid-twentieth century, although it is not tied to traditional pattern or texture stitches in that country.

I don't really know much about traditional sweater designs from Asia or South America, actually. In Japan, most knitting books tend to have modern, tailored sweater designs with shaped armholes and set-in sleeves. "

Peggy - "How did you decide which sweater shapes you would choose to teach your approach?"

Donna - "In the series, many shapes will be covered. But I started simple and each book gets a little more complicated. Discovery featured only drop shoulder and modified drop shoulder designs, so newer knitters could focus on the circular knitting and the basic construction of the garments. Exploration includes yoke, raglan, and saddle shoulder designs that result in sweaters that drape more naturally around the shoulders and that can be made with a more customized fit than a drop shoulder design. The third book will talk about more fitted garments. "

Peggy - "The book seems to go way beyond simple instructions to complete a sweater and more into empowering the knitter to use this information to create their own styles. Do you like to encourage designing in knitters? "

Donna - "I think it's empowering to be able to create your own designs. Not that we always have to do that! I enjoy knitting from other people's patterns as much as anyone. But even if you never plan to design your own garments, knowing about how garments should fit, how different types of stitches behave, how garment construction works gives you the ability to alter patterns to suit your own needs and to fit you perfectly. "

Peggy - " You recommend smooth yarn to show off the pattern designs, but do you have any favorites with which you like to work? "

Donna - "It's so hard to pick a favorite yarn! For fine-weight projects, I am currently in love with Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino. For medium-weight, there are so many yarns that I love. Here are a few classics that I've used over and over again:

Plymouth Suri Merino for it's soft hand and wonderful drape. Alpaca is not as springy as wool and texture patterns don't "pop" as much as with a more tightly spun yarn, but the results are still fabulous. And colorwork is just gorgeous.

Mission Falls 18/24 Wool is a great superwash alternative for colorwork. Superwash wool opens up a LOT when knitted in cable designs, so wash your swatch to see how the fabric reacts.

Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted because it's an inexpensive, basic yarn. It's a single, so the stitches look differently than they do when knitted with a plied yarn. I love this yarn for textured knitting. It's not as soft as merino or alpaca, however.

I hate to lists favorites though, because there are so many wonderful yarns on the market these days. I just love to swatch and try them all out! Trying new yarns is one of my favorite parts of the Exploration. "

View a slide show of Kanine Knits Patterns!
and then visit the website to see them all.

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The Soundview Knitting Guild

What a wonderful time I had last evening when I traveled to Trumbull, Connecticut to speak to the Soundview Knitting Guild. This is a large group of knitters who gather monthly to work on their own projects and to do knitting for charity. They are very enthusiastic and were welcoming to me.

My talk, of course, was on how I create my portraits of dogs in knitting using intarsia. I was impressed by all the questions and the interest in the subject. There are a lot of dog lovers in this group.

One of the interesting parts of the evening was the fact that they arranged for my talked to be taped to be broadcast on Channel 17 in Trumbull and then for the video recording to be housed in the Trumbull Public Library to be viewed by members of the community who were unable to attend the meeting.

Soundview is quite a large group of dedicated members. I was made to feel very welcome and enjoyed sharing my love for designing and knitting. Many were interested in my books and patterns that I brought to the meeting and there was a push to have a knitting book for Pug lovers done quickly.

I hope to place a copy of the recording up on my website soon.

I want to thank all the members of the guild for making me feel so welcome.

Peggy at The Big E

It has been a while since I posted but lots has been happening at Kanine Knits. I have been writing multiple books, getting patterns converted to pdf's, working the booth at the Big E, which for people who are not in New England, is a six state fair held for 17 days in September, and generally being busy but happy.

When I got back from my trip to California for Book Expo America, I began working on more ways to let people know about my books and patterns. As I mentioned in my last post, I set up multiple blogs with information appropriate to each breed, and I worked on making specific patterns into downloadable pdf files so that people could get them quickly without having to wait for the patterns to arrive in the mail. So now each Kanine Knit Pattern is available in either form.

Then came the push to get the booth ready at the Big E. This fair is huge, and I was on a committee to put together a large booth withing the Connecticut Building where authors from the state could exhibit their books. Needless to say, this took time and planning, but it was a complete success and on the days that I worked the booth, I met knitter from all over the eastern US. Even the governor of Connecticut, Jodi Rell, came to see my books and talk about her son's Labrador Retriever.

Of course when I wasn't at the Big E or elsewhere marketing my books, I was gathering materials for the ones that I'm writing now. The one nearing completion is the Corgi book. It has taken a while to gather photos of these wonderful Pembrokes and Cardigans at work and having fun, but that book should be out soon.

At the same time, the Poodle book is coming along, though it is waiting for me to gather more photos from poodle owners who want to show off their dogs.

There is much to come, but I have to get back to my knitting. I'll try to post more soon.