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.

New Teaching Blogs for the Crafty Dog Knits Books

It has been a while since I've posted with demands of getting out new books and creating a support system for all the books. I get many questions from knitters when they approach the intarsia patterns for the first time. They feel somewhat intimidated with all the colors. So what I've done is set up an instructional blog for each book. This way, knitters working on patterns from the book can go to the "comments" section on the page and pose a question which I'll try to answer. This way we can work through the designs together.

These blogs are also a place to come to brag about your work. You can send me jpegs and I'll happily post them. The creativity of knitters is boundless when given a blank canvas of a sweater design and a dog to inspire them. How they work these designs and create one-of-a-kind garments is wonderful.

Check out the blog for the book you own:
http://newfoundlandscraftydogsknit.wordpress.com/
http://samoyedscraftydogsknit.wordpress.com/
http://labradorretrieverscraftydogsknit.wordpress.com/
http://goldenretrievercraftydogsknit.wordpress.com/
http://bernesemtdogcraftydogsknit.wordpress.com/

Though each of these has basically the same information to start, once you get involved, each will develop its own uniqueness.

At present I am working on books for Corgis, Boxers, Bichon, German Shepherds and at the request of a friend, Australian Shepherds. If you own one of these breeds and wish to be part of the project, just email me at gaffney@kanineknits.com.

The beginning of May was busy because I was speaking at CAPA-U the annual writers conference put on by The Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. My workshop was based on what I do creating The Crafty Dog Knits series. It was a wonderful experience where I met many authors, publishers and agents and hopefully inspired writers to produce their own books.

The end of May was busy when I traveled to Los Angeles for PMA-U, a publishing conference and Book Expo America. It was four exhausting days, but I felt at the end that I had earned an MBA in publishing. I made many new friends, reconnected with old friends, especially Debbie Macomber who is so wonderful and whose books keep me grounded; and managed to feel humbled and empowered at the same time. It was an experience and was my first trip to LA in 33 years. There were palm trees, mission bells and much less smog.

So enjoy knitting and let me know what breeds you'd like to see as books.

Peggy

New Book for Newfoundlands coming out
June 1

Well again I'm launching a new book. They are coming fast and furious with all the help I'm getting from the dog fanciers world wide. This time it is The Crafty Newfoundland Knits and it has 25 patterns for sweaters, hats mittens, afghans, etc. plus stories about all the things the breed does and 25 charted graphic designs of these activities to be worked into the patterns.

I had tons of fun with this book since my dear friend Kathy has had Newfs for years and these dogs are friends with my Samoyeds. I had some help from talented photographers, Ruby Silver here in Connecticut, Carole Bernard in France and Donna Overman in Canada. The book is truly an international effort.

Newf fanciers who want to check out the book or order the book at a pre-publication discount, just go to http://www.kanineknits.com/kanine_knits_Crafty_Newfoundland_Knits_Book.htm

This week I'm off to Rhode Island to teach knitting at Berner University as part of the Bernese Mt. Dog Club of America National Specialty. I look forward to spending the day surrounded by hundreds of these beautiful dogs and sharing my designs with knitters at the show.

Then the following week I'm back to Rhode Island for the Newfoundland Club of America National Specialty, visiting friends and telling people about the new book that will be coming out.

On May 10, I get to change hats a little since I will be presenting a workshop at Connecticut Authors and Publishers University writers conference in Hartford, CT. This will be fun sharing how I create my books with others who are interested in writing and publishing non-fiction.
Also the end of the month I'll be off to LA to attend PMA-U on publishing and marketing and Book Expo America.

So it is busy all the time here, but the dogs keep me grounded. Harry Potter does his editing with his chin in the keyboard. I get so wrapped up in my work that I'm always astounded when suddenly there are a row of z's running through my sentence. The other two haven't developed a writing bent yet, but they lend moral support and keep my feet warm.

Lots of new books in the works for Corgis, Poodles, Boxers, Bichon, German Shepherds, Sheties and more to come. I'm having a ball creating these designs and writing the books. Anyone who'd like to see their dog's photo in one of these books just contact me.

At last spring is here and my garden is coming to life. It's so good to work with the windows open. I hope everyone enjoys the lovely weather.

New Book from Kanine Knits

The Crafty Bernese Mountain Dog Knits has gone to press and will debut at Berner U, part of the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America National Specialty on April 23 where I will be teaching knitting to all those who want to learn how to create these dog portrait designs.

This is the fourth book in the Crafty Dog Knits Series along with those about Samoyeds, Labs and Goldens. It has been a lot of work but made very pleasant by the wonderful participation of a number of Berner breeders especially Linda Seaver who was invaluable in collecting photos of the dogs and giving me the benefit of her experience in the breed and Cindy Forlenzo and her dog Burt who posed for the covers.

Check out the web page dedicated to the book which is available for order at a special pre-publication discount till April 15. Go to the Kanine Knits page about the new book http://www.kanineknits.com/Kanine_Knits_Crafty_Bernese_Mt_Dog_Book.htm and take a look.

Saying Goodbye to Ria

I had to say goodbye to my beautiful Samoyed bitch Ria. For a dozen years she has been a constant source of joy, whether in the show ring which was her favorite place or visiting all the children at obedience class.

Ria was special. She made me look so good in the ring. I didn’t have to do anything; she could and did show herself. One judge asked me if I didn’t feel redundant since she was quite capable of winning with no help from anyone. Her signature biscuit ears were always on alert and her movement was flawless. She knew the ring so well that I could have shown .her off lead and not missed a step.

A number of years ago she was injured with a terrible blow to the head from, what we think but couldn’t prove, was a slingshot. She ended up having both her eyes removed. However, nothing changed for her. She stayed the same Ria, beloved by the other dogs and bossing them around. The only difference came when someone tried to stare her down and discovered that didn’t work since she couldn’t see. She would blithely walk up and steal a bone right out of their mouth. Right up to the last, if you said to her “show dog”, she’d trot to a perfect stack in front of you, staring at bait that only she could see and hold the pose till released.

She was my inspiration, my shadow, my loving friend and I will miss her.

More New Patterns from Kanine Knits

I am getting more and more patterns out to knitters with a love of dogs, four more have been added to the collection of Portraits of Dogs in Knitting. They are, the Parson Jack Russell Terrier, the Belgian Sheepdog, the Lakeland Terrier and the American Eskimo. These plus many more are available at the website www.kanineknits.com.

These will be up on the pattern page ready for knitters to order today. Ten more breeds are in the stack waiting to be knit and will debut soon.

Stitches West – Goes to the Dogs! Feb. 21-24, 2008.

Is there a special dog in your life?

Would you love to knit his portrait using his own hair?

Then now is the time to visit VIP at booths 725 & 727 at Stitches West.

Victoria Pettigrew from VIP FIBERS will show you how you can take all the hair that your favorite pooch is shedding all over the house, get it spun into lovely soft yarn, and then knit your own dog’s portrait using his hair and a KANINE KNITS dog portrait pattern.

Come see how KANINE KNITS celebrates dogs at the VIP FIBERS booth at Stitches West in California at the

Santa Clara Convention Center. See the sample sweaters, look at the books and check out all the portrait patterns for the different breeds. Talk with Victoria about how you can create a one-of-a-kind sweater, afghan, pillow or other accessory with your own dog portrayed in his own hair.

The Crafty Dog Book Series will be for sale, plus if you order a pattern using the special code available at the booth, you’ll receive a special extra pattern FREE created just for this show.

So come visit the world of dogs at the VIP FIBERS booth and see the knitted dog portraits from KANINE KNITS.

"Pet Talk"

with Lauren Collier
News Ch. 12 TV
Norwalk, Connecticut
interviews Peggy

Watch Interview Below

Peggy enjoyed visiting with old friends when she was interviewed by Lauren Collier on her Pet Talk segment of News Ch. 12 TV. Lauren is holding one of Peggy's designs for a Bouvier des Flandres. Peggy was there talking about her three books, The Crafty Samoyed knits, The Crafty Labrador Retriever Knits, and The Crafty Golden Retriever Knits and about the two new books that will be coming out soon, The Crafty Bernese Mt. Dog Knits and The Crafty Newfoundland Knits. They also talked about the over 100 different breed design pattern leaflets Kanine Knits has available including the Bouvier, Lauren's favorite breed.
Peggy demonstrated how to knit with dog hair that had been spun and dyed. Though the segment was over too soon for all the fun going on, everyone had a good time. The broadcast can be viewed by people in south western Connecticut, south eastern New York and on the western part of Long Island. The segment will be shown several times during this week Jan 20-25, 2008 by those able to tune in the News 12 Pet Talk show.

Ravelry - How to find knitting friends on-line.

One of the wonders of this virtual world in which we move from day to day is that you can make good friends, find mentors, exchange ideas and expertise, and just have a good time without ever leaving your home. Social Networking is the new way of visiting friends, sharing our lives and interests, and communicating with people from around the world as though they lived next door.

For knitters and crocheters, this is Ravelry a new social network that began in mid-2007 and by the end of the year it is near 100,000 in membership. That's a lot of knitters and crocheters no matter how you look at it.

So what do you do on Ravelry? Well, you make friends and see what everyone else is doing. You talk about your likes and dislikes, about your challenges with a technique, about skills you do well and skills you can't do but would like to try.

You find a specific group within the Ravelry community that shares your interest (and there are hundreds) and you join. Those with wide interests will join many groups. All of a sudden you have people looking over your shoulder helping as though they were in the room.

Since I do intarsia in all my Kanine Knits designs, I've started a Ravelry group called Knit Intarsia Pictures, where members are of any skill level, from those who can knit sweaters what have scenes that circle the entire garment to beginners who have been frightened to try what to them seems so hard. When you join a group, you suddenly get people who care about you and what you want to do, who will help you along the way and who will share your successes.

If you are a knitter, this is the place to make friends and learn and it is only as far away as your computer.