Nashville Stitch N Bitch

joyce kilmer, whoopie pie, and a contest

I've been so enthralled with ericka's tree sweater saga and what better day to talk about it than Earth (aka Arbor) Day? Joyce "only god can make a tree" Kilmer would be thrilled with the tree sweater. Nothing makes me more giddy than seeing someone do something because, at least in their own mind, it must be done. I imagine her in the middle of the night mattress stitching that thing on the tree. Art for art's sake baby. Right on with your tree sweater makin' self Ericka. Our family isn't making art, but outside planting tomatoes and flowers and in utterly unEarth Daylike thoughts, considering in what most sadistic way to kill Box Elders.

Quilt news because you know you need it: 1 five year old plus 1 almost three year old plus pretty weather plus something to do every night this week equals zero quilting and even knitting time is at a premium - car trips and book signings (and gee, there seem to be a lot of those lately) mostly. Even when I do have a stretch of time I mentally can't warm up to this monstrous quilt right now and so it sits in a heap on my table waiting for me and my patience with it to return, kind of like the tree in that Shel Silverstein book. It has infinite patience for me and my brood, but it should count itself lucky because I have considered cutting it down and turning it into a boat more than once. I pieced that quilt up there last year during one of Jim's trips and really ought to finish it. It's just scraps, and I really like it, but I don't like the batting in it and didn't know I didn't like it until I started quilting it. Luckily the quilting didn't get too far, but I still need to pick it all out. Next! After Monstro is finished. And after that quilt for Maeve's room. And the one for Truman's room. And and and.

So the week with Kay and Ann comes to a close, and I don't have one picture to show for it. Were there photo ops to be had? Dude. You know there were. Last night was the finale signing for Nashville at threaded bliss (and you KNOW Sheila has her some pictures of the event) and it really was a great event. My own mama was my date and we had a great time. I met jen (aka "the hager twins called me lovey" from the brush with fame contest) and we had beer and RC and some kind of yankee dessert called a Whoopie Pie brought to us courtesy of tisra. I think every knitting store should have beer and Whoopie Pie at least once a week if not daily. I also appreciate the volume of knitting that went on during the event AND that it was actually projects from the book. One girl actually completed her log cabin blanket simultaneously with the completion of Ann and Kay's talk and in a burst of enthusiasm which can only be attributed to too much sugar, too much beer, excitement to be finished with so much garter stitch or a combo of the 3, she leaped to her feet and yelled. Now that's a book signing.

What I mostly learned about Ann and Kay this week is that given the opportunity to eat together, we are not above any particular food genre. "Bad For You" wouldn't exactly cover it... I would say it went from "Down Home" to almost dipping into "State Fair" territory. We didn't cover deep fried Oreos or giant turkey legs, but by God, if it could be fried, you can be fairly certain that we made sure Kay got a good intro. Catfish, barbeque, fried dill pickles, even fried corn on the cob were covered. I think I got enough sweet tea in her that she could've flown her own plane home today. I had a fun time this week girlies.

OK, so if you live in a part of the world that Ann and Kay didn't get to on their rockstar book tour, what I have here is a GENUINE AUTHENTIC AUTOGRAPHED by Ann and KayMason Dixon Knitting book! To give away! Just leave me a note either by email or comments and let me know the oddest/grossest/best food in your part of the country. I'll take all entries and pull one at random. Have your entries in by SUNDAY APRIL 29!

xo