In Which The Score Is a Little More Even

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Last night That Rachel H. and I got in the car and drove off to Aurora, for my what-is-supposed-to-be-annual-but-isn’t trip to the York Region Guild.  It’s one of my favourite gigs, partly because it always starts with a pot luck, complete with beer and butter tarts, partly because they do awesome things like make a donation to MSF for me, and partly because I get to spend time with people I adore, like Curlerchik Sandra, and Helga, and Tove.

I’ve been ready to do this for a while, and tried to figure out how I would entertain the guild during the evening meeting.  It’s a small guild, so a formal talk seemed odd,  but a really informal Q&A didn’t seem right either, and so I hit on the idea of reading from my new book .  It was perfect, I thought – because so far as I know, I’ve got the only copies in Canada, and me, my agent and my publisher are the only people in the world who have them.  The publishing date is the 18th of October – so it would be, I thought, a cool sneak preview.

Imagine my shock, when (after beer, butter tarts and a ride in a convertible) I walked into Needles and Knits, and there was this:

Dudes.  A WHOLE BOX of the new book.  A whole box.  I just about fainted.  Then a I had a little worry about what on earth Tove had done to procure them before the pub date, and then I decided that was her magic and that I didn’t care, because all I could think of was one thing. 

Every time I have a book come out, the first people to get it are Americans.  This is all fine and dandy, and the way it is, because my publisher is American, but as a Canadian, it always stings a bit that my family, friends and co-knitters are always the last to see it in a store. (This has always galled my mum, who feels that it is her right to see it in a shop straightaway, and stalks the shops to achieve this.)  I always get tons of mail from people in Canada writing to say "but you’re Canadian, why do Canadians get it last?" or "Can’t you get them to ship to Canada early, so at least we get it at the same time?" Sadly, I have very little to do with the rules of customs, the border or the shipping schedule of a publisher.   I have even less to do with the fact that the publisher in the US has to first ship it to a distributing publisher in Canada who then ships it out to Canadian stores.  It’s just one more stop for the Canadian books… and there’s nothing I can do about it.  Further to that – you wouldn’t believe how little I have to do with the population of Canada, and what that means to how many books get shipped or events executed here.  We might be a country larger than the US, but we’ve got a comparatively tiny number of people, and that’s just a reality when it comes to business.

That’s what I was thinking about last night, when I saw that box of contraband pre-pub date books.  I was thinking that somehow, through some miracle – the first people in the world to have the book live in the not-at-all-bustling-metropolis of Aurora, Ontario…

and I laughed.

For the US, I’ve got a more-or-less finalized tour schedule up on the tour page.  I hope I’ll be near you.

182 thoughts on “In Which The Score Is a Little More Even”

  1. I think you should make the Canadian distribution issue part of the contract! At least no one gets a copy until your Mom has one in hand 🙂

  2. That’s wonderful and how exciting for you! I can’t wait to get my hands on one when they come out in the US.

  3. Yay new book!
    Of course the day you are in Boston is the day my lab has its retreat. I hope I get back in time!

  5. Congratulations. May all go well. Yipee what a feat (or ‘feet’ if you are of sock persuasion – not bad for 7:39 am, pre coffee)

  7. yeah! new book! hope this one has a recipe for butter tarts in it? As a Southern knitter, I’m so intrieged to try one. Can’t wait

  10. As a proud American, I am delighted that we are getting this last! Not that I’m not waiting patiently for it to arrive here, but I do love the idea of your book starting at home and growing from there. Congratulations and have fun! Maybe the first place in the US to get it should be Aurora IL.

  12. Oh how I wish you were coming to Atlanta… I will be too preggo to trek north to see you at another location but if I could I would! Congrats on the new book!

  13. Just a wee bit more patience for the Americans! Only fair for Canada to get a preview.
    I can’t wait to read it.

  14. Hooray for your new book coming home! And also yay for a book tour stop in Baltimore! Except I have a class that night. A knitting class. That I paid for. And it’s not in Baltimore. (Dang!)

  17. I just had to restrain myself from squeeing aloud in an extremely quiet space where people would NOT understand.
    Can’t wait!!!! (Sets time for October 18)

  19. I am excited about the book and will buy one as soon as possible. But, really, please, how many times do I have to ask to see someone model the finished Catkin? I so love the design and want to see how it fits those of us who are …ahem…undertall.

  22. Congratulations on the new book. Can’t wait for your book…will it be available on Kindle? Hmmmm… I only live a few hours from the NB border – might be worth a drive!

  24. YEAAAA! So glad to see the book out and about making it’s first appearance. Barnes and Noble tell me mine is to ship on the 18th – so it won’t be long now! YEA

  25. Aw shucks, of course I’m in between two of your stops (Providence, smack in between Boston and NYC) and I can’t go! I’m hoping I can guilt a friend in NY to go for me, or that you’ll be adding a few more stops later on *crosses fingers*
    Huge congrats on the new book! It must be so exciting to see them in that box, waiting to be delivered to their new homes.

  27. You don’t send your own mother a copy?! She has to go to the store to get one?
    Congratulations on the book, and I look forward to reading.

  28. I really hope I don’t have a teething/sick baby to keep me home from Rhinebeck this year! My mom is coming to go this year! Last year she came out only to have my doctor tell me I couldn’t go because the baby I had growing inside me wasn’t up to the trip. I had to stay home and start my five weeks of bed rest before he was born.

  30. You will! I’m so excited– although the funny thing is that I’m a Canadian, originally from the Maritimes but lived twelve years (and learned to knit!) in Toronto… and this tour means I’ll (hopefully!) get to meet you in Boston, MA, in the US of A. I’ll bring my Canadian flag.

  31. I am sorry that Canada doesn’t get your book first…that really doesn’t seem right. Try not to forget about your midwestern knitters. We are ALWAYS left out. We don’t have cool wool festivals, no one ever comes to see us. Please come somewhere in Kansas, even if it is just K.C. You’ve been there before, so please visit us again!

  32. First of all, I am impressed with all the baby knitting and the gorgeous little one – second, I cannot wait to get my hands on your book! 🙂
    Third – I will be at Rhinebeck on Sat Oct 15 as well , I live just less than 1 hour away – so I hope I see you.

  33. So excited for the new book! I’m glad some Canadians got it first this time 🙂 Unfortunately the closest you’ll be to me is St. Louis and that’s almost a 5 hour drive… and I will have just arrived back from fall break and had a choir concert, so that most likely will not work out 🙁 But I’m putting the book on my wish list anyway!

  34. Too cool! I love that a box made its way to where it belongs. (And now I’m hoping that the next box ends up here in Vista.) Off to check your schedule to see if southern California’s on the list!

  35. Ooh! You will be close (sort of – 100 miles isn’t too far, right?) – LA! BTW, if you need a beach and some beer on your “day off” between Texas and LA, let me know – we’ve got some mean microbreweries in north San Diego county.

  38. For RachelH:
    *whispering* swipe one for me. will pay in hockey tickets to the game of your choice. shhhh.

  40. It is kind of bummer that your friends and family don’t get it first. Hooray for the happenstance! Also, you are going to be about 15 minutes from my place in Chicago and I am thrilled.

  42. Wow! I checked the tour page you linked, expecting that you wouldn’t be visiting my city, because it’s a long way from the Canadian border and anyone who does come this far tends to go to the bigger cities of Dallas and Houston. But there you’ll be, in Austin! Yet another reason BookPeople is such an awesome store. I’ll look forward to seeing you there!

  43. About 10 yrs ago, the population was 300 million to 30 million in Canada. Understandable but Canada should get it FIRST!
    Am waiting on tiptoes for it to hit the stores here in Ohio.

  45. Is it sad that I looked at your tour schedule and thought…Hey, she’s going to fly over Tucson on the 25th, why can’t she stop in at my LYS and talk about her book..that would be awesome and my hubby I’m sure would love to spend out wedding anniversary meeting you! (I’m not actually kidding about the last part and I’m sure the first part is wishful thinking.)

  47. Umm…far be it from me to carp at the touring schedule of a New York Times Best-Selling Author, and I suspect you can order the tour schedule about as much as you can order the publication dates, but … you’re traveling from L.A. to Seattle to Portland? No wonder you never seem to wind up in Vancouver. Not since that first tour. What did we do?

  48. Aww crap – you were just down the street and I missed you AGAIN! (I was working anyhow, but shucks.) Way to go Tove though! Will have to ask her how she managed it LOL.

  51. Heard you a few years ago when you did a talk at Borders in South Jersey. You arrived late with a major cold and stll managed to captivate everyone in the room that night. Can’t wait to see you at Rhinebeck and to get my hands on a copy of the new book!

  52. Dude, you are so totally going to overflow the Brookline Booksmith. Seriously. It’s a little store. I’ll be there, though!

  53. Congrats on the new book! I look forward to getting a copy as soon as I can!
    I wonder if you could stop in Albuquerque, NM between Dallas and LA. We are in between. There’s a great local bookstore called Page One.

  54. oh good, the perfect reason for going to the local yarn shop, which I really have to find, since I’m tired of unpacking moving boxes and nearing the end of my latest pair of sox!

  55. Oh, I wish you’d come to the Bay area! We have knitters here, I promise!!
    Though it looks like you’ll be in the NW right when my parents are in town… makes it difficult to sneak away 😛

  56. I’m glad you got a box of books! You should receive them first there in Canada. I understand why the US tends to be first, but it only seems fair that you receive your copies as early as possible 🙂
    I looked at the schedule and you’ll be at a bookstore near my home in October. I plan to be there, and I discovered that they have a knitting book club. How exciting!
    Looking forward to your book, and having the chance to meet you in October!
    -Rita

  57. Hard to believe that the publisher doesn’t think there’s much of a yarn market in California. The S.F. Bay Area will host Stitches West in February 2012, as it has hosted Stitches West for a few years now. The Crochet Guild of America held its national conference in Oakland two or three years ago, *selling out* the convention center, both as to vendors and as to room-nights.
    The Monterey Peninsula also has an amazing number of yarnies! Sacramento sent a team to Fleece to Foot! Eureka (northern California coast) is quite near the sheep-raising centers of California. The Central Valley (hundreds of miles long, maybe 100 miles wide) is suitable for alpaca and llama raising. And, of course, Los Angeles is only one piece of southern California–one with the worst parking/transportation set-up. What about San Diego? Orange County?
    For sheer beauty, though, ya gotta see Albuquerque, New Mexico, and almost anywhere in Colorado.
    (Yes, I’ve lived in many places in the U.S. and have driven cross-continent several times, on different routes.)
    How many days can you stand to travel?! 🙂 I would so much love to meet you, if only to say (while holding a roller ball pen in my hand), “Hi, I love your books! Would you sign mine, please?”

  58. I guess that to receive the personal loans from banks you ought to have a firm reason. However, one time I have received a secured loan, because I was willing to buy a house.

  59. Okay, I have an idea: I’ll meet you by the border with boxes of your books, and you bring me a couple of bottles of Havana Club 7 and we’ll try not to cause an International Incident.

  60. Well……we Americans thank your publisher very much! I understand how you feel though. It only seems right that since you are Canadian, your book should come out in your country first. It’s only right.

  61. So what did you talk about? Did you read from the book? Don’t leave us hanging!!! Glad to see you in Maryland. I plan to make the trek from DC. Only wish it were an independent store and not the big chain. Congrats on the book.

  62. Your new tour brings you nearly in walking distance to my home. I feel lucky! Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket that week.

  63. I’m so glad Tove managed to procure some books! It makes me so happy that FINALLY someone here gets them before they’re released to the Americans. It’s just nice to see it semi-out where it came from….
    😀

  64. Checked the schedule and, while you’re not yet scheduled for Denver, CO, can’t help but notice you fly right over it and it’s a lovely spot for a stopover. Great book shops (Tattered Cover is an institution and for you I would actually leave the mountains and drive downtown), great yarn shops, and a freakin’ boatload of great knitters that would pack the joint. Just sayin’. You know, in case you’re in the mood.

  66. When I rule the Universe, NO ONE (okay, the author, but NO ONE ELSE) will be allowed to lay hands on a book before the author’s mother gets her copy. Seems only fair.

  67. Oh, WOW, you’re coming to Los Angeles!!!! Yay, yay, yay!!! And Vroman’s is one of my favorite bookstores ever. I’ll be there, oh yeah! And I say again, yay, yay, yay!!! (All these exclamation points are overkill, possibly unnecessary, and totally intended!)

  68. Hi from Queensland Australia. I’ve just ordered all your books and am off to the post office today to collect a parcel today!

  69. I just knew I signed up for Webs’ bus trip to Rhinebeck this year for a better reason than yarn!! Yippee!
    As for your publisher. Well. First they mess up your perfectly proper grammar/spelling, then they dis you by making you wait for your very own book.
    What is wrong with this picture, I ask you. And I sure hope no one gets in trouble for selling the book ahead of time. I recall all the hullabaloo when the Harry Potter books were coming out and how they threatened book stores with death and damnation, not to mention fines. Your books sell in the same numbers, right?

  70. KarenFL, I personally think no one should get a copy until one is special-delivered to Stephanie’s Mum and I still think Stephanie should get to use Canadian spelling. I bet there are more English speaking people who add the ‘U’ to color than not.

  72. With all due respect — or without any, for that matter — but your publisher needs to think about *you* when planning your tour. One city after another, day after day, can’t be good for you, let alone the book. And it’s not as though you’re some unknown who has to be introduced to the knitting/reading public. You’re famous, highly respected, live a commendable life — so let’s not destroy you in the hope of selling a few more books that would still get sold otherwise. I don’t want to go to Brookline to see a limp dishrag who’d rather be anywhere than facing a bunch of fans, no matter how devoted. Your publisher may know how to ship books; you know how to take care of yourself; don’t let them make a mess of it. Humph!

  74. Yay for the new book and for the Canadians getting a first look at it for once. I think that is totally fair even though it makes me a bit jealous 😉 It doesn’t look like Salt Lake City is on your list just yet, so I’m going to pre-order mine asap rather than wait for a Utah book store to host a gathering.
    I can’t wait to get it!

  75. Yeah, well, I’ve ordered stuff from Canadian websites and it takes a long time to get to the US from there. Sometimes as long as 3 weeks. (Why is that?) Your publisher is in the US. The Canadian company I ordered from is in Canada. It all works out eventually.

  76. Whoopee- You will be in Chicago, close enough…I cant wait to show you what a whiz I have become at lever knitting since I took yor class at Squam…and to see you and get the book….
    Its the Canadian post that is the issue- my brother lives in Canada and it can take 4 weeks to get a letter to him, even when they arent on strike…..

  77. It is not listed on the Kobo site for pre-order… may have to detour to Aurora since I’ll be n King City on Saturday anyway 🙂

  78. I understand the frustration of not getting a book first. When I lived on the west coast – we got all books 4-6 months after the publication on the east coast. I mean really – what’s up with that. My good friend and I would put in orders and pay all the extra shipping etc to a book withing the same year as everyone else. That is just wrong and so is the idea that a Canadian author can’t have her book in the shops so her mum can see it on day one.Really, really, wrong.

  80. OMG…you’re coming to St Louis…and Left Bank Books is in my son’s neighborhood! You just made my rotten day soooo much better. See you soon!

  81. Please oh please oh please come to North Carolina. Chapel Hill, specifically. It is REAAAAALLLY pretty here. Very warm, even in winter. Green, too. Lots of lush, green greeniness. Puh-lease come here! I am pricing airfare to fly out to Chicago to see you there otherwise. It would be so worth it (plus my sister and her family live there, so I’m not a crazy stalker lady, I swears it!), but then I’d be travelling with two children under 5. And I’d do it, Harlot! But if you come to Chapel Hill it would make me and my knitter friends SO happy. I know the perfect yarn store that would love to host you (I bet)….

  82. We will be awaiting your book’s arrival as if it were to be Christmas morning!!! So excited! And happy that you and your friends got to share it privately first! What a fun time!

  84. Hey Stephanie!
    I saw a copy (just 1) of your new book on the counter at “The Loom” (my LYS) just south of Duncan on Vancouver Island just a few days ago….
    I’d already spent my $$ on yarn but I’m going back for it (I promise! 🙂
    Susan

  85. Please, please, oh, please come to South Florida!!!! Come during the Winter – you’ll love the comfortable temperatures!!! We have yarn, beer, coffee, lots of vegetarian options, yarn….

  86. Congratulations on your latest book. Watch The Undefeated, then you can have an informed opinion and dislike Palin for the right reasons rather than a mirage. No one who is actually paying attention still thinks she is stupid.

  87. You’re coming to Portland! Speaking at Powell’s!
    I can hardly wait for October 28th.
    Welcome, welcome in advance.

  88. ….perhaps you’d enjoy a wee detour from Seattle and Portland over to Billings MT and our amazing LYS Wild Purls Yarns. Have fun “on tour” 🙂

  89. Thrilled about the contraband Canadian copies; shattered by the fact that nothing in the southeastern U.S. is on your tour list. I know the publisher is in charge of the tour dates, but if you can work your knitty wiles on them and get a city added within 8 hours’ drive of Atlanta, GA, I will bring you cupcakes, chocolate, and local beer. I’ll even bring extra for the wonder publicist, editor, and anyone else who might be susceptible to bribes. (As an editor myself, I know am familiar with the power of baked goods.)

  90. No Ann Arbor this year? Yet? Maybe coming eventually? I don’t know if your publisher will have you back in the Midwest again later this tour, but I’ve attended two of your A2 stops previously and they were so full it went to overflow rooms with a video screen, so they were well-attended. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the PTB (powers that be) see the light.
    Oh, and congratulations on the new book. I’ve had mine on pre-order for forever.

  91. So happy that someone managed to get a box in Canada! 🙂
    Having said that, please, please, please come to Colorado. We are willing to travel to whatever part of the State you fancy. I promise.
    Having said that, ever been to Fort Collins? You’d like it. 🙂

  93. Can hardly wait to get my hands on a copy. . . wonder if there are any in Vancouver? ? ? Anyway, hope to see you in Seattle next month! Thanks for coming back.

  94. Stephanie, When you come to Portland, you’ll be just four short blocks from my shop! What can I do to lure you down those four downhill blocks? Could it be the lure of chocolates from Verdune (some of the best in the world)? The lovely hummus and falafel from Madena of the Pearl right next door? Maybe some exotic teas from the Tea Zone in the next block?
    Do I really need to beg? I have your book on order at Unicorn Books already. I have Judy Becker (Judy’s Magic Cast On) and 20 copies of her book coming in (I’ve got a pattern in that one that I’m pretty jazzed about). I’ve got TONS of locally-dyed yarns and fiber, natural color fiber by the ounce, and locally-made needle cases and more!
    And girl, my shop’s one-year anniversary is being celebrated during the month of October! It would be absolutely grand if you’d stop by!
    Please????

  95. Got mine on pre-order already!
    Can you tell the publisher that they still need to add England to the list.

  100. So glad you got them in Canada first! Mine has been on order from Amazon for months (no LYS nor LBS) Agree that you should take care of yourself while on tour and not overdo – no matter how badly we all want to see you. There are millions of us knitters who love you and only one of you – hint, that makes you an international treasure!
    Highly entertained by reading the comments where some are willing, like me, to drive 500-600 miles to catch one of your appearances and others think 30 miles is too far….so funny & figure they just deserve to miss seeing you. Wishing you blessings!

  101. I am thrilled to see you will be in St. Louis, and if not at my branch of the library, at the next closest one! Of course, it is the same day that book group is meeting AT MY HOUSE. So, I really need to get a head start on housecleaning, so I can come see you. That may be the incentive that I need.

  103. I work for a publisher (an American publisher, at that) and I can second your logistical points…so folks, it really isn’t her call! However, as a Mother, I do understand your Mother wanting to see your books first…so I’m glad you got to see a whole box in Canada! Lovely!
    Also, dude, you are coming to Baltimore…my day just got exponentially better! 🙂

  104. Yay for Canadians getting the first copies!
    And you are coming to a store near me. I guess I should bring some socks to knit, right? 😉

  105. Skokie on the 20th! All right…need to get some yarn, my knitting needles and get on the bus to the Barnes & Noble that day!

  107. Did you fly all the way to NYC, then fly back to Vancouver, then DRIVE to Aurora? Please tell me you just drove from NYC to Aurora! Wow! So many miles covered!!! Can’t wait to read your book 🙂

  108. Not to be pedantic, but amazon.co.uk says the release date is 13 October…
    Since your other books were among the ones that HAD to come with me when I moved across the pond (London-ward), I’ll be glad to support my LYS with this purchase. Now just to convince them that they need to carry books…
    And how awesome was it to see your book in a big box in a wool shop stockroom, just like so many skeins of wool?

  110. (on my knees, nose to knees with arms outstretched on the floor…and…um…whimpering a little more than softly, but not really whining…really…)
    Salt Lake City? or Moab, Utah? Grand Junction Colorado would be okay too. There is good (3.2%) beer in Moab, well and Park City too. But it’s warmer in Moab, too, and really really pretty views, nice sheep, good food…
    Alright…I’m done…sorry about that…really (pathetic)…

  111. It’s endlessly troublesome to me that people anywhere within a 100 mile radius of Chicago refer to themselves as being in Chicago… Your “Chicago” tour date excited me – but, alas, it’s in Skokie, an entirely separate town! Sorry, suburbs, you are the suburbs, and we auto-less urban dwellers struggle to get there.

  112. I hope by stating “more to come” you mean “I will finally have convinced my publicist and/or agent that Iowa is worthy of my presence and will be appearing in Des Moines or Davenport where there are oodles of organics farmers and enough microbrew to float a good-sized navy.”
    Not that I’m still holding a grudge after all these years…

  113. OMGosh! You’re coming to Baltimore and not to far from me the day BEFORE my birthday! How cool is that! An early B-Day present! The cherry on top would be if I am recovered enough from the wrist surgery to be knitting again.

  114. It was exciting seeing that box of books! Can’t wait to get one. I am hoping another visit to Anchorage, Alaska is in your somewhat near future….

  115. SO excited I’ll finally get to see you!! And just 6 days after my birthday, what an amazing treat!! 😀

  118. I’m an American and I think that, as a Canadian, your country should get your books first. It’s only fair. And your mum’s local book store ought to call her when they get them and make sure she gets the first copy.
    Too bad it’s not a fair world. 🙂

  121. lucky lucky lucky canadians! i’m attempting to get this books from a local bookseller here in the states, but what i really want is it for my nook…sigh. but yay! new book! (and if you’re free, folks in denver would love to see you.)

  123. Hi!
    I am so excited about your new book and tour. We will be traveling to Portland to see you. If you decide to come back to Eugene sometime we would love to host you but for now it is great that you will be in Portland.

  124. I am thrilled about your tour and got so excited to see that you will be in Park Slope (I used to live very near there) and then in Boston on the very night I will be in Boston…leaving. I have always wanted to see you in person. The near miss is just too much. But maybe you’d let this Indiana girl treat you for coffee on Tuesday morning in MA. 🙂

  126. Congratulations! About time Canada had first dibs on one of your books. Hoping you get to Minneapolis on this tour. Easier to hit than Chicago but then again The Fold is between me and Chicago. Will check with my knit buddies and see if a road trip/yarn crawl is in our future.
    Have a great time on this tour and reading from your own works is a great way to do a book tour. What is it Denny says? Breath in pink, breath out blue? Relax and enjoy. Hugs from the Heartland.
    Alice

  127. Oh lord, I’m going to have to drive all the way to Austin to see you? Gol! If only I liked that dang town.
    Wait. I totally do like that town.

  131. Why did you use an American publisher? Now that you have attained more recognition as a writer, you could easily change to a different company if you wanted to…

  133. I’m American and I think Canadians should be the first to get the book of a Canadian author no matter who the publisher is. But, alas, I have about as much power as our beloved harlot.

  134. Can’t wait for your book to come to my LYS. Hopefully I’ll make it to a stop on your tour this time.

  137. Brooklyn AND Brookline for your book crawl! There is another Brooklyn about halfway between them, with cows and sheep …

  138. We are lovely, lovely knitting people in the midwest–and although St Louis is in the Midwest, it is WAY down south where they don’t need so many sweaters. We in the northern climes, like Minnesota, for example, knit A LOT, and as such must surely be far more enthusiastic fans. right? Come here, pretty plese??? Duluth has yarn you may not have played with yet–Three Irish Girls, which really is yummy, yummy stuff. Can we bribe you?

  140. You know, it would be FABULOUS if you could wear a finished WILD APPLES BOHUS on the tour!! Wouldn’t that be FABULOUS?

  144. Dear Stephanie,
    Please come to Philadelphia. It kills me that you’ll be in NYC, Boston, and Baltimore but not Philly! We are a city of brotherly live full of knitters; as a bonus there is good vegetarian food and drink to be had near our LYS’s, which are walking distance from our bookstores.
    Please come. We would be so happy.

  146. Don’t forget your friends in Buffalo, we are just a hop, skip and a jump from Toronto. Good food, good beer and we are the “city of good neighbors”, hope to see you soon.

  148. Just looked at the US schedule – I’ll try to be at your signing in Skokie – that’s out knit night so maybe several of us will come.
    When you are in Seattle – at Third Place Books – that was my oldest dearest book haunt when I lived in Seattle – my old house is just up the road from there. I use to do some of their book reviews & I taught several knit classes in the open cafe area. Really wish I was seeing you there – I miss it terribly. There’s no place like home – there’s no place like home.

  149. I like to see that box of sneaky books in Canada. that is as it should be. But, but, but… Tucson is between Texas and California. And we knit. A lot. We’ve an active guild, four LYS. Pleeeeeeeeze???

  150. Actually, I think that we probably have to wait longer still for the book to be available in the UK. I have mine pre-ordered! Can’t wait.

  151. I can’t believe that I was one of the knitters harassing you to come east and now that you are I missed the boat… everything was booked solid at Knit East before I tried to register….. (I spent too much time telling all my knitting friends….)
    I’ll be popping in on the Saturday Marketplace though…and I wish you all the very best of knitterly weekends !!!

  152. Oops…. sorry about the triplicate posting..I suppose my silly laptop is as menopausal as I am ?

  153. Hi Stephanie,
    All the best for the success of your latest book.
    Looking forward to receiving my copy.
    FYI. In the book business very often publishers
    will allow books to be sold in advance of the
    release date, especially at an event. Never-the-
    less, I appreciate your frustration. It’s what
    I feel when friends back home talk about a Rowan
    book they’ve had for weeks which hasn’t finished
    swimming across the pond!

  154. I will miss your trip to IL as I will be in WA with Cat Bordhi, which, as you know, is a perfectly wonderful place to be. Have a great tour!

  155. You’re going from Chicago to St Louis. Too bad you can’t stop in Springfield on the way. You’d be going right through us if you were driving. Hope to see you in St Louieeee.

  157. Looking forward to Sheep & Wool, lucky me, I live in Rhinebeck. Hope I get a chance to see you there.

  158. Ya wanna talk minorities? At least you’re in the very heartland of knitting. Guess how many knitting authors/trunk shows/yarn expos/whatever we see here in Florida! Conga rats on the new book, and may every Canadian who wants one get it before it shows up in the US…

  159. It was a wonderful night as always. Suprisingly good weather, great friends, lots of wonderful vegetarian food, butter tarts and knitting – what more can you ask for? (Tove can always work magic – it’s the Norwegian troll mojo within her that can’t be replicated). I’d be glad to bake more of your favourite butter tarts anytime. We had a visitor from Virginia that night so she has to be taken out for a Tim Hortons “Double double”, butter tarts and Nanaimo Bars as a Canadian cultural tour before she goes home. Thanks again.

  160. Hi, Stephanie! Years ago I worked in a bookstore. We’d often get books weeks before the pub date and they’d sit in the back room. There is a “lay down” date, the date the store is allowed to display and sell books. That’s so publishing houses can easily figure out their accounting; all stores start selling the same day.
    I work in book publishing now and our books are printed by separate companies. Not a lot you can do about which country gets the book when you’re using mulitple printing companies, depending on who can take the project!
    Love from Nashville, Sarah W.

  161. Oh My Goodness she is coming to Austin……
    I look forward to seeing you(again)when you are in Austin, Texas.

  162. I can’t believe you’re going to be in LA, on my day off, which happens to coincide with my baby’s first birthday! I’m sorry to have to miss you. I’ll have to be satisfied with getting to meet you at Sock Summit (after being chased through the hall, but before being “orifice hooked”). Thank you for all the inspiration, and congratulations on your new book.

  163. Canada may have a tiny number of people, but most of the ones I have met are knitters, and all of the Canadian knitters I have met are clever and fun and so very nice (here’s looking at YOU, fastest-knitter at SS2011 Deb Barnhill, being nice on the MAX line at 4 in the morning!)

  164. Alas for those of us who live in the South! (aka the southeastern portion of the United States) We shall have to bide our time and coax you down in November or January when you have several feet of snow and we are basking (aka complaining and thinking we have it on hard terms) in our well-above-freezing “crisp” winter days. By the way, I think St Andrews By-The-Sea is the most romantic place name ever.

  165. I totally get what you’re saying. I have a really great friend from Canada and we always joke with each other, saying, “oh, you’re from Canada, then you must know…(fill in with a name).” because Americans think there’s only 16 people in the whole wide country of Canada and that they must know each other well.

  166. Yah-hoo! Pasadena!! I missed you at the Central Library in downtown L.A. a couple of years ago, but this will be even better! Thanks for coming all the way out here.

  167. We’d love to see you in Pittsburgh, PA! There are tons of lovely little yarn shops around here and I’m sure any of them would love to have you!

  168. Stephanie, I’ve been reading your blog for several years now (I’ve been knitting earnestly since 2001, when my step-grandson was born). I’ve moved into lace, know cables, shawls, baby sweaters, socks, sweaters, shadow knitting!, to name a few techniques & shapes I’ve learned/completed. I’m ready to join you and your ‘cohorts’ at a retreat — but I’ve booked my family & other trips before I remembered to look for your retreats. Can I summarize: there’s the Sock Summit, in mid- to late-July and this Port Ludlow retreat, off Washington coast… are there others? I live in the Bay area, so none of these places are inconvenient to reach. I should try to schedule at least on of these in the future! (I’ve never spun, but it sounds interesting. Your topics sound interesting… & I love your sense of humor, er, rather humour, etc., etc.) Please confirm I’ve got the right notion & haven’t missed anything. Probably west coast activities are better than Ontario ones… for ease of travel. Best, Louise

  169. hey steph;
    I’ve pre-ordered your new book from Amazon.co.uk and am upset to see that you won’t be making a tour to the UK anytime soon. (hope ive dropped the hint) we’d love to have you!
    And congrats on the new book. 🙂

  172. This girl-from-Thornhill-who-lives-in-Boston will be disappointed to miss you when you visit Brookline on the 18th. That is my 4 yr old twins birthday and I’m going to have miss your visit. Bummer, but I hope that Webs draws you in for another stop on your tour.
    As for the book release date problem in Canada vs the US, my Thornhill/Richmond Hill visits could work in a trade of knitting books for butter tarts and Creemore Springs 🙂

  173. Thanks for posting the schedule. I sent an email to my best friend that you would be near her on the tour. She could really use a dose of the wonder that is you. It will cheer her up immensely.

  174. So happy for you Steph!
    Any chance we’ll be lucky enough to see you here in the Albuquerque / Santa Fe area?! All of us here in the Southwest have much love for The Harlot 🙂

  175. Canada aren’t the last place to get your books – that’s Britain.
    Congratulations on the new book.
    – Pam (off to stalk Amazon.co.uk because that’s the only place it’ll be available this year)

  179. I am so excited! You are coming close to my home and on a night that I think I can attend!! I am headed out of town two days later. Yay!!

  180. Forgot to ask if you would like some knitterly entertainment when you are in Baltimore. I know of several of us who would be delighted to help out!

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