Hi- Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while, but it’s been non-stop work, putting the finishing touches on my new book “Knitting in Circles”, creating new designs , teaching and traveling back to back to back—Santa Fe, New Mexico….Clarksburg, West Virginia…and tomorrow I leave for Atlanta, Georgia to teach ,lecture and sign books at Stitches South…So forgive me if this blog is a little shorter than usual–I gotta pack again!

I had a fantastic time in Santa Fe, all orchestrated by the gacious  Bev of the charming OOdles Yarn & Bead shop. Great food, great margharitas, great knitting and great people. Women from all over the Southwest..New Mexico, Texas, etc. (we even had one woman who came all the way down from Oregon) bonded, learned and had fun in my classes and at my power point presentation.

I got to have one day of relaxation, enjoying beautiful Santa Fe with it’s great museums, Native American market, and wondeful architecture. For the first 3 days the weather was in the mid 70′s, but as we came out of lunch on my day off we walked into an incredible snowstorm…but it was beautiful.

 

Back from beautiful but unpredictable Santa Fe for 2 days and off to wild and wondeful West Vriginia for an Easter visit with my Dad, family and friends. I particularly enjoyed my neice & nephews Tristan,Scott, and the non-stop active Mason(we had an impromptu Easter egg hunt for him at my Dad’s house). I was hopelfully  going to get some rest, but I never stopped running…still it was great!

Back to New York for a couple of days and then tomorrow I am gone with the wind to Atlanta, Georgia for Stitches South, fried chicken and mint juleps. Here’s a picture of Howie and myself, the last time we were in Atlanta.

Happy Knitting, Nicky

 

Just got back from 4 wonderful days at the VK Live Show at the New York Hilton–It was a great success and there were even more people attending than last year–As always, got to see many old friends and make new ones–There were over 70 vendors selling all kinds  of knitwear products, a gala dinner/ fashion show and non-stop events.Two of the many products that I liked were “Fix-A-Stitch”, a two ended crochet hook that helps you fix stitches that need to be (www.FixAStitch.com) and Jazz Turtles Creations yarn, beautiful handspun yarn incorporating metallics and georgeous feathers etc, (www.jazzturtle.etsy.com).

I signed lots and lots of books, had filled classes, and my new power point presentation drew over 200 enthusuastic knitters–

 

 VK held a classy charitable auction at a gallery downtown, for the Women”s Heart Association, with personal items contributed by various designers–My sheep painting sold for an amazing $2,800 for the charity–I’m thinking of changing careers!

My book “Knitting In Circles” goes to press in two weeks and I’m feverishly making minor editorial changes–I’m thrilled with the way it turned out and hope you will be too.

 A SERIOUS NOTE ABOUT KNITWEAR PLAGIARISM AND PIRACY–Recently, a prestigious craft company (I will not reveal details) sponsored a cash award afghan design contest–The winner was awarded a generous cash prize, the design was published in a book, and the design was put on the market in a kit with the amateur “designer’s” name on it, along with royalties for her–The only problem was…the design was entirely MINE. It turns out, that a number of women (bless them) recognized that it was my design that had been published in a magazine, some years ago, and informed the unknowing craft company about it. The company, being an honorable institution, contacted me, explained the situation, apologized and made restitution. MY POINT IS:In our internet world, knitwear plagiarism and piracy goes on all the time…Knitwear designers work very hard, for modest compensation, and too many times their work is compromised by the untalented and the unprincipled. The individdual who took my design was not only unfair to me and to the craft company, but also to the talented knitters who created original designs for the afghan contest–Plagiarism and piracy on the internet is hard to police, so if you come across any example of it (patterns, kits, books, etc) for ANY designer’s work…SHOUT IT OUT, as the good samaritans did, in my case–Thanks for listening.

I’m setting up my traveling/teaching/book signings schedule for 2012 and fielding request from many yarn shops and organizations–So many wonderful invitations… So little time!

 Gung Hay Fat Choi–Happy Chinese New Year–Year Of The Dragon.

Happy Knitting, Nicky

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I just returned from a fabulous knitting trip with our neighbors to the north. Barb Barone and Cynthia Hyslop(sisters) fantastic owners of 2 wonderful ”River City Yarn” shops in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, were kind enough to invite me to host the 2011 “Wool, Wine, and Wheels” tour from Edmonton to  beautfiul Jasper National Park–I gratefully accepted…we put on our mucklucks…hitched up the dog sled…and headed North, for what turned out to be one of the best, beautiful and most fun knitting trips ever!

On my first day in Edmonton I taught 2 classes (“Edging Magic & Flower Power” and “Happy Hats”) at one of the lovely River City Yarn Shops. That evening Barb & Cynthia had a reception and special sale, for the women who were going on the tour, the next morning. It was love at first sight for me…Here were over 50 fantastic women ranging  from age 17 to 83 who loved knitting and loved to have fun–We had a great time and sold lots of my books(“Knitting Block by Block” is as popular in Canada as it is in the US), kits and yarn, and drank wine, snacked and bonded.

Early next morning we arrived at the train station and took off, needles and yarn in hand, for the beautiful journey from Edmonton to Jasper. The 4 day 3 night tour was  masterfully orchestrated by John Steel Rail Tours and John was with us for the whole trip keeping things beautifully flowing. The seats on the train were like first class airline seats, and we had a delicious brunch in the elegant dining car. On the train I learned how to make and decorate book covers made from brown paper bags, and later in Jasper many of the girls made and beautifully adorned them. On the train we met 3 wonderful young people, hired by the Canadian Railroad who go through the train singing songs about wildlife, Canadian history and more–It’s great public relations and they were absolutely charming and seemed to be having as much fun as we were–There was also a great glass domed observation car on the train and as the train neared Jasper the scenery and wildlife (elk, bighorn mountain sheep etc) became more and more spectacular.

 When we got to Jasper we were whisked off to the lovely and spacious Jasper Inn. On the advise of Barb & Cynthia we took a short trip out of town to visit the beautiful and luxurious Fairmont Jasper Lodge Resort. It was lovely, inside and out and they were already decorated for Christmas. That evening we all dined at our hotel where I gave my power point presentation to an appreciative audience.

The next 3 days were a whilrwind of teaching classes, fashion shows, best design contests, sightseeing, wining, dining, marshmallow roast bonfire and even a group pajama party(including hair curlers)..It was fabulous–Because of the size of the group(soldout capacity) we broke into 2 groups and I taught one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with everyone getting together in the evening in a common and comfortable place to knit and just shmooze. I taught my “Block Party Workshop” and “Embroider On Knitting” classes to receptive and talented women…The hours were long for me, but the group was so kind and so much fun, that the time passed quickly, and when we awarded prizes in the various creative categories, they were all winners

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One particularly gratifying experience was meeting,on the tour,                          3 generations of knitters (grandmother, mother and daughter) who were all fans of my Block book and each had knitted a number a blocks and put them together in a spectacular afghan…I was blown away!

 

I was told that it was rutting season for the Elk and to be careful walking around, because they were everywhere, and could be a bit testy, if you got too close, at that time of year. During my lunch break I happened to wander in back of the hotel, and there, sitting down in the grass was this magnificent bull Elk –I called Howie and he came running with his camera–After lunch he suggested that we go look to see if the elk was still there…he was, and as if by magic, he stood up and nonchelantly strolled away giving us the opportunity for some great pictures, and I felt a little guilty when, that evening, I ate a delicious elkburger in town (I hope it wasn’t a relative of our Elk).

 

 

On the last day I got to walk around the charming town of Jasper–It is surrounded on all side, by the glorious snow-capped Canadian Rockies, and to top it all off I found a glorious artisinal chocolate shop in town.

 

On the way to the train to Edmonton, the group stopped by the town mascot statue of Jasper the Bear and tied a ceremonial knitted scarf around its neck, and we posed for a group picture–On the journey back to Edmonton, we had a great dinner in the dining car..we knitted…chatted or napped. At the station it was like saying so-long to 50 good, close firends and hugs, kisses and even a few tears marked our farewell.

 

The next 2 days I taught my “Block Party” and “Designing A-cording to Nicky” classes at River City Yans, to women who had not gone on the tour(and even some who had). On our last evening we dined(with Cynthia, Barb and her husband Mario) at the popular Bistro Praha,and Howie had one of his “dream dishes” roast goose. It was the perfect the end to a perfect trip.

 

This Just In: I have been graciously invited back to host the tour again next year, and I humbly accepted–I must have done something right. If it sounds good, go to River City Yarns website and come aboard–I’d love to see some of my US Knitters sign up–You’ll love it…but bring your warmest coats!

 

 

 

 

Bonjour! Just back from 2 wonderful weeks in London and Paris…I was invited, for the 6th time, to attend the fantastic Knitting & Stitching  Show for book signings and to teach and it gets better each time…The show is held at the beautiful Alexandra Palace in Muswell Hill just outside of London and is attented by over 45,000 knitters, crocheters, beaders, quilters etc. who enjoyed the hundreds of vendors over a 4 day period. I’m happy to tell you that the British have embraced my new book “Knitting Block by Block” and they were selling like hotcakes (or in this case , like crumpets). I signed a lot of books and many of my other books were flying across the counters–The people at my British distributor GMC, as usual, treated us like royalty…When I wasn’t working I walked around the show in awe at the selection of materials and the creativity. When he wasn’t shooting pictures at the show, Howie took the bus into London to do his up close and personal tour of the wonderful pubs there. GMC’s head honcho, Jonothon and his lovely wife Robin took us to dinner at London’s oldest restaurant “Rules” and locally, we loved the pub grub at O’Neils, a fantastic pub that was formerly a church. I worked hard but had a great time, and am here to tell you that knitting is alive and well in Britain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The morning after the show we wound up at the beautiful Euston Station in London and boarded the Chunnel Train to Paris.

 

 

 

We arrived in Paris and checked into our little Grand Hotel Du Balcons on the left bank, and thus began a week of eating, sightseeing, eating, yarn hunting, eating, drinking, eating, museums, eating, shopping and, oh yes, eating! We hit some of our old favorite bistros… Chez Denise…Chez L’Ami Jean…Polidor(featured in Woody Allen’s film)…Rubis…L’Comptoir…Brasserie D’Ile St Louis…and a couple of new ones…Chez George and Au Tru Gascon…all wonderful! We wandered the streets, window shopping, hitting the Bastille & Bercy Street markets…visiting the Cluny Museum for the 3rd time(We’ve been to most of the great tourist attractions and museums on previous trips)..so we just tried to relax this trip, although it is hard to do in Paris. because just around the next corner is something wonderful to see…or eat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had stopped into La Droguerue Yarn Shop and the yarn department at the Bon Marche which I had visited many times before, but little did I know that the Gods Of Yarn would smile upon me and I would experience an unexpected and unique Paris knitting experience. We were returning to our hotel from Les Halles and just arbitrarily turned onto a street that we thought would lead us to a taxi stand. There, in a small square I saw 3 young girls, sitting on the ground…knitting. Then I saw 3 more girls also knitting on a bench. (Not a normal sight on a Paris street). I sat down with them and one of them who spoke English, told me they were participating in a month long charitable event sponsored by the Innocent Fruit Drink Company to raise money to help underprivledged sick children They were knitting little hats to go on the tops of the drink bottles, and a percentage of the sales would go to charity.Their goal was over 200,000 little hats. They pointed to a little cafe adjacent to the park and said there were more knitters in there. We, of course went in, and saw dozens and dozens of women and men, young and old, knitters of all degrees of skill, knitting these charming little hats. One of the organizers asked me if I would like to knit one, and I jumped at it. They sat me down at a table with 5 other women and gave me yarn and needles. At first, the women said they didn’t speak English, and were cool towards me, but the moment I started casting on, their faces lit up, and some began speaking English and laughing, as the unofficial International Sisterhood of Knitters, took root on common ground. I had a fantastic time, and I turned out my little hat in just 20 minutes(they seemed impressed). The odds against my experiencing this kind wonderful adventure were astronomical but it turned out to be one of the highlights of my trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the girls knew my work and books and asked if I would come with her to a friend’s yarn shop, close by, “Le Comptoir”. The shop was charming, the owner gracious and they had my book Knitting On The Edge…in French. The end of a perfect day.

 

 

 

It was a fantastic trip, but it’s always good to come home, especially to good news…”Knitting Block by Block” is still briskly selling… my new book “Knitting In Circles” is beautifully nearing completion….and the response from the members of my kntting club has been overwhelmingly positive. Well, no rest for the weary…on Nov 2 I’m off to host the “Wool, Wine, and Wheels” Tour in Edmonton and Jasper National Park in Canada with the good folks at River City Yarns.

 

Happy Knitting, Nicky

Between working on my new book, my travels and getting ready to launch the Nicky Epstein Knitting Club (last day to join is September 30th, so hurry).

The VK Live Show in Los Angeles was amazing…lots of vendors with beautiful products. I particularly liked Bag Smith’s new line from France, Sajou, with their beautiful line of scissors. Also liked Barbara Walkers DVD “Stitch Heaven” . Discovered “Fibersphere” a great new way to keep your yarn flowing and protected www.the fibershpere.com

I was to do a book signing on the 2nd day of the show, but all my books were sold out on the first day. Thanks!

My classes and power point lecture presentation(over 200 knitters in attendance) went very well and I got lots of compliments from students who said they enjoyed the classes and learned a lot–Always gratifying!

 

As I am working on the final details for the club I am packing for London…I leave Tuesday for the great Stitching Show at the Alexandra Palace where I hope to see old friends and meet new ones–I’ll be doing book signings at the GMC booth and teaching knitted flower demos. Then off to Paris to check out a few yarn shops, museums and bistros.

See you when I get back

Happy Knitting, Nicky 

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We just returned from my own very first knitting cruise and based on the reponses of my fellow knitters, it was a great success! The cruise was put together by the imcomparable Barbara Spohn (assisted by her hard working and loveable husband, Jim) of Traveling Together,on Royal Carribean’s floating palace “Explorer of the Seas”.

It was a 10 day cruise, starting at Cape Liberty, Bayonne New Jersey with stops in Portland and Bar Harbor,Maine, Saint John, New Brunswick & Halifax Nova Scotia in Canada, and Boston, Mass–with three cruising days spent in class with me.

Thirty three lovely, talented women (half had traveled with me before and half were new friends) from across the US, Canada & Mexico, signed up and showed up with needles at the ready. I taught classes “Designing Autumn Embellishments”, “Block Party” “Embroidery On Knitting” and “Happy Hat Knitting” and everyone got into the spirit of things,  as they learned and laughed. Barbara had booked our personal conference room for the whole trip that was large and yet cozy. We had our own fashion show and private cocktail party  in a beautiful lounge,and the cocktails and door prizes flowed freely. We ended the last teaching day with a knitting design contest with winners in 3 divisions, and an overall grand prize by judged by 3  husbands, Jim, Franco & Howard, with the help of my nephew, Scott–The pieces were wonderful and there were no real losers.

 

 

 

The food, drinks, service, and  facilities of the ship were great, and I haven’t gotten on a scale since I’ve been back–All the shows in the theater (and an ice skating show) were fabulous.

 

The ports of call were wonderful and I did book signings at a number of shops in all the ports, and a number of our girls showed up at all of them in their quest to buy more yarn.

 

 

In the various ports my quest was to find the best lobster roll, and my favorite was from Bar Harbor ( one girl said she had a great one at a local McDonalds!), which was also my favorite port–We took a bus tour along the beautiful and rugged coastline and it was magnificent–On the bus with us was a wonderful singer that was in the ship’s shows, and he sang “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” to the delight of us all.

 

I had a great time and the post cruise reaction from the knitters has been overwhelmingly positive, so we are looking at a knitting trip next year (maybe France?).

I’d like to thank all the knitters for joining us on the cruise, and hope to see them again. I’m off tomorrow for Los Angeles for the Vogue Knitting Live Show , where I’m teaching, book signing and giving vusual presentations–I’ll let you know all about it when I get back.

Love & Happy Knitting, Nicky

PS–If you haven’t joined my Knitting Club, you’ve only got until September 30 to do so–Get details at– nickyepstein.com

 

BACK FROM SEATTLE

Just returned from a fantastic trip to Seattle, Washington, and immediately went into 4 days of shooting elements for my new book (I’ll tell you the details in the near future).

The trip was enhanced by the hospitality of Jean and Bob Dunbabin of Cascade Yarns, the kindness and efficiency of Sharon Stottel, Annette Millard, the staff of Pacific Fabric & Craft, and the beautiful knitters in the Seattle area.

Started off the trip by accepting an invitation from Debbie Macomber (yes…the Debbie Macomber) to visit her yarn shop and then enjoy a potluck barbecue at her lovely home with friends and knitters–It was a great afternoon and evening, and as wonderful a writer as Debbie is…she is even a more wonderful person!

The next evening I attended “Stitch & Pitch” night at the Seattle Mariners stadium, where I was scheduled to throw out the first pitch–I had been practicing back home with our boy Scott who lent me his glove, and let me, reluctantly, sew flowers on it (‘There’s no flowers in Baseball!’) I even knitted a red top to wear for the occasion made from Art Yarn’s beaded silk & sequins.

The gang from Pacific Yarn & Cascade all made me feel at home by wearing “Block by Block..Knitting With Nicky” t-shirts, but I was nervous before the pitch so they let me practice a few throws under the stands–Former Mariner Mark McLemoire passed by and said “Nice form, honey…Just don’t bounce the ball!”

Well I came through with a “non girly” throw to the plate and received cheers from the crowd– I then posed for pictures and got an autographed ball from pitcher Chris Ray.It was a great experience.

For most of the game I was autographing  many of my books and getting “up close and personal, with the lovely knitters in the Seattle area–Sold a lot of books and their enthusiasm for my “Knitting Block by Block” book was very gratifying.

The next 2 days I taught classes at 2 of the lovely Pacific Fabric shops and then we headed north to Mt Vernon, Washington for a short visit with our dear friends Chris and David–Their house is in the middle of the woods with views to die for, and it is like spending time in a Disney movie, with their 19 cats, and deer, squirrels, tons of beautiful and rare birds and all kinds of wildlife just outside the front door–We had a great time and while there I taught David (Mr Macho) how to knit, and after a few frustrating tries, he really got into it. You can teach an old dog new tricks! They also took us to a famous ice cream place where the quality and quantity of the ice cream were what dreams are made of– It was a beautful and relaxing 2 days-

Then back to NY and reality, and work, work, work!

Love, Nicky

Just returned from the TNNA show in Columbus, Ohio…The National Needlecraft Association is for the trade only, and that means where your local yarn shops go to buy beautiful yarns, needles, bags, etc. that they pass on to you. It’s so exciting for me to get to see all the needlecraft items before they get into the shops. For me it’s always like being a kid in a candy shop.

This year was an extra special for me, because I was actually able to source the yarns at the show, for the new book I am working on. To see all the colors and feel all the textures up close was a real treat. Let me just say…there are wonderful new yarns and needlecraft products heading your way.

Yarn companies like Madeline Tosh, Malabrigo, Lucci, Aslan Trends, Bag Smith, Art Yarns, Trendsetters and more, were there with their amazing new yarns. Bulky, glitter and hand dyed yarns are hotter than ever. Plastic needles are back, and although you get more speed with steel and aluminum needle, they tend to be harder on your hands than the plastic ones. Namaste has lovely, practical knitting bags, Lacis introduced a new yarn winder for large skeins, JHB had a great line of buttons including my new and original line of buttons, which are doing very well. Go to “shop” on this website.

At the show, Penny Sitler, the executive director of The Knitting Guild of America asked me to judge their Master Knitter Contest.The entries were beautiful and and it was great to see knitters expanding their creativity

My book “Knitting Block by Block”, is still selling like crazy, and I signed a lot of copies for yarn shops at the Random House booth.

A few days later I was back at the Columbus Convention Center for the Knitting Connection show open to all–I taught 2 Knitting Block Party classes to packed houses and delivered my design power point presentation to an enthusiastic group of almost 200 knitters.

In between shows we visited my Aunt Angie and Uncle Anthony in nearby Lancaster, Ohio, got to see all the grandchildren, and their beautiful cat “Chuck” (who loved my yarn), and my husband Howie took a photo (unretouched) of him “smiling”

Also got to visit my alma mater Columbus College of Art & Design, with my friend and classmate Marcia Tabler and my Professor Billie Ingram. The college has grown tremendously since I graduated.(Yes, I actually graduated)

That knitting dynamo Mary Taylor is halfway through knitting all the garments from my book “Knitting On Top Of The World”. She is amazing. www.knittingontopoftheworldknitathon.typepad.com

I’m practicing my baseball pitching, getting ready to throw out the first ball at the Seattle Mariners game on Stitch and Pitch night July 14th.

Well, got to get back to my knitting!

Nicky

Had a wondeful time out in Minneapolis at Steven Be’s knitting event. Steven was a very gracious host and his shop “Yarn Garage” was more like a palace than a garage. Got to see my old pals Annie Modesitt and Mary Taylor, who is still knitting her way through my “Knitting On Top Of The World” book, and I made lots of new friends.

Got to spend a week up at our log house in PA with my Aunt Angie and Uncle Anthony from Ohio. The weather was perfect all week and we celebrated my birthday (thanks for your many many birthday wishes on facebook), Angie’s birthday and Mother’s Day. We barbecued, dined at a great new restaurant “The River Rock” and visited the beautiful Grey Towers and grounds. This is the former mansion of Gifford Pinchot, former Governor of Pa, naturalist, and founder of the US Forest Service. On the grounds of the estate are more variety of trees, than anywhere else in the US. Very beautiful! There have been lots of rainstorms in our neighborhood and lots of BIG trees are down. We also saw lots of wildlife on our property…large numbers of deer (they look a little ragged this year), wild turkeys, a red fox, a brown bear and a beautiful large grey owl.

And speaking of owls, I designed this owl for my Australian friend Jenny King, who is sponsoring the “Give A Hoot…Make An Owl For A Kid In Care” charitable event. You can check it out on facebook under “Give A Hoot” Our boy Scott came up, barbecued us a great dinner and took some incredible shots of my owl and Howie got a shot of the real owl, high in a tree.

When I got back I was the guest lecturer at the Big Apple Knitting Guild in Manhattan, and 70 enthuisiastic knitters showed up and also enjoyed my “clearance” sale of lots of my ”stash” and lots of my books.

Speaking of books..I am zeroing in on completing the pieces for my new book (I’ll let you know the content soon),and I’m very excited about it. My publisher tells me that “Knitting Block by Block” is still selling like crazy, especially since the second printing got back into book stores, yarn shops, and online. Thanks for your support and extremely kind comments.

I also though I’d give you my schedule for the rest of 2011:

June 10-20-TNNA SHOW (June 10-13) & KNITTER’S CONNECTION SHOW (JUNE 16-17)–COLUMBUS, OHIO

July 13-19–STITCH & PITCH EVENT July14 (Trowing out first ball at Seattle Mariner”s baseball game)–Teaching 15-16-Visiting 17-18–SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Sept 1-10-NICKY EPSTEIN KNITTING CRUISE to NEW ENGLAND & CANADA

Oct 4-9–KNITTING & STITCHING SHOW (OCT 6-9) ALEXANDRA PALACE,LONDON,UK   

 Oct 10-18-Duck Confit, Rillettes, Pomme Frites, Lovely Wine, Relaxation(?)–Paris, France

Nov1-10-Hosting ”WOOL, WINE & WHEELS-Knitting/Teaching Tour from EDMONTON, ONTARIO to JASPER NATIONAL PARK (Nov 4-7)–Oct 8-9 Teaching at Three Rivers Yarn, Edmonton.

Hope to see you! Happy Knitting…Nicky