Just got back from a great 12 day trip to Seattle and northern Washington, on a teaching and book signing tour. It was our first time in the Pacific Northwest and the scenery was amazing along with the friendly people and great foods and wine. We enjoyed the generosity and hospitality of Jean and Bob Dunbabin of Cascade Yarns along with their lovely family, Shannon, Rob and David. It was a special weekend with a great annual air show highlighted by the Navy’s Blue Angels aerial team, and from the terrace of Jean’s beautiful home, we had a front row seat on the action (Jean and Bob have a giant American flag on their roof and the Angels responded by flying directly over , many times). I also got to know and love Marina Shumway, Cascade’s New England rep.
The first event was a Stitch and Pitch event at a Seattle Mariners baseball game, attended by hundreds of enthusiastic yarn lovers (I signed lots of books and got to go down on the field and meet some of the players).
Then on to classes at some great yarn shops… I met old friends from past yarn trips and cruises and made new ones at:…Renaissance Yarn…Yorkshire Yarn…Tricoter…Great Yarns…Apple Yarns…and Wild Flowers. It was an exhausting schedule but my students were so enthusiastic that we had a lot of fun (we also sold a lot of books especially the current “A Kiss In Every Stitch”(Soho Publishing), the new “Enchanting Collection” (Aslan Trends Yarns) and my forthcoming book “Knitting Block By Block” (Potter Craft Nov.2010).
One of the highlights of the trip was Jean Dunbabin taking me to the enormous Cascade Yarns warehouse. Talk about a kid in a candy shop…there I was surrounded by tons of fabulous yarns…my head was spinning and I wanted to move in.
While I was working hard, my husband Howie was doing intensive research on Seattle’s sights, coffee, foods and wines (a tough job, but someone had to do it). He particularly loved the great Pike Market where they throw fish, and have wonderful shops, foods and flowers. He discovered a little French bistro there, overlooking the water and we enjoyed a lovely lunch there with the best duck confit that I’ve had outside of France. We also enjoyed many of the wonderful Washington State wines that are gaining great popularity across the country.
At the end of the trip we got to spend a couple of days with our dear friends Chris and David (and their 19 cats) at their amazing house in Mt Vernon, Wa. The view from their deck is beyond breathtaking and David took us flying in his plane where we got “up close and personal” with some snow covered mountains.
It was an extraordinary trip, and I was actually invited back again next year…can’t wait!
Well, back to work….Happy Knitting
Nicky
My book “Knitting A Kiss In Every Stitch” has been doing very well. My new book for Aslan Trend Yarns, “Enchanting Collection” was just introduced at the TNNA in Columbus, to tremendous enthusiastic response. And I am so excited, having just seen the galley of my “blockbuster” book “Knitting Block by Block” to be released in November—It’s beautiful and there are features in it that have never been done in a knitting book before.
for Seattle on August 4th—I’ll be at the “stitch and pitch” Mariner’s game. teaching and doing book signings at 7 different yarn shops up and down the Washington coast, visiting my good friends Chris and David, and of course, enjoying the local cuisine and wines, which have been thoroughly researched by my personal culinary advisor (and husband) Howard. Jean Dunabin, the intrepid and funny force behind Cascade Yarns, has set the whole thing up in beautiful fashion.
While all this preparation is going on, I am still designing knitwear, working on a new book, and creating new additions to my best-selling button and clasp lines (to be released shortly), knit-related greeting cards and artwork, and selling some of my Vogue Knitting and Knit simple pattern, on line( they tell me that in the first week, sales were so brisk, that the website crashed—Thank you, America). You can find all these items on my, soon to be revised, website (nickyepstein.com)…as well as on JHB Buttons and VK websites. I would really love to get feed back from you on these items, so feel free to write.
I had a wonderful visit from my Dad,, nephew Scott, niece Dana, and incorrigible and incomparable great nephew Mason (age 5 going on 21). We rode the Shark boat in New York Harbor, saw the real Batmobile being filmed in lower Manhattan, and ate like Astor’s Pet Pig (especially in my favorite restaurant Patricia’s in Brooklyn).