Janel Laidman at the Glendale Library today for her booksigning.
The Eclectic Sole is her first book; she let the secret out today that she is well on her way writing her second, "The Painted Skein" about how to work with color in yarns. She gave a lovely talk, and it was nice to see a lot of old friends there as well as numerous people that I didn't know. It was even nicer to hear that the first run of her book on diverse Knitted Sock Patterns was sold out and she is currently in reprint.
I was one of the smart ones... I pre-ordered the book before it's release date and had already started a pair of her socks when Le Tour De Fleece came up. I put them aside for the tour, but it was wonderful to finish spinning this morning and pick them back up. And in such a timely manner! I was able to announce during the question/answer session that not only was I working on a pair of her socks right there and then, but that her patterns were clear, concise, and a joy to follow. I meant it too!
I had a chance to chat with a number of friends including Una Walker after the talk. An extrordinary fiber artist, she was filmed for HGTV's "That's Clever" Season 4, before I was filmed for Season 5. We shared the bad news that I had confirmed with Weller-Grossman, the production company, last Friday. HGTV cancelled the series before our respective segments ever hit the airwaves. Neither of us are making it onto TV with that particular show. Oh well. It was fun to film and an honor to have been chosen. And now that I know that there is no compelling reason to keep the pictures that I took during the process quiet, I'll post them in a few days.
Una, I think, was more disappointed than I. She is a professional artist, versus me who just dabbles in it. Being filmed for me was a lark, but for her it was a professional opportunity. Yet I do not see all as lost. Both of our segments have been edited and are "in the can." As I said to Una, I have a feeling that just about the time that we both forget about the adventure, the segments may pop up in some other show. I believe it, too.
No, you did not misread. I did finish Le Tour De Fleece early this morning. According to Katherine who sponsored the Tour, I now carry the esteemed title (along with everyone else who completed their challenge) of Les Champs-Elysées Jaune 2008 and I get to display the yellow Championship Jersey on my blog. Of course, having turned all of the green roving into yarn, I now need to start spinning 20 ounces of the coordinating pink...
6 comments:
Oh, congrats on the maillot jaune! I fell off my tour de fleece wheel... sadly. I still have all that fiber to spin up.
What are your plans for the pink and green yarn?
Did they really cancel the show? I was filmed back in October 2006 and was told February of this year and then I saw someone else had been pushed back to September. I'm crushed. The local paper ran an article about it and people have been bugging me ever since.
Sadly, I called Weller Grossman last Friday because I was unable to rouse a response as to when my segment was being aired via e-mail. The girl who answered the phone told me that HGTV had indeed cancelled the show.
I'm so sorry that you are disappointed too. Who knows, though. I always have hope in these situations. Perhaps it might be picked back up again as a summer replacement, or end up on another cable channel, or ?????
Argh. Oh well. Thanks for following up so quickly. I've been emailing my contact at WG for ages and not getting any response. It's really kind of sad that it took so much effort to get an answer.
Hey, wanted to leave a follow-up. I got an email from HGTV yesterday that said series 400 of "That's Clever!" will begin airing in January of 2009. There was no mention of series 500, however.
Thank you Jama! That's very good news, and I'll pass your info on to Una.
Who knows what will happen and when? I did not find Weller Grossman to be the most professional of outfits even when we were filming, but there is a certain power to being "in the can."
I will look forward to your (and Una's) segment and maybe I'll turn up around 2012.
Laura
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