To listen to podcasts featuring interviews with Cat, click here.
You'll find some of Cat's latest sock designs in Knitter's Magazine #91, summer 2008; in Wild Fibers Magazine, Volume 5, Issue 3, Summer 2008; and on August 1, 2008, in the first issue of a new online magazine, TwistCollective.com.
New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book One was released on July 20, 2007, and you should be able to find it in your local yarn shop (please check there first!) or at on-line sources.
Moebius Knitting Show and Coriolis Sock Knitting Show - on Knitty Gritty
I taped a show for Knitty Gritty (DIY Network) in the fall of 2005 and it was shown for the first time on August 7 and 12, 2006. It is episode DKNG-406 and will re-air many times over the next few years. In December of 2006 I filmed another episode, DKNG-701, on the Coriolis Sock from my latest book, New Pathways For Sock Knitters, Book One. For more information, see the DIY website and use the episode numbers to search for the next air times: http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_dkng
Vogue Knitting Sock Issue . . . see corrections below
A preview design, the Flow Motion Sock, from my next sock book appeared in Vogue Knitting Fall 2006, on page 82. Some of my instructions, including size options, were abbreviated or changed, and so I am giving the corrections here:
First, do not use the crochet cast-on in the magazine. Instead, use a figure-8 cast-on (and do use a double strand of yarn, as the socks are knitted with a double strand throughout, which is also not clear from the printed pattern), which I explain here:
This cast-on places sts on 2 parallel needles, alternately on the top needle, then the bottom needle, top, then bottom, etc. It is a provisional cast-on suitable for toe-up socks. Hold 2 circular needles in one hand so that the top needles are parallel. Bring the yarn between the needles and leaving a tail of about 5”, begin snugly wrapping the yarn around the 2 tips in a figure-8, so that the 2 tips fill the 2 holes in the “8”. Wrap until there are several more sts on each needle than required.
On the first round only, either the first or the second needle will have sts mounted with the leading leg in back, which means that this needle’s sts will have to be knit through the back.Pull the bottom needle so that it hangs down with its sts resting on its cable. Use both ends of the top needle to knit the required number of sts, then push the extras off the needle, allowing them to fall from the other needle as well. Pull the top needle so its just-knitted sts rest on its cable, and rotate it clockwise, with the right side still facing you, and the ends of this needle hanging down. Use both ends of the other needle (which is now on top) to knit its sts (which ought to be identical to the number of sts just knit on the 1st needle).
Second, to duplicate the yarn color sequence shown, begin at start of a pink/white section preceding a blue section on ball 1, and at start of a lavender section on ball 2.
Third, under the heading "Foot," I gave very different instructions, with the numbers in parentheses referring to women's shoe sizes 7, 8, 9, and 10:
Knit all rounds until foot measures 5.25” (5.5”, 5.75”, 6”).
I believe everything else is correct. I'ved already heard (today is 8-7-06) from at least one knitter who has already knit them and was very happy. She used two different sock yarns she happened to already have and got a very nice tweedy effect. Enjoy the socks and feel free to send me photos of finished pairs (or singles!)
My new books - first one due out at the end of July, 2007
I am currently working on a pair of new knitting books. The first two are New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book One, and New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book Two. Book One offers eight original forms of sock architecture, or "sockitecture" which start at either the top or the toe. Book Two shares an as yet undetermined number (but at least five) of new kinds of sock architecture which do not start at the top or the toe, but somewhere in the middle! At the moment I am estimating that the first book will have between 28 and 32 patterns; once it is done I will be able to say more about the second book. I am having the time of my life shepherding all these new designs into being - they seem to fall out of an invisible and huge sock-filled blimp that must be hovering over my house, full of sock-elves just waiting for me to pause so they can toss another kind of sockitecture down into my lap and then chortle at my delight and surprise.
These new methods combine new techniques with entirely new shapes to clothe the foot. The sockitecture variations range from very, very easy, suitable for new knitters, to several thrill rides for adventurous knitters. Nearly all the kinds of architecture are simpler than the traditional sock-knitting methods, and they fit like a glove (or Handschuhe - German for glove, which means hand-shoe - I love that word!). The knitting flows in new directions along the new geometry - both handpaints and machine-printed yarns will do new tricks for you, and there are new pathways andn shapes to fill with your favorite textures, lace, cables, and so on. I've shown the designs to a few people (all sworn to secrecy) and am encouraged by their excitement.
Each kind of new sock architecture will be introduced by both a baby sock, and a generic sock - one without added stitch patterns, so there is an easy entry for you into each series. Then I will give a number of more complex variations. I will also be including sizes from infant to men, not all sizes for every sock, but enough sizes sprinkled throughout so that no matter for whom you are knitting, you will have many options. I suspect that many sock knitters will end up choosing one or two kinds of sockitec ture as their personal favorites - I keep doing this myself, but then I fall in love with another one! My hope is that these books will liberate sock knitters to create their own designs (and innovate their own architectural variations) by taking what I am offering and incorporating their own ideas. These books are meant to be stepping stones in the evolution of sock knitting.
The third book is a soulmate (sole mate?) to the first two. Knitting Around the Foot - Ancient Pathways is a collection of knitted, felted interpretations of traditional native footwear from North America, the Arctic Circle, Asia, and Europe. The original inspiration came from museum collections of Plains Indian moccasins, Asian indoor footwear, and Arctic Circle boots made of caribou and seal skins, all of which I was fortunate enough to be able to hold, photograph, and study thanks to the kind curators of a Canadian museum. Most of the shoes (for these will be shoes, not socks, for the most part) can have a leather sole sewn and be worn outside in good weather.
I am limiting my teaching commitments beginning in July 2006 until the books are done. Once they are done, I will add new teaching dates and also hope to then resume work on the rest of the Forest Inside (Treasure Forest) trilogy. Once the trilogy is complete, I then plan to write at least one more knitting book, which will be a collection of all the knitting and implied knitting which appears in the entire trilogy. This book will be especially exciting for me to work on, because the knitting in the books will have been done by a wide range of characters with very different motivations and a variety of materials, and in order to create the designs I will have to "be" the characters. This means I will be able to access creative areas that are not even mine! I can't wait to be able to open those doors.
In August, 2006, a German version of Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles was released in Europe. The title, Socken Stricken mit Rundstricknadeln: die neue einfache Technik mit 2 Rundstricknadeln, translates as: Sock Knitting with Circular Needles: the new and simple technique with two circular needles. It can be ordered at www.amazon.de
A Treasury of Magical Knitting and A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting are being translated into Russian. The publication dates are not yet known.
A paperback edition of Treasure Forest will be in stores beginning April 2, 2006, published by Ace Books, a division of Random House. The luminous new cover carries this quote from T.A. Barron, author of The Great Tree of Avalon: "To the unending music of the universe, this book adds a lovely, haunting new song."
In November, 2004, Treasure Forest, the first of the Forest Inside trilogy by Cat Bordhi, was released in a deluxe paperback edition in Mumbai, India by publisher Yogi Impressions.
The Russian version of Treasure Forest, masterfully translated by Nikolay Lavrentev, is underway and once it is published (in Moscow, Russia), it will be announced here.
On June 3, 2004, Treasure Forest, the first of the Forest Inside trilogy by Cat Bordhi, won the 2004 Nautilus Award for young adult fiction at the Book Expo America in Chicago.
"Captivating characters of varied ages and species, and an intriguing and highly suspenseful plot, are handmaidens to Bordhi's vision-both spiritual and pragmatic-about how life should be understood and consciously lived. Marvelous yet utterly plausible, this tale concerns a brother and sister and the (often difficult) lessons they and their loved ones must confront. The central medium for a succession of unusual events is the forest that stands near the family's country home. Bordhi's fertile and lively imagination presents one delightful surprise after another. Though targeted for ages 10 and up, older readers [adults] are also likely to find this first novel a highly memorable-even haunting-reading experience on every level. Of particular note: The story is a narrative adaptation of the spiritual teachings of Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now."
The Nautilus is a unique book award, recognizing authors and titles that make a distinguished literary contribution to high-level wellness, responsible leadership, spiritual growth, sustainability in all human enterprise, conscious social change, and to the world of art, creativity and children's literature.
The awards are named for the Chambered Nautilus the mollusk whose beautiful pearl-lined shell contains chambers of increasing size which the sea creature constructs for itself as it grows. The nautilus symbolizes both ancient wisdom and expanding horizons, both the elegance of nature and a continual growth of understanding and awareness.
Marilyn McGuire & Associates, Inc., is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2004 Nautilus Book Awards, recognizing and honoring books published in the year 2003 that contribute significantly to conscious living and positive social change. Our thanks to all the publishers who submitted titles for consideration. This list of Nautilus Winners represents the best of an extraordinary collection of books, and articulates beautifully what the Nautilus Award stands for.
Winners were announced on Thursday evening, June 3rd, at the annual Nautilus Book Awards Presentation and Networking Gathering at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. There were several hundred authors, publishers, retailers, and media representatives in attendance at this gala event.
The Nautilus Book Awards are co-sponsored by Body & Soul Magazine along with Marilyn McGuire & Associates, Inc.
http://publishersshowcase.com/nautilus/nautilus-winner2004.html#young
