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Writing Questions

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We’ve been working very hard, so the blog has been lagging behind.  Someone emailed and asked if we did writing questions anymore.  We decided to answer 4-5 writing questions – business or the actual writing, doesn’t matter – so ask whatever you want in the comments or through the email form on the website.

Meanwhile, I have a dilemma.  I’ve joined a yarn club.

Yes, I know.  I will wait until you’re done laughing.  I now have a 400 yard skein of Merino 80/Cashmere 20 in California Dreamin’ colorway and equivalent amount of thin silk, which I have wound together into a single skein.  Unfortunately, the pattern that came with my yarn is Basketweave Shawl, which looks like a rectangle of knitted cloth. Meh.

I have to do something with this pink/orange variegated yarn and it has to be 400 yards.  I’m thinking Reyna, maybe, but the problem is, I’m looking at pictures of people who have made Reyna and it doesn’t appear that it’s actually wearable as a shawl.  It’s more of an oversized triangular scarf.

I feel like the expensive yarn deserves a bit fancier treatment.  I want to do a stole or a shawl with a bit of lace or something.  Or if it is a scarf, I want it long and fancy. Unfortunately, I don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for another skein and this colorway is hard to pair with other colorways.

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Comments

  1. I have had a lot of success combining different yarns. For example, I’m just about to finish a sweater made from three completely different fingering weight yarns, striped together. Maybe you don’t need a second skein of the really expensive yarn, maybe you can work in a moderately expensive yard, like Madeline Tosh or Malabrigo.

    • I’m knitting a sweater now holding 2 fingering weight Madelinetosh merino light. Great effect.

  2. I have a couple of questions, more life-as-an-author than writing questions. I read somewhere an interview Gordon did and I think in it he mentioned that your daughters don’t read your work? Is that true? Do they just think it’s weird, or are they into different genres? What does the rest of the family think?

    I always wonder if family members are embarrassed if the writers in their family write sex scenes.

  3. Have you looked at knitted lace of estonia by nancy bush. I’m sure you’ll find something there.

  4. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a rectangle or triangle Shaw. As long as you have a glass of wine in your hand and say..”Darrrling”. White goes with any color really so maybe put a white strip at the bottom or in the middle or alternating white. I don’t know if you can find the same mix at a cheaper price (I don’t know if the smoky mountain spinnery is online or not but they have a lot of lovely mixes like that. (I take vacations just to go to that store). Summer is coming fast so maybe a light short Shaw is what you need.

  5. A question! I’ve always been most curious – just how does this writing together works for both of you? And I mean that as in the process of coming up with idea/plot and then actually writing it?
    Like, do you both come up with the plot and one/both write it or does one of you write most of it and then the other adds/corrects or you write while both sitting together? That kind of question ^^

    If it’s already been answered at one time another, someone please enlighten me, I really am curious 😉

  9. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tuscany-shawl

    I have knit the Tuscany shawl several times. Beautiful, looks complicated and is not.

    My question is what kind of research did you do for the Kate Daniels book. Some of it is biblical (or sounds very close) so I am curious what sources you used.

    I recently met a man who did a lot of archaeology in Israel and the surrounding regions. Some of what he tells me sounds exactly like something that is in Kate’s world.

    Thank you!

    • Beautiful pattern, you will have to go to an opera just until intermission if you don’t like opera. Get a nice drink, stand around to be admired, and leave after the lights start blinking.

  12. My general rule is to pair a complext yarn with a simple pattern and a simple yarn with a complex pattern. Variegated and handdyed yarns tend to drown out lace patterns so I’m not sure something lacey would be good. Having a fun construction like Hitchhiker would work, or something that has minimal lace like Knitty’s Annis.

    • I am in agreement. Simple patterns can look stunning with a nice yarn. And I have frogged projects where I love the pattern and the yarn but not the combination.

  14. Is the blue shawl shown at the side an option? It would look lovely in the California Dreamin’ colorway. That very open knit looks most comfortable for Austin heat. The sun is so intense there. I lived there for 25 years and still remember the burn I got through a black shirt.

  15. I have a couple writing questions for you (thank you for letting us ask), but they all tie together: After you finish the first draft and begin the editing process, how many times do you go through the book and self-edit before you send it to someone else to edit? And who is the next person who edits (and how did you find them)? I know you self publish (Innkeeper) and go through Avon, so the step after you may differ….

  18. My suggestions (grabbed from my Ravelry library/favorites):

    (exact yardage)
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dragonfly-wings
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/antarktis

    (close yardage)
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/east-gable-shawl
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/summerside-shawl
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pretty-basic
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nurmilintu
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/taina-2

    I can’t wait to see what you produce… 😀

  19. I think you’ve done a search, but may need to add in a little bit more detail that isn’t as obvious to find. One of the bubbles on the left side is “Attributes”. Inside there is “Fabric Characteristics” Click on the “lace”. While there, if you have a preference on shawl shape, you can choose that here as well – such as “crescent”.

    If you haven’t narrowed down by “fingering” or “light fingering” click that option. Yardage can help you narrow things down for your skein of yarn. They have a broad 300-450 yard that you can click but if you have 440 those ten yards are going to be missing and you also don’t want a bunch of leftovers. So customize your yardage range and tell it 375 to 400.

    I had selected “free” patterns and this gave me 3 pages of designs to look through. Take that option away and you get 30 pages. Here are a few examples that popped up under the free – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/skyesong
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tartessos (free, but if you want some extras, you can pay $5)
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sacre-coeur

    The problem with some of the shawls in this size range is the designer is a tiny person without a chest. I used to test knit for a local designer (pdxknitterati) and while she has lovely stuff, I can’t wear any of her shawlettes. They are scarfs for me. Because if I tie/loop the ends I get this big ole knot competing with my cleavage. Like it needs competition! Looking back at the 30 odd shawls I’ve knit, the ones that I kept are my handspun that are in the 600+yard range. Pretty much all the smaller 400 yard range ones I’ve given away as gifts.

    Rav name – pnwbookgirl

  20. You could pair the California Dream with a light grey; using the CD to be the statement color or the grey to be a simple border. Even a Chevron pattern would be awesome.

  21. Those yarns are so beautiful that I think anything you do will look wonderful.

    Question: I seems like many authors I’ve found in the last few years are moving toward series that have shorter page count per book and maybe one or two “filler” episodes so that the reading experience feels more like watching TV shows. These authors seem to throw out 3-5 books a year in multiple series. Do you think this is a trend in writing due to the changes in publishing? Is it just a reaction to self publishing (I can, therefore I will)? I am sometimes waffling between being grateful authors are able to write and feeling miffed that I’m basically getting 1/2-3/4 of a story. They sell them cheap ($2.99-$3.99), but it feels like 2-3 of the books could have been smooshed together and edited to make one better book. Any thoughts appreciated.

    • That is a good question! Sometimes I am reading a good book and it seems like the author has a panic attack near the end…”I’m running up my word count!” and quickly finishes up in a chapter that reads as rushed with everything squished in. It ruins my enjoyment of the entire book.

    • I’d also like this question answered. I’m seeing this more and more… Why? This bothers me as well, I typically lose interest because all the extra filler. I enjoy authors using the same worlds but changes the characters.

  22. I’m working on a shall that I modified from a scarf pattern now. I crochet not knit. This pattern forms a butterfly by joining 4 rows of chains with a single crochet on the 4th row between a cluster of double crochets. I have strung beads on the thread I’m using and am putting one in the single crochet on the fourth row of the pattern.

    A different yarn would work in well if you needed more. I’m not sure how much crochet thread I will end up using or how much yarn I will use on the next one I’m planning to make with the same pattern because I am improvising this. I’ll try to post a picture of the work in progress. I just need to figure out how.

  23. I know that some artists don’t hang their own work at home, and I’ve always wondered if the same goes with authors. Do you ever reread your own books for fun? Thank you ?

  24. I have Light and Up (sorry on my phone and it doesn’t want to link) in my library on Ravelry, taunting me. Maybe it would look pretty?

  25. How much time do you spend marketing vs writing? Break out by your preference, per day, per week, per month etc… I hear from most authors that marketing is a struggle even when supported by a large house.

  28. I’ve always had this image of people who knit as grandmothers in rocking chairs, but you’re making me think of picking this up when I have a break from Uni 🙂

    • Out of curiosity- is there anything knit-table (is that a word…) that would be wearable in hotter weather? I live somewhere its hot 9/12 months… And winters arent too cold

      • There is lots of things in “summer yarns” that work well in warm weather: cotton, linen,silk, viscose, soy fibre and different mixes of those kinds of fibres. I am currently working on a narrow summer scarf in a yarn with fibres of recycled silk, cotton and viscose.

  31. I would suggest playing around with the advanced pattern search on ravelry – there are really so many options. I created a search for a shawl or scarf, lace, using 400 yards or less of fingering weight yarn. You can also go in and adjust it to show only free patterns, only easy patterns, etc. Here’s the link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#photo=yes&yardage=0%7C400&pa=lace&pc=scarf%7Cshawl-wrap&weight=fingering&colors=1&craft=knitting&view=captioned_thumbs&sort=best

    Also, I find it helpful with yarn like that to look and see if anyone else has used it and what the knitted fabric looks like, which might help narrow down your options.

    I’ve made several “shawlettes” with a similar amount of yarn and you’re right, you can’t really wear them as a proper shawl but I do like to wear them with the front on my chest and the sides draped around my neck – it can be a stylish look. Patterns I’ve done and liked include:
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/traveling-woman
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/multnomah (it says 412 yards but I’ve done it with less)

    There’s a book called “Curls” that has shawls with a unique shape and that are really flexible in terms of the yardage/gauge used.
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/curls-versatile-wearable-wraps-to-knit-at-any-gauge

    Good luck! And remember, if you’re not feeling inspired by it you don’t have to use it right away!

  33. I haven’t tried the Reyna pattern, but it looks pretty!
    Two shawls I enjoyed making, with smallish amounts of yarn, are Semele and Kudzu. Semele had some new to me design elements (loved the leaves). And, I liked the way they both draped. There might be enough Ravelry project pictures to suggest how your yarn weight and color might knit up for you, so you could see if you liked them.
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/semele-2
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kudzu-shawl
    I’d love to see a picture of what you knit?

  34. Do you ever go back to listen to any of your books that’s been narrated by Renee Raudman? Or are you totally done with them once you are done?

  35. I’m making a Reyna for a friend right now. It’s good TV/movie knitting and an easy to memorise pattern. Don’t know how wearable it will be, but I like wearing my triangular shawls.

  36. I know nothing from knitting, but the yarn looks really nice! Good luck and I’d love to see the finished product.

  38. I’very learned that if you have a skein of yarn but not enough for a project to find another skein that’s the same weight. I’ve put two skeins of yarn together side by side and the colors don’t look like they would go together. Then I would take a little bit of both yarns and twist them together. It’s amazing to find the colors work.

    No questions about writing. 🙂

  39. It’s going to be a while before I stop laughing. Mind you as I’m trying to downsize my stash of 860metres of sewing fabrics, I’m in no position to laugh for long.

    • I’m impressed. I don’t think I ever had anything like that much even when I was dressmaking somewhat professionally*… though come to think of it, I think my stash reached its highest point when I was in tech, even though I was sewing a lot less. …maybe because I was sewing less, come to think of it.

      I did have an awful lot of fun, once I got it through my head that I really was going to downsize, giving away all my pretties. What worked for me was giving the things I loved to specific people. Seeing people enjoy them was so much fun. The recent college grad knitting enthusiast who got a couple of large boxes of handspun yarn (and who made me the nicest gloves!) The friend who inherited all the business and party clothes i’d shrunk out of. My brocade and linen stash. The non-backpacking camping gear…

      * I was also very poor at the time.

      • I see 95% of my clothing, and also cosplay and historical clothing. The need in me catalogued it all when I found I’d bought the same fabric twice.. not for the first time either.

        I’m trying to sew it down and there’s a local-ish charity craft shop that I’ve donated to.

  42. I once knitted an angora shawl that consisted of an exercise in short rows from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s book, “Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Workshop”. It was eventually easy to memorize, looked great and occasionally left me with the strong desire to throw it through the wall, as it seemed never ending. I gave that to a good friend and she loved it. I don’t remember much of it, as I’ve blocked that episode from my mind, but it was a lace pattern and pretty easy. I actually am thinking of buying the book again just for that shawl, as I’ve lost my copy. I’ve come into some yarn that looks like it’ll work well with that pattern. If you have 400 grams of lace weight, it might be enough for that shawl.

  43. I can knit a square but I really wish I could knit a dreambird shawl. If you google it, and look at some the pix, they are stunning. It is a ravelry pattern so can be purchased online.

    Unfortunately, I don’t think your one skein will make a dreambird shawl but Ravelry also has a free pattern for a firebird shawl. It looks simpler to make, and is lacier. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/firebird-shawl—

  44. it would go very well with a cream or a dark grey. Dark grey and stripes would give a Phoenix look and would be my choice

  45. I just wanted you to know that your knitting posts have inspired me to try knitting myself-I just started teaching myself by watching some YouTube videos last week:)

  46. You could try to pair it with a cream or warm off-white; something that would pick up the orange-y pink hues without clashing with them.
    I find that 400 yards of lace weight make a fairly long scarf. I’m not what you’d call tall, but I am bulky, and a scarf made with that much yardage goes from my neck to my knees (that is, from my knee, around the back of my neck and down to the other knee) at about 8 inches wide after blocking.
    With such a beautiful colorway, you want a relatively simple pattern, I think. Let the color speak for itself! (Plus complex stitches don’t tend to pop as well against variegated yarns. That said, your yarn, your needles, your choice.)

    • Cream is what I was thinking too. Any solid cream or natural white, with maybe chocolate- or cocoa-brown if you wanted a contrasting border.

  47. Pair the California Dreamin’ skein with a skein in cream – same weight and yarn composition. It’ll give you some flexibility in patterns.
    Else it would be a great cowl or mobius scarf on its own.

  48. One day your avatar will morph into a skein of colourful bamboo/wool blend and we’ll know you’ve finally lost the battle against the incoming tide of yarn. <— free idea for next April Fools.

    Wildfire Galleys are exciting!

    Questions for the authors, and I apologise if you've already answered any of these.

    1. Your worldbuilding is incredible across all of your series, no matter how much it makes our brains hurt. Do you have a process for how you approach worldbuilding?

    2. Will we see George, Jack, Gaston and Sophie again in Innkeeper or other books?

    3. Will we be reading more about Julie's school, and in particular Yu Fong?

  52. I have a story question. (You may have already answered it; I just started reading your blog a few weeks ago.)

    Kate’s father is incredibly charismatic, seeming almost godlike. Kate’s mother was an exceptionally beautiful, charismatic, attractive person, even more so than Rowena, and Rowena turns every head within a block radius. This is explicitly a hereditary trait.

    Kate does not turn heads. I can think of maybe four or five men who’ve even made a pass at Kate. (Curran, Crest, Saiman, Hugh, maybe Derek, maybe Raphael.) She’s mentioned doing stuff to cloak her magical aura, but she stopped doing that (I thought) once she stopped hiding her familial origin. Why aren’t all the men in any given room constantly staring at her slackjawed?

      • Oh you’re mean! I have a ton of things to do for work and it’s getting late. Yet, I stopped everything, walked to my bookshelf, grabbed my hardcover copy of the book and read that scene STANDING next to the bookshelf. *sigh* the perks of being a fan.

        • I’m with Sonia. Only mine is digital, so instead of going to my bookshelf and flipping right to the scene I had to read the whole chapter. Ok, so I would have reread the whole chapter anyway, but that’s not the point. By the way, that chapter is awesome! Totally worth the reread.

          • Feeling rather dense. Wogglebug notes that Kate does not turn heads. Why not?

            Help! What’s the answer? Her “hard stare” and love of the sword “dance” wouldn’t be apparent on first sight. So they couldn’t be why Kate–unlike Rowena–doesn’t leave slack-jawed men in her wake.

            Andrea thinks men are initially dazzled by Kate’s exotic looks, but then freaked out by her deranged eyes. (I think this is in Gunmetal Magic.)

            Argh. What am i missing in Chapter 15?

  53. Writing question when will we start to get installments again? Friday’s just aren’t the same lol

    I crochet not knit and with that yarn it’s delicate so ild go towards a medival lace hair net or hair bands and maybe a lace sash?

    Your yarn posts make me jealous!

  54. Romi (Rosemary Hill) on Ravelry has some spectacular shawls for a single skein of fingering yarn. Darkwing, Amy, Diane, Meadowgold and my personal favorite Asterope all use just 1 skein.

  56. I have a writing question, but you may have answered it in a previous post before I found your website, if so, I apologise.

    I’m always intrigued by duo writing. How do you and Gordon actually write the books together? Do you sit down and hash out a story line together and then you write it? I get the sense from your posts that you do the majority of writing, is this wrong? Do you both write for individual characters (eg does Gordon write Curran and you Kate)? Do you ever disagree with how a story/character progresses? Does being a husband and wife writing team have any advantages/disadvantages that other non-married writing teams don’t have?

    Sorry, that’s a lot of questions! And here’s one more, do you only knit shawls, or do you knit jumpers as well (though I think jumpers means something different in America, um, sweaters, is that correct word?)? I do think that is a rather challenging colour of wool you’ve been sent!

    • Yes, here in the USA we call them sweaters or if it buttons down the front they are cardigans. To most of us, a “jumper” is a skirt with a sleeveless, collar-less top on it. You wear them over a shirt. Sigh… They were very popular in the 80’s.

  57. Check out LIly Go http://www.ravelry.com/designers/lily-go she has knit
    and Nim Teasdale http://www.ravelry.com/designers/nim-teasdale
    also the Echo Flower shawl is one of my favorites and in my queue to do next
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/echo-flower-shawl – it has a small and a large version
    or for something completely different and yet spectacular, Dunedin or Nennir by Lucy Hague http://www.ravelry.com/designers/lucy-hague

    Also just wanted to let you know you are my number one favorite author, at the top of a reasonably small list of writers I find I can’t put down. Thank you so much!

        • You can search Ravelry for the yarn you have and see what projects people are doing. I believe you can then add filters to narrow the field (like yardage and accessory).

          Love your writing and adore Renee’s readings.

          I’m Dragoncat7 on Ravelry and a very newbie knitter.

  58. The colours of the yarn are so wonderful to look at. If only they could be framed somehow and you could admire them everyday. They look jewels of fibre.

  59. Have you thought of making a shrug out of it? Here’s an example of what I mean in a crochet pattern. http://www.garnstudio.com/pattern.php?id=7517&cid=17 It doesn’t take a lot of yarn, especially in a knit, you can use pretty much any pattern, and it’s easy to just sew up the arms from the rectangle after you’ve finished. I love this site for the beautiful patterns. I admit, I have a habit of using the sport-weighted patterns in a fingering-weight, but I crochet pretty loosely.

  60. Why not just change the stitch on your pattern. I use Mary Thomas’s book of knitting patterns. Its old but still relevant and available. There are some excellent lacy stitches and no one would have the same shawl as you. You may have to adjust tension.

  61. Mapes-Benson shawlette on Ravelry. Made 10 of them so far. Love the pattern and it’s open to leave knitting if you like.

  62. Mapes-Benson shawlette on Ravelry. Made 10 of them so far. Love the pattern and it’s open to lace knitting if you like.

  63. I have both knit and worn Reyna, while it is a fun knit, 400 yards is probably not enough to make it wearable around the back and shoulders. I wear it as styled on the main project page around the neck “cowboy” style. I will say that styled like that it stays on really well unlike some other triangular shawls.

    If you want to do something fancy, what about a Boo Knits Shawl?
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/boo-knits-ravelry-downloads/patterns

    Her patterns are really well written and always look so fancy.

    Other pattern suggestions:
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/jaali-2
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/butterfly-dream-catcher
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/forever-yours-3
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shattered-sun-shawl ( I’ve knit this in fingering weight and just shortened the straight stockinette section at the bottom.)
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/haruni-plus

    Sorry for the link dump! It’s the librarian in me.

  65. Morning, as a non knitter here I went to Pinterest and searched there because they have pictures ?. You could check there for ideas if none of these other ones pan out. The problem with using Pinterest for ideas is they changed recently and don’t have a lot of information under the photos you actually have to open them up to check their revelence.

  67. In Stephen King’s book “On Writing” he says that the writing process for him is like an archaeological dig. He knows that there is a story there, but he doesn’t know the details or the end until he starts writing. Do you write like that? Do you have a general idea and direction for a story and then start writing? Or do you find having an outline helps?

    Either way, do you always know the ending to a story? Or have you ever been writing when an ending came out of nowhere and changed what you were doing?

    Thank you for answering writing questions. 🙂

  68. I read a while ago a wonderful post of yours dedicated to the alpha-hole and I remember you observing that while the alpha-hole archetype is mostly a male thing, it does sometimes apply also for female character, even if sadly it seems I can’t find many of them in my reading list.

    Have you two ever thought of writing a story with a female alpha-hole? Like a female Rogan paired to a male Nevada?

  69. What yarn club? I don’t know that it is a good idea that I would learn about yarn clubs. That is Gorgeous yarn. I think that color would work so well with white. Could you mix it and get a lovely sweater?

  70. Look at Helen Stewart’s patterns on Ravelry. She has a lot of beautiful shawls, many of which are designed for 1 skein of fingering yarn. You can choose from lacier, girlier patterns or more solid with small grace notes of lace. Her pattern format is very clear and has the benefit of letting you know -on any row of the shawl what percentage of the way through you are -useful if you’re playing (or don’t want to play) yarn chicken.

  71. From my beautiful wife- “Tell her your wife, the yarn store owner, knit a Reyna & says it’s a great pattern that’s quick to knit and shows yarn off beautifully!”

  72. I have a question, not necessarily a writting ququestion. Can you please give me a snipet??? I need one. On any book that is gonna drop soon.

  74. Knit the rectangle, put tassels on the corners to fancy it up. I did that with a long rectangular shawl I made my mother and it can go formal

  75. Ok second try posting this…
    How about Nefertem by Kirsten Kapur
    She also has a lot of other shawlettes, but I think that to be the best.

  76. I’ve knitted Reyna and didn’t like the way it turned out. It stretched out lengthwise and became very long and skinny. The pattern is also rather monotonous and I got quite bored towards the end till the point where I was forcing myself to finish it off.

  77. You could make a larger item by bulking up your yarn. Join it with another thinner yarn of solid toning color. Knitting two strands together will allow you to use a larger needle and get a different gauge. Just an idea. Good luck.

  78. I don’t buy paper books anymore if I can help. I buy electronic books to save shelf space and to always have a book on hand when needed.

    What do you bring to book signings if you don’t have a paper book? Are there​ print copies of book covers you can have the authors sign? What’s the accepted norm in this electric age?

  80. Martina Behm has a new pattern that is like her hitchhiker scarf but has a short row edge that makes it fancier. It is a pattern that you knit until your yarn runs out…

    • Btw, I think you are brave for joining a yarn club. I am always tempted but two things, well, three hold me back. First, what if I don’t like what is sent? Yes, I can overdye it but who wants to do that with expensive yarn? Second, I tend to get stressed if my stash grows too much (and that can happened so quickly). Third, expense of committing to spending that much each month. As an academic, I have several months where I have to go, as they say at my LYS in Corvallis, cold sheep.

      Oh, on your other yarn issue…you could always dye a skein of vanilla yarn with kool aid if you don’t have dyes to make a complimentary third skein. Kool aid colors look like they would work with the pictures you posted.

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