Yeah, Minnesota totally rocks! And we have great public radio too... go MPR!

I just bought Charmed Knits at my LYS (Crafty Planet on Lowry in Minneapolis) and can you please oh please oh pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase come to Minneapolis!? Charmed Knits is even better than I imagined, and I imagined it to be awesome.

Please do a book event here--after all, the U of M has Gryffindor colors.

Minnesota is totally cool in the knitting world. There are lots of yarn stores -- I have a couple favorites but won't mention them as I'm not sure I can. The MN Knitters Guild sponsors Yarnover each year in April (NAYY) with lots of cool vendors. There's also Shepherd's Harvest in May (I'm a vendor there so guess I'm affiliated with that.)

Besides, although you wouldn't know it with the temps in the last few days, we do get lots of cold weather and snow. Ergo, sweaters, mittens, hats, scarves ... :)

Minnesota is grand!

Well, Mary GrandPre, the Harry Potter illustrator, lives in St. Paul, MN, so the media is *really* into the HP stuff.

And, you know, people in MN need a lot of knitting!

Aaaiiieeeee! The boys are doing such grown-up things! :)

Of COURSE Minnesota is cool. Sometimes it's downright COLD! But seriously, we have some very active fiber communities all across the state. And since we're "up north," we need a lot of woolie goodness to keep us warm!

Yup. Minnesota totally rocks. We moved here a little over a year ago from upstate New York. Everything's better in Minnesota!

How great to see the boys climbing! I bet they are little monkeys.

Those can't be your boys--they're too grown-up!

Oh my GOD, that's so awesome that the boys are full-on into the rock climbing now!

Knitting is huge in Minnesota and especially in the Twin Cities. They have a marvelous LYS crawl every year that benefits a charity and encompasses shops all over Minneapolis and St. Paul. Believe me, my in-laws live in Minneapolis, and when we go back to visit, no one sees me because I am hitting all the shops. Amazing Threads in Maple Grove is absolutely unbelievable. If they call, go!

thanks Alison for visiting us on Saturday. Baby L. is adorable!
I am sending my second copy of Charmed Knits to France this week....maybe you should do a book signing there? ;-)

Speaking of Harry Potter, I went into my local bookstore on Saturday and the girl at the counter said, "Weren't you in here a couple of weeks ago looking for that Harry Potter knitting book?" They only had one copy and a woman who works there had taken it home to look at but hadn't told anyone, so they couldn't find it when I went in to purchase it. I replied that yes, I was but that I found it elsewhere (Amazon). I then went on to tell her that it is a great book and that if I were running that bookstore (Queen for a day, etc.), then I would have plenty of extra copies on hand for the Harry Potter celebration on the evening of the 20th. Hopefully they'll take my sage advice and order more, because the book really is a lot of fun and deserves to be displayed (and on sale) when all those HP fans are mingling in the store and waiting for midnight.

WEBS! Woo hoo, I'm totally there and can't wait! Ahhh, the yarn. They should have a yarn pit there, like a ball pit, just to roll around in! Must. Set. A. Budget.

Hey, awesome rock climbing on a real rock!! I sorta-kinda do that, although I haven't in a few years. Go boys!

GrandPre lives in Minnesota? And I believe that Annie Modesitt
(?sp) recently moved there. Now for a bit of Mrs. Weasleyish, overly motherly, stick-my-nose-in-other-peoples'-business business. You are letting your boys climb without, uh, climbing helmets? Just a thought.

I spent the first 50 years of my life knitting in MN (now I knit 25 miles away in WI). The Yarnery in St. Paul sponsored a La Harlot speaking engagement/signing in April. Creative Fibers and Needlework Unlimited in Minneapolis also bring in famous knitters, Amy Singer being the most recent in my mind. You should be next!

Minnesota is very cool - and knitting is the perfect thing to do when you're cooped up inside on those -40 degree days (or even colder nights) :) I wish I had known how to knit when I was there for college :)

Meg

MN rocks! my local library has a knit-lit night once a month (just started last month and i missed it due to my daughter's double ear infection so i can't tell you what they actually do) but the book for july is your book! minnesota loves you!!!

Hi, just another Minnesotan here to say-yep, we're pretty great!

I love the Charmed Knits book. I keep showing it to friends (I think I might want to buy a second copy of the book and send it to a friend who just moved to LA).

I think the wand cozies are about all I'm going to have time to knit before Friday, but I have extra sock yarn and a relatively thin wand (turned wood, basic but still snazzy looking) so it shouldn't take too long!

Yes! Minnesota is crazy about two things - Harry Potter and Knitting! It's been fun to see the crafty articles that the two newspapers come up with!

The winters are cold!!! What better to do in MN than reado and/or knit!!!

Read (not reado)

Minnesota. The state of good life. Just don't tell everyone! (Sounds like a winning State Slogan, doesn't it?)

Well... I'll be driving in the opposite direction next Sunday, :-( but I did manage to get two copies of the book after KS - one I surprised Phillipine with, and she LOVES it. Expect some French orders in the future...a book signing in Paris wouldn't be so bad, oui?

And I'm frogging that lace scarf and remaking it as an invisibility shawl. Can't wait!

Well... I'll be driving in the opposite direction next Sunday, :-( but I did manage to get two copies of the book after KS - one I surprised Phillipine with, and she LOVES it. Expect some French orders in the future...a book signing in Paris wouldn't be so bad, oui?

And I'm frogging that lace scarf and remaking it as an invisibility shawl. Can't wait!

Maplewood Public Library has started a knitting book club and we're using Charmed Knits for our book of the month for July. Our meeting is tomorrow July 10th from 6-8. We so wish we could have had Alison join us, but you're all more than welcome! Check out our blog: http://knit-lit.blogspot.com

The Twin Cities (and much of the rest of MN) are full of yarn shops. It gets cold here, winters are long - we've gotta keep ourselves warm and busy somehow ;-)

See you Sunday! I'll be working at WEBS. :)

Alison,

Bring the boys to MN! At the Mall of America, there is a smallish Lego Land. While there, swing into the Barnes and Noble for a quick book signing! MN is so great in the summer too!

Minnesota is pretty darn cool.... We have about 37 yarn stores, and a ton of knitters. One of Amazon's kid Harry Potter bloggers is from Minnesota too!

Minnesota is gorgeous. Bazillion lakes, time to move slow... with lots of trees, wildlife, etc. Not too different from W. Mass, but with no history of pretension that I noticed. Congrats on your book.

Minnesota is gorgeous. Bazillion lakes, time to move slow... with lots of trees, wildlife, etc. Not too different from W. Mass, but with no history of pretension that I noticed. Congrats on your book.

I just ordered the Charmed Knits from my bookshop. I think it will be a great if my kids want to learn how to knit some of the great things in it!

*raises hand enthusiastically*

Minneapolis here!! Omigooses, how awesome it would be to see you here! We have much to show you in the way of Harry Potter and Knitting love. Come see us. Please, oh, please, oh pleasey please? :)

woohoo...can't wait for our pilgrimage to Webs on Sunday....

Are they canyoneering or rock climbing? Very cute pix.

Congrats on the book tour - sounds like fun. Tell them to add some California stops...

Minnesota is most excellent--and I say that as someone who has moved to and stayed in the "frozen North land". It's a place where you can truly understand the need for wool and mittens and knitted goodness!

From another MN knitter - just finished the unicorn wand case. It's great! I ran into trouble with the repeat - has anybody else made one yet?

Piping up from Southern MN to echo what others have already said. Knitting is definitely "hot" in MN and has been for a while. Some notable LYS are The Tangled Skein in St Peter and Nadelkunst in New Ulm. As long as you visit in the fall, you won't get carried off by mosquitos or burried in a blizzard. Well, no promises on the blizzard thing, but the mosquitos die off with the first frost!

Seeing you mention the "tweens" knitting from your book reminded me of something I heard at my knitting meeting last weekend. I got MY copy of your book from Overstock.com about 1 second after they listed it for sale! A friend, however, was looking for it recently at Barnes & Noble (I think that was it, or it was ... can't remember - a different big book store)... anyway she was looking so hard for the book and finally asked because they supposedly had it. They finally located it in the Children's Book Section of the store!! GAH! Wouldn't hurt to keep it over there but they need it by the knitting books too!! Sheesh. Overstock.com was just way easier than that. :)

Where do they go rock climbing? My fiance loves that sport and is always looking for new places in the area. Kids are so good at it and they love it!!

Yay Minnesota! I love it here (speaking as someone who lives all over the state depending on whether I'm at home or school) it's lovely here, if occasionally a bit humid or cold. And the knitters here are unbelievable!

Hey Mary K., no worries, the boys have helmets now. That pic was from one of their first times, when daddy was seeing if they even liked the climbing. Plus, they were doing top rope on a very small climbing rock, so no real danger of large falls or large falling rocks. We are surprising them with bikes (with helmets, of course) for their birthday so they're all set now.

Stephanie, hubby has a book called Boston Rocks where he's found at least a couple of nice places locally to climb. Check it out!

minnesota is way *cooler* than it seems. too bad global warming is messing with its bitter winters. they're still cold, but not like in the 70's & 80's -- or even the early 90's, when winter lasted until *may*.