Meeting a literary agent by Leanne Dyck

At home, to prepare to meet the literary agent, I...
-asked more experienced authors for advice.
-used a search engine to research the literary agent I was to meet.
-worked on my presentation. This was the most daunting task. I wanted to represent myself fairly in terms of my past success, my current project and my future goals. 
-gave my presentation to my writers' group. It was forty-five minutes too long. They suggested I revise it and use cue cards to stay on topic and cover the main points.
-cut fat from my presentation--reducing it to seven minutes.
-did additional research. Fearful that I'd forgotten something, I read writers' magazines.
-developed questions to ask the literary agent.

On the ferry, sailing from Mayne Island to Vancouver Island, I rehearsed with my traveling companion.

Just before meeting the literary agent, I took ten deep breaths and remembered to smile. Thankfully, the literary agent smiled back.

It was a pleasure meeting with her. However, the meeting didn't go as I had imagined. For example, she didn't throw her hands in the air and shout, "Oh, my gosh. I've finally found YOU!" For another, she didn't want to listen to my carefully rehearsed presentation. Instead, she wanted to get to know me. She did say, however, that she was pleased that I was so well prepared. So, I don't feel that the time I spent preparing was wasted.

I was delightfully surprised at how well I conducted myself--smiling was easy and words flowed. Even without my cue cards, I was able to highlight my past successes, current project, and future goals.

At the end of the meeting, she gave me her business card.

I had thought that meeting with a literary agent would be the end of a journey. As it turns out, it's just the beginning.

Knitting: design your own stitch pattern by Leanne Dyck

Have you ever tried to "uninvent" (I say "uninvented" because as Elizabeth Zimmerman pointed out, the craft is so old that it is very hard to invent something new in knitting.) your own stitch pattern? It's fun and easy. Start with a basic stitch pattern--for example, seed stitch.

seed stitch (over an even number of stitches)

Row 1: knit 1, purl 1--continue to end of row

Row 2: purl 1, knit 1--continue to end of row

Repeat rows 1 and 2 for pattern

The seed stitch is a fun stitch pattern to alter. Here are some of the stitch patterns that I have "uninvented" while playing with the seed stitch.

Here are some ideas you can use to "uninvent" your own stitch pattern.

Combine two stitch patterns.

I combined purl and seed stitch.

Here's what I came up with...

Row 1: purl one, knit one--continue to end of row

Row 2: purl

Repeat rows 1 and 2 for pattern

Or

Experiment with the number of stitches in the stitch pattern.

Here's what I came up with...

Row 1: knit two, purl two--continue to end of row

Row 2: purl two, knit two--continue to end of row

Repeat rows 1 and 2 for pattern

Or

Experiment with the number of rows in the stitch pattern.

Here's what I came up with...

Rows 1 and 2: knit one, purl one--continue to end of rows

Rows 3 and 4: purl one, knit one--continue to end of rows

Repeat rows 1 to 4 for pattern

Or...

Happy uninventing