presenting No Sheep For You!

Well, she's finally here [for pre-order, anyway]. My baby book. The first book I've written that was mine starting right from its conception. [Knit Wit was pitched to me by the lovely Quirk people, and the Big Girl Knits series is Jillian's brainchild.]

This one comes from my own itchies, sniffles and other wool-rejecting bodily issues. Not only am I diagnosed allergic to wool, my skin becomes quickly and uncomfortably irritated by any contact with it and 99% of animal fibers [angora seems to be the only one I can tolerate]. And I know there are a lot of people like me, even if their symptoms are different. There are also people who choose not to use wool, for whatever personal reason. And those that just want to use non-wool fibers for their own merits. This book is for all of us. The front section, taking a cue from Big Girl Knits, is full of empowering non-wool knowledge, so you can better understand the fibers before you choose to use them in a project. There's information on how best to swap the yarn a wool-based pattern calls for to one that's wool-free. And all my best non-wool knitting tips, too. 160 pages, tons of amazing patterns from all your favorite designers [and some you may not know yet]...and the best thing I've ever designed, the Tuscany Silken shawl. :-)

It'll be out in spring, and I really hope you like it.

[The cover? That's the publisher's doing. Authors get very little say in how their book ultimately looks. The title, illustrator and a good part of how the book is styled and laid out came from me...which is totally not something all authors get to enjoy. I really loved working with Interweave Press on this book and feel like I got more of my own fingerprint on this book than I ever have before. Smooches to Interweave and especially Ann Budd, my editor.]