The scoop from the editors

Time passages

If I'm ever unsure if 20 years have really passed since I came up with the idea of an online knitting magazine, all I have to do is look at my first headshot. Look at that little baby editor. Smooth skin, deer-in-the-headlights eyes, and the smallest hint of a smile at what she's made. The current me is made up of grey hairs and wrinkles, each one earned the hard way; a better understanding of what it means to be a magazine editor; and the determination to do good with the platform my team and I have built.

We got here one day at a time, and reaching our 20th Anniversary has made me look back. The milestones are many and, honestly, heartwarming. Knitty's platform has been an internet that's gone from innocent and joyful to the current world state that pits one side against another. But one thing it seems we've been able to agree upon is that our fibercraft makes us happy and helps us feel better when we need it. Knitty has been a pretty calm place over the last 20 years, as the world swirled around us. Our biggest drama came when we were hacked in the early 2010s, but otherwise, we've just kept on keeping on. I've personally gone through huge life changes, as I know many of you have likely experienced, but what my life looks like now is is a better and happier one. One of the biggest changes was getting an ADHD diagnosis in 2021, which has helped me understand and reframe my last 60 years of life, and be kinder to myself in retrospect.

I've also watched some beloved icons and dear friends pass from this world, and that's been so hard. I honestly still can't believe Cat Bordhi is not still walking the earth. Her encouragement in Knitty's earliest years meant so very much to me and Jillian. A "go get 'em" email she sent me in 2008 is still pinned to my office noteboard.

Over the last year especially, we've made changes here. We added spinning many years ago, and crochet officially last year. We've worked to broaden our inclusive mandate to make sure creators and crafters of all colors, races, abilities, gender identities, ages and sizes feel welcome.

Christopher Gernon came along in the early 2010s and made our site actually work on launch day and every day, bless him. And then Philip Chatterton (my friendly ex-spouse) who built the site in the first place updated our site to work responsively (which was a heck of a thing since we'd launched in the age of super-basic HTML). He and I have been working on a code-heavy set of cool new features that Knitty Patrons will get to enjoy hopefully before the year is out.

Speaking of Knitty Patrons, the almost 3000 people who support Knitty financially every issue are the reason we're still able to publish. We also sincerely appreciate the support of our Advertisers, too! Without those two groups, we'd have stopped making a magazine back in 2015.

Of course, without patterns and articles, Knitty would be a pretty empty place (an editorial and a few bunny pictures doesn't make much of a magazine). We are so grateful for the opportunity to publish the work of every designer and author who's been featured in our pages. So many people have been part of Knitty since our first issue in 2002: designers, writers, creative types of every description, friends, colleagues, teachers, mentors, and countless knitters, spinners and crocheters I've met in person or online. I send my thanks to each of you. And a special thank you to these wonderful humans who have been an integral and essential part of Knitty's growth over the last two decades:

Jillian Moreno • Kate Atherley • Ashley Knowlton • Rachel Brown • Mandy Moore • Kristi Porter • Stephannie Roy • Kate Gilbert • Theresa Vinson Stenersen • Brenda Dayne • Cat Bordhi • Steve Laundrie • Christopher Gernon • Philip Chatterton

In the last few months, we've taken a hard look at our content and heard the words of some readers (or former readers) who were, let's say, disgruntled. As a result, we've focused on two areas of improvement. Our Library, once a cumbersome and frustrating place to try to find anything has been cleaned up and made useful again (and work continues in that area. There's still lots to do). And we're bringing back more features, because people missed them. Jillian Moreno, as you'll see in her editorial below, has changed her column's focus to helping you make smarter yarn substitutions, whether you're a knitter, crocheter, or spinner. And we welcome Brenda Dayne, a knitter, spinner and sewist, who is writing a brand-new column. It's about how she takes a Knitty pattern from our Library and makes it work for her knitting style, yarn stash (or purchase list) and body, much in the way she has for many years in her Today's Sweater segment of her legendary podcast, Cast On. Except this column comes with lots more juicy details, photos and how-tos so you can do the same for yourself. And Kate Atherley's Wiseknit column has a tighter style and features both still photos and short videos to help you learn techniques in the way you like best.

We've launched a new knittyshop full of stuff with our fun new Anniversary logo, and there are more good things to come this year. Did someone say contest? We'll celebrate a milestone this big for the full four seasons. Thank you for being here. And stick around.

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This Deep Fall issue's theme (and we take our themes a little loosely here at Knitty) is Pop Culture. You'll find lots of tie-ins and lots of stuff that has nothing to do with Pop Culture. We'll let you figure out which is which. Enjoy all the patterns and the new columns, and don't forget to keep an eye out around mid-October when we launch our Surprise. It'll be even more surprising this time around.

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Knitty needs you! As I mentioned above, without our Patrons' support, Knitty simply would cease to exist. Our Patrons fund 75% of our operating costs, and every single dollar they contribute helps. We'd love you to join them! If you like rewards, you can get them starting at the $5 per issue level on Patreon! If you just want to support Knitty with no frills, this page lays out all the options.

We are also grateful for the Advertisers who choose to place their messages on our pages. They're small businesses just like Knitty is, and welcome you to visit their shops. If you can, please support them when you need to make a purchase. To learn more about advertising with Knitty, pop over to our Rate Card.

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Here's how you can keep in touch with us:

Twitter |Instagram | Facebook | Patreon

Amy Singer
[editor, Knitty]

 

Happy birthday to us!

Twenty years???? I remember my first hesitant emails and conversations with Amy 20 years ago. I did a couple of scarf patterns for Knitty, then I started doing more and more things behind the scenes, and here I am still with Amy and Knitty 20 years later.

We have seen so much excellent knitting, spinning and crochet pass through our pages. Planning the issues has always been my favorite thing, especially seeing designers come back over several issues, some even over several years. I always loved to guess what would be the favorite design of the issue (I rarely got it right). Like so many things, it’s the people who make Knitty: readers, knitters, and all of the people who have worked on it.

I have sold ads, worked with designers and yarn companies, done marketing, helped to plan issues and done a lot of spinning content. My work with Knitty is always changing, and it’s changing again.

For now, I’m hitting pause on my Knittyspin column. There will still be spinning content, reviews, and patterns, it’s just my column that’s pausing. When I first started Knittyspin, there wasn’t a lot of spinning for knitting information available online, and now there is a ton! That’s a good thing.

Here’s what I’m going to do with my yarn obsessed brain now – I want to help knitters with yarn substitutions. Every issue, I will discuss 2-3 of the new patterns, and talk about why the yarn the designer chose works well for their pattern, suggest alternate yarns, give you information for hunting your own substitutes, and tell you how I would spin for each project.

I am so excited! I love to teach people about yarn, see the ah-ha moment, or hear them say, “that makes so much sense!”. So many knitters are unhappy with projects because the yarn isn’t right. They think that is has to do with their knitting. It’s never you, it’s either the yarn or the pattern, never your knitting.

I hope you enjoy my new column, Substitution Solutions.

Happy knitting & spinning!

Jillian Moreno
[Spinning Editor]