Letter From The Editor
The scoop from the Editor
photo: AmyThe end of the hermit era
I'm naturally introverted, though around my people (you – you are my people) I get boisterous and chatty. I've had some experience meeting yarn folk at the classes I taught in 2007-2014, and at shows on the floor, especially our annual trade show. But mostly, I've kept to myself, working in Worldwide Knitty Headquarters (always the 2nd bedroom wherever I've lived), and hanging with a knitting friend or two when we were both free and in the same time zone.
This year, I've been working on increasing our readership. And so last month, I womanned the Knitty booth at Knit City in Toronto, a first for Knitty: a public-facing event where real yarn folk could come up and say hi. Normally, people who have a booth at cool yarn shows are selling something. I was selling nothing (except some vintage Knitty merch, for pocket change). Instead, I was there to ask the burning question: "Do you know Knitty?" Many people said yes. Some said yes, but their eyes said no...because they'd heard of us but had never investigated. Those lucky folks as well as those who had never heard of us got my under-30-second elevator pitch. We're professionally run and tech edit all our patterns. We've been around 21 years and counting. And all our patterns are free, because our Patrons support Knitty financially.
We got a few glazed-over looks (I talk fast :), but mostly, we got the surprised face. Free? Really? Yup, really. I gave them one of our new Knitty biz cards and a smile, and sent them off to browse the archives and, hopefully, be delighted. Introverty me actually loved it. It was exhausting and exhilarating. I went through almost 1,000 of these cards that weekend.
I met long-time Knitty fans as well, and got to hug some and smiled at everyone. I even met two people who were at the Downtown Knit Collective guild meeting the first time I announced there would be a Knitty magazine! So much smiling. So much happy.
So I'll be doing more of these events, including some sort of Knitty Trunk Show at yarn shops. If you're interested in having me come to your Guild, Yarn Shop or local Library, just email me at amy AT knitty DOT com and we'll talk.
You'll find I'm surprisingly boisterous for an introvert.
By the way, at the Knit City event, we had a draw for this sexy Muud Stockholm leather needlecase. Entrants signed up for our email list, and one of them is our winner! Congratulations, Diana C, and welcome to all the lovely folx who are now getting our emails when a new issue or Surprise is released!
This issue's theme is Convertible, and it's a tricky one. I may bring it back in future, because the kind of thinking that creates a garment that can be more than one thing can take longer than just a few months.
Still, we have some bangers this issue, and some non-themed knits we hope you'll love too! Some of the most convertible thingies will come in this issue's Surprise (told you; it takes time to engineer something convertible), but we don't think you'll suffer much. There are sweaters, socks, and some pretty creative warming options that will stretch your colorwork and texture muscles, and they're all up right now! You'll find them here.
Wait, what's this Surprise? It's a set of new patterns released between this launch and the next issue. Want to know when? Just sign up for our little Newsletter and we'll write when it's out, so you don't miss a thing.
Wanna see the new stuff? Off you go, then.
A huge Knitty welcome to Claudia B. Manley, our new Reviews Editor! Claudia is a writer, university educator in creative non-fiction, a columnist for MDK, a knitter, and a sewist. And also a great knitwear model. We're thrilled she's joined the team!
A little change...My name down below might look different than you remember. Yup, I've changed it to my married name. At first, I didn't want to change it. My business identity seemed tied to that name. But there's weird stuff happening around me; tangible things that I've had since I was little or since my former marriage are breaking as if they've done their job and it's time for a fresh start.
The weirdest: I've planted a Japanese maple tree at every house I've lived at since my first marriage. The latest one was doing super well, established as it was for at least 3 years, and I was looking forward to seeing it put on new spring growth this year. Except after an exceptionally mild winter, it just up and fricking died. It's brown wood all the way from the bottom to the top. No trauma, no extreme weather. It just died.
I can take a hint. My name needed to change too. So I'm Amy Sadler, and it's nice to meet you. I'm still me. Just happier.
And no, I'm not planting another Japanese maple. That tradition ended with the name change. Instead, I planted a pretty robust-looking Nectarine tree (Harko, for those who care about such things) in a different spot, and am looking forward to future harvests of my favorite fruit.
Remember back in the Spring+Summer 2023 issue when we had a contest? Well, it's time to announce the winners!
I'll let Maia from TOM BIHN update you: "After much thought and consideration, with current production limits, we have decided to pause designing a new knitting bag for now. We still love the optimal design of the Swift for knitters like you. We’re thrilled to announce the winners of our recent design contest and introduce you to our latest addition: the Nomad Tote!
While not specifically designed for knitters, we believe its versatility and features make it an ideal companion for your projects on the go, with the Rogue Sacoche being a great alternative for smaller projects. Though we’ve paused the development of a dedicated knitting bag for now, your feedback and thoughts remain invaluable to us for future design endeavors. Thank you again for your support. Happy knitting!"
So, who won the contest?
- 1st prize (the Nomad Tote, the Swift, or the Little Swift + $100 TOMBIHN gift card): Melanie B
- 2nd prize ($100 TOMBIHN gift card): Michelle E
- 3rd prize ($75 TOMBIHN gift card): Tonya Y
Congratulations to our winners who have been emailed as of this morning (June 11/24), and thank you to all our readers for participating in the contest!
You can learn more about the Rogue Sacoche in this issue's Cool Stuff reviews, and we'll be sharing our thoughts on the Nomad Tote in the Deep Fall issue, live this September.
*Money talk: You might not know that we are a business that pays their staff, the designers and writers that contribute patterns and articles, and me – the only full-time employee of Knitty. Where do we get money to pay everyone? Several places.
The majority of our financial support comes from our Knitty Patrons and Members. These folk, about 3000ish people right now, support Knitty in whatever amount they are able to, once per issue. The money comes in a month after a new issue goes live, and it goes to cover our operating costs like our server and all the other online services that make Knitty run, our payroll, and my salary.
Knitty Patrons get rewards for their support, like early access to every new issue, and at the Tangy+ level and up, they can use our super-cool new feature, knitty+! It lets them customize Knitty patterns showing only the size they're going to knit, so the pattern text is leaner and easier to follow! There are other benefits to knitty+, and other benefits to being a Knitty Patron, too. Check it out here, and see if you'd like to join us! Patrons come and go all the time, and we need a constant level of support to be able to continue to publish.
We also get some revenue from our Advertisers! We've held advertising rates steady for as long as I can remember, and we actually slashed our rates back in 2017 because we were able to, thanks to our Patron revenue. Our mission includes supporting small fiber businesses, and so when we could give them a financial break, we did!
Finally, we get a tiny bit of revenue from Bookshop.org and Amazon links on our Cool Stuff page, and a little bit from the ads that display on all the back issues. It all helps.
How can you help Knitty stay strong and stick around? Here are some suggestions:
- tell your knitting and crochet friends about us!
- Tag them on our Instagram or Facebook posts
- Tell your fiber group, guild or meetup about Knitty or a Knitty pattern that you're working on
- Share your Knitty pattern WIPs and FOs on social media and let people know where to find the pattern
- follow us on social media! Facebook | Instagram
- if you are able to support us financially at any amount, check out knitty.me, which lays out all the ways you can do that (including joining our Patreon)
Thank you for being a Knitty reader! More people don't know about Knitty than those that do, so when you share us with your fiber friends, you're doing a great thing!
Here's how you can keep in touch with us:
Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky (it's out of beta! join!) | Patreon
Amy Sadler
[editor, Knitty]