Wednesday, January 28, 2015

In Which I Am Grateful for Friends Who Ship Things: YOU CAN BUY THE HARD COPY OF THE BOOK

Because life, work and illness got in the way, my grand plans to sell the hardcopies of my book directly from my own website were derailed.

To fill in the gap, the very very good people of indigodragonfly yarns are selling them for me.

Here. But the physical (Hard copy. You know: on paper.) book here. 

The fine print: $30 plus taxes and shipping, As a way of apologizing for the delay, for a short-time only, if you buy this, and agree to share your email address with me, I will also give you a copy of the e-book.

If you bought the e-book, the hard copy is $10. Contact me with proof of your purchase and I'll provide you with a coupon code.

And if you're local to Toronto, there are copies at The Purple Purl and Lettuce Knit, and Shall We Knit shall soon have some, too.




Thursday, January 22, 2015

Begging patience

I know. I know. I said I would put the physical copies of my Pattern Writing book up for sale when I got back from Vogue Live.

I'm not often one to moan and complain about my work - I LOVE WHAT I DO. But I've hit the wall this week.

I've come down with a cold, I've had a bunch of deadlines moved up on me, and I've got a million things to take care of before I leave again on a VERY IMPORTANT trip February 2nd ( more on this later). I have a major writing deadline Friday. I have three events needing class details to be confirmed, class descriptions to write and photos to create and supply. I have a bunch of tech editing deadlines. I have a webseminar to prep for . Plus I have my usual local teaching engagements. I have invoices to create so I can get paid. Simply put, due to moving schedule items that other people have declared urgent, I am overbooked. I have put off as much as I can, but I can't say no to anything else.

To put the books up for sale requires me to tweak my shopping cart code for my website and update the pages it's on. It requires me to go to the post office and figure out shipping costs for Canada, US and various European countries. It requires me to buy puffy envelopes. It requires me to take orders and fulfillment.

I'm hugely sorry and frustrated about this myself, but I simply haven't got the time to take care of this this week or next. This is the thing I want to do most of all on my to do list, but I am a one woman business and right now that's not enough staff.

There are books left over, I promise.

If you're in dire need, both The Purple Purl and Lettuce Knit in Toronto have inventory. Otherwise, I hope to get to this the second week of February.

Thank you for your understanding.
Thank you

Monday, January 12, 2015

Actual books. You know, like, on paper.

The original plan for Pattern Writing for Knit Designer was that it be a digital book only. It was only going to be a small thing - maybe 30 pages, I figured - and so it didn't need to be an actual, you know, BOOK.

But then it turned into something bigger. 160+ pages. More like a Book.

So I've done a print run. First one is 200 copies. They arrived today.






(Wow, those are terrible photos. In my defense, I was excited.)

I will be selling the books for $30 at the indigodragonfly booth at Vogue Knitting Live in NYC this weekend, and then once I'm back I'll put them up for sale through my website. Stay tuned for details.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Math for Knitters: Webseminar Part 2

Recorded late last year, the second part of my Math for Knitters Webseminar series is now available for download and listening at your leisure.

This two-part series of one-hour presentations focused on numbers issues in knitting...

In Part One, I discussed:
Yarn shop math: how to make sure you're buying enough yarn for your project.
Pattern math: gauge math; repeats and how to deal with numbers-intensive instructions in your project, like "decrease five sts evenly across; and the dreaded 'Reversing Shapings' and 'At the Same Time'.
Project math: how to figure out how long it will take you to finish your project, how to figure out if you have enough yarn, how to figure out how long you can make your scarf.

In Part Two, I went deeper:
Gauge: what it's all about: why it matters, how to check, it, and what to do if you can't match it.
Adjusting patterns for gauge: how to do it, and when not to.
Adjusting patterns for sizing and fit: easy ways to modify a garment to improve the fit.

Although I know that I love the math, not everyone else does, so many of my solutions are about keeping the number-crunching to a minimum.

This session will make you a smarter shopper: my goal is help you figure out how to choose patterns that are easiest to modify. And then I'll show you how to make those modifications to get exactly the result you want!

If you love math, this class is for you - I'll empower you to adjust and modify patterns to your needs! And if you don't love math, this class is for you - I'll show you how to avoid it as much as possible, while still making adjustments.

Both classes are available for on-demand listening, for $19.99 each. Part One. Part Two.

Friday, January 09, 2015

Webseminar on Pi Shawls: Wednesday January 14th

It is generally acknowledged that Elizabeth Zimmermann was a genius. Not just a genius of knitting, but a genius in the way she saw the world. She achieved many wonderful things, but the one I admire the most is mathematical: the Pi Shawl. I’m relatively good at math (a degree in Pure Mathematics) and relatively good at knitting (have been teaching it and writing books for more than ten years), but never in a million years would I have made the leap that she did.

If you’re not mathematically inclined, all you need to know is that our lady of knitting, Ms. Zimmermann, realized that the application of a simple fact of geometry could make knitting a circular shawl significantly easier and more fun to knit.

In her words, “I have a circular shawl for you which starts at the center, has absolutely no pattern, and only six shaping rounds in the whole thing.” It was published first in her seminal book Knitter's Almanac.

The traditional circular shawl is shaped through a fairly complex geometry, either 16 increases every fourth round, or 8 increases every other round. All well and good, and not too hard to work, but it means that there’s a fair degree of counting and keeping track, and if you wanted to work some kind of lace pattern, there was a fair bit of planning and calculation required to incorporate the shaping into the lace pattern.

Now, whether she was helping one of her children with her geometry homework at the time, I’m not sure, but what Ms. Zimmerman did realize is that applying a rule about circle size could reduce the number of shaping rounds radically. The rule is this: that as the diameter of a circle doubles, so does the circumference.

What this means is that you start in the center, at regular distances, you simply double the stitch count. Work even for a distance, and double the stitch count. Each time, the distance worked even gets longer: doubles, in fact.

It’s the easiest pattern in the world to memorize, and because there are large sections worked even, you can work stitch patterns and motifs without having to worry about shaping. Or none at all! In some ways, the entirely pattern-free eyelet version is the best one of all. Genius.

It works for any weight of yarn, and you can work until it’s whatever size you want or need.
My Rosetta Tharpe design

In this webseminar, I will explain the mathematical principles that make it work, and I’ll show how you can create your own without having to worry about any math at all.

I'll share the basic Pi shawl pattern and its eyelet variation, and talk through a variety of ways to customize your own – through yarn choice, by adding pattern stitches and lace motifs. I'll talk through the technical details: the circular start and a variety of options for bind-offs and clever edgings that require no binding off at all. Along the way I will discuss tips for making lace knitting fun, and for ensuring your finished shawl is the most beautiful it can be.

Sign up now. You can attend live this coming Wednesday, January 14th at 1pm, or listen after the fact, at your leisure.

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

Twitter update

Note that I've changed my Twitter handle to @kateatherley.

If you were already following me, it should automatically update.

If you just visit my page, go here: https://twitter.com/kateatherley

Related: I've also changed my Ravelry name to kateatherley.

Don't mind me, I'm just establishing my brand...