After much internal debate, I’ve decided that the Fall 2009 issue of knotions will be the final issue.

This was not a decision I came to lightly, and one that I’ve wrestled with for quite some time now.  The knitting community welcomed knotions and I loved meeting so many new people throughout the past 18 months.

However, after publishing five issues I do not foresee the magazine being able to sustain a high quality of patterns on an advertising-based revenue model.  Right now, a large portion of the fees are personally funded by me. 

I considered several alternatives:

• Offering a mix of both free and for-purchase patterns
• Creating a subscription-based model – for example, $20/year for all patterns
• Opening ads to be issue-wide to be able to offer ads at lower rates and be more accessible to smaller companies, indie dyers, etc

After some analysis, none of these options seemed viable.

I've really enjoyed working with you all - knitters and designers - and I've gained some great learning and insight, and have made many new friends in the process.  I'll never regret having started knotions but I do feel it's time to say goodbye.

The web site will remain live indefinitely.  If I ever get to a point where hosting the site isn't viable I will give plenty of warning so designers and knitters can work around it. 

Thank you all for your support!

Jody

Bramblewood has become an instant favorite from the fall 2009 issue.  With its top down construction, simple lines, feminine shaping, and cable details it's a wearable piece that can go from office to weekend.

If you're planning to knit Bramblewood stop by the knotions ravelry group and join the KAL.  Ask questions, help fellow knitters, and be inspired by the WIP and FO pics.

I'll be there as both a participant - my Bramblewood yarn arrived yesterday - and a moderator.

Come take a look, queue what you like in ravelry and come back for launch on Tuesday :)

Today's free pattern is Lazy Daisy, an anklet out of Crystal Palace Panda Cotton - a bamboo, cotton and elastic blend.  It's a great sock yarn alternative for those of you with a wool allergy or if you're just looking for a sock good for warmer weather.

And of course, we have today's knitmore girls update from Sock Summit in Portland.  Get a peek into some of the wares at vendor hall and hear about the ravelry party.

Today's pattern is up - bella socks, and the latest field update from the knitmore girls is too.

For today's sock I wanted to design something simpler that could be worked with a variety of handdyed and striped yarns.  Only one color is used per round.  I included a gusseted, short row heel.  Tomorrow we'll have a tutorial on adding a gusset to other patterns' short row heels.

We have a new free sock pattern, the knitmore girls' daily field update, an article on comparing sock techniques, and a tutorial on adding elastic thread to your knee highs.

Enjoy and we'll be back tomorrow with another installment.

Knitmore Girls Jasmin and Gigi arrived safely in Portland yesterday.  Get the scoop on their day, the knitters they ran into, and a sneak peak at some of the yarn they scoped out in the vendor hall. {read the full article}

They'll be back tomorrow morning to tell us all about Opening Day, and we'll have the first of our free patterns and tutorials up for you as well.

A year ago today we launched our first issue!

I remember how crazy the weeks leading up to that day were.  Experimenting with layouts for the patterns, working with the designers to get instructions right, working every night until 10 or 11 o'clock.  And then when I was ready to launch, biting my nails and hoping that everything worked, that the server wouldn't crash and that you all liked what we had to offer.

The server didn't crash that day, but it sure did the day before the launch of issue 2 (winter).  It took a full two weeks and countless hours on the phone with tech support to fix things, and in the end I had to switch hosting providers to resolve the problem.  That was a very stressful time and your supportive comments really kept me going.

The launch of issue 3 (spring) had to be delayed due to my mom's illness.  It was a scary few months but I'm happy to report that mom is doing really well (yay mom!), and the spring issue launched without much trouble as well.

By the time we got to issue 4 (summer), things were going pretty smoothly.  I was worried about the timing because I had unintentionally scheduled it to launch the Tuesday after Maryland Sheep & Wool.  But it all worked out and the issue launched on time.  Phew!

In the past year I've made a lot of new friends - our designers, who create the beautiful work that grace our pages; our advertisers, who make it possible to produce the magazine; and most of all, you - our readers.  I couldn't ask for a better set of people to share all this with - your support, your kind words, your encouragement are all appreciated more than I can say.

And for that I have a little surprise for you!  As you may have heard (wink wink) there's this little thing called Sock Summit this weekend in Portland, Oregon.  If you're able to attend, that's great!  But if you're like me, other commitments (*cough* fall issue *cough*) are keeping you from attending.  So, in celebration of our first anniversary, and as a small token of our thanks and appreciation to all our readers we're doing Knotions Commotions - a mini issue dedicated to sock knitting.

Starting Friday and continuing throughout the weekend we'll release new sock patterns, tutorials and articles. And as a special surprise I'm super excited to announce that we've teamed up with the Knitmore Girls (I love their podcast) for daily Sock Summit reports from the field.  Even if you can't attend the summit you can still enjoy a little socky goodness.

So get your needles ready, pick out some of your favorite sock yarn, and join us on Friday to kick it off!

Many of you have asked that we send email announcements when new things happen on the site - when an issue launches, when we start a new contest, or when new free patterns or articles are posted.  So, we've created a google group to send monthly announcements to you all.

We selected google because you don't need a gmail account - you can use any email address you choose.

To sign up, visit the group home page.

And we promise not to inundate you with email - we'll send approximately one email per month.

come on over and check it out!

The preview of our summer issue is out.  Check it out.

Hello Designers!

Submissions for the Fall 2009 issue are officially open.  The Fall issue will be our fifth issue and will be our biggest issue yet.  It launches on August 3, 2009 to give knitters time to finish their projects before the season hits.

Here are the details...

Hello Designers!

Are you stll working on the final touches of your summer submission?  Or maybe you're hurrily knitting on it hoping to sneak in at the last minute?

If you're still working on a submission feel free to check in and let me know.  I usually make final decisions about a month before the next issue goes live so you still have some time (especially if I know it's coming).  I heard from a few of you in the past couple days but just in case you're too shy to ask I thought a blog post would be helpful too.

And if you're really running behind, the fall issue is only 5 months away at this point (can you believe we're already talking fall?).  We have an extra big issue in store for fall and it's never too early to start thinking about it.

If you have any questions, please email me at editor AT knotions DOT com.

We're live!

A few of the highlights:

• 15 new free patterns
• A new series Fabric Row combining knitting and sewing into the same design
• A Knitter's Guide to Seattle
• Review of Nashua's new magazine Nashua Handknitting Magazine

Enjoy!

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

I've been enjoying seeing all the knotions projects pop up on Ravelry and the blogs.  At writing, there are over 200 active projects from the Winter issue on Ravelry, and the designs are in over 5,000 queues!  With all that love I'm sure you're all curious what's in store for the next couple of issues.  Here's an update.

Spring 2009 - Submissions Update

The spring issue will be released in mid-February.  With the holidays in the mix it's been a challenge for the contributors to enjoy the season *and* complete their submissions.  We'll be adjusting our Spring release date for future years as well so we won't need to move dates around after this.

If you submitted a design for spring expect to hear back from us within the week.  Final decisions are being made now (some accepts and declines have been sent out but we still have quite a few to work through).

Summer 2009 - Call For Submissions

Summer knitting is the time for smaller projects and lighter weight yarns.  Think cotton, bamboo, linen and hemp.  For project types, in addition to socks which are a must-have summer project in my book, think lace stoles and shawls, light weight garments such as tanks and vests, and accessory projects such as jewelry, belts and bags.  If you have an idea for a combo knit/fabric project, this is the season for it.

If you have an idea you'd like to discuss with me, please .

I'm pleased beyond words to announce that this issue IS LIVE!!!! 

I hope you find it was worth the wait.

{visit Knotions Winter 2008}

If you're reading this you're hitting the site via the new hosting provider!

Let's give this a couple days to make sure everything transitions smoothly.  I'll update the blog as soon as we launch!

We've been migrated to the new platform and are taking stock to make sure everything is configured properly.  So far things are looking good.

We'll monitor the site to confirm we get at least 48 hours of uninterrupted service before we launch (we don't want to launch only to have a technical problem).

Thank you all SO MUCH for your outpouring of good wishes and supportive comments.  I am floored by how great you all have been through it all.

I think we're really close!

We're getting closer.  I finally got a real update from the ISP.  We know exactly what the issue is and we've developed a short term and long term fix.

The ETA on the short-term fix is 24 hours.  The ETA on the long-term fix is TBD (they actually tried to implement it this morning but it failed).

So, the big question on your minds is when will we launch?  Well, it's on my mind too!  We'll launch as soon as we're stable -- and by that I mean as soon as we have a full day without this problem.  The earliest that will be is tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.  Once things are rolled out I'll be sure to post on Ravelry, on this blog and on my own blog so you'll all be sure to know.

Thanks again for all your support and patience these past couple days.  Technology is fun, isn't it?

Just a quick note to let you all know that we'll be launching tonight.

As luck would have it, the site had a problem with the hosting provider and had to undergo some emergency maintenance last night.  We've now been moved to a brand new server.  I just tested the site and it looks like our new digs are working fine so we should be in great shape for tonight's launch.  While I would have preferred it didn't happen at all, better to happen right before launch than right after.

I'll post here when we launch, but it should be late evening EST.

I'm sorry for the delay!

I'll keep this one brief -- the preview is up!

The Good News

Can you believe we're less than 2 weeks away from the launch of the second issue?  Last issue I swore I would find a way to have more content on the blog in the weeks leading up to launch, but here we are 13 days away.  There's lots going on behind the scenes though -- pattern editing, photo cropping, chart making, and web site building.

The Better News

We do have a fun little giveaway in store for you with this next issue. Yarn!  Needles!  Books!  You'll need to be a member of the site in order to take part in the give aways.  I know, signing up for a site can be a pain.  We promise not to rent or sell your information -- what you share with us is only for us at Knotions.  If you haven't registered yet, visit our registration form -- it should only take a minute -- and you'll be all set to take part in the give aways when the site launches.

And Saving the Best for Last

If you're anxiously awaiting the preview, it will be up on Thursday!

I keep getting emails and messages on Ravelry asking when the next issue launches.  I love hearing how excited you all are!

Mark your calendars -- the big day is Monday, November 3rd.

It's a huge issue and I am so excited for you all to see it!  It's twice as big as the last one -- with more garments, more accessories, and more articles.

While we're not quite ready to do the official preview, I just updated the list of yarns used in the Winter issue and I thought you all might enjoy seeing what was used in the designs.   This will give you a little sense of what's to come.

Look for the official preview in about 2 weeks!

Yarns used in the Winter Issue

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock That Rock
Caron Simply Soft Heather
Cascade Cash Vero
Commodum Aran Tweed
Crystal Palace Panda Cotton
Elann Peruvian Highland Silk
Filatura Di Crosa Baby Kid Extra
Fonty BB Merinos
GGH Samoa
Handmaiden Yarns Great Big Sea
Hayfield Double Knitting Superwash
Jaeger Silk
Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Kettle Dyed
Knit Picks Palette
Louet Gems
Luxury Collection Baby Alpaca Sport
Malabrigo Chunky
Malabrigo Worsted
Miss Babs Yummy Monochrome Superwash
Online Linie 155 Supercool
Queensland Kathmandu Aran
Rowan All Seasons Cotton
Schaefer Yarn Company Helene
Schoeller and Stahl Merino Cashmere
Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk DK
Sublime Soya Cotton DK
Valley Yarns Colrain
Zaol Canon
Zen Yarn Garden Gemilicious Fingering

Submissions for the Spring 09 issue are officially open.

This issue publishes February 2nd – think transitional garments that layer well, warm weather friendly fibers, cardis that...

After a long (and fun!) day of reviewing submissions, I've completed the review process for Winter 2008.  I believe I've sent accepts / declines to everyone who submitted a design, so if you haven't heard back (and I'm not in your spam folder!) feel free to to check on its status.

The number of submissions more than tripled for this issue, and I'm really excited about how Winter 2008 is coming together. I even have a design in it myself!

There's a lot of design work coming about here in the next 2 months -- the fall raglan will be out in about a month and the first of the new sock series will hit in October. All that and it's only 5 and a half weeks until Rhinebeck, 7 weeks until the Winter preview and 8 weeks until the Winter issue is live!

I have big news, people!

I've known for a while now that I'd need to add to the Knotions staff in order to keep the site developing and the content fresh, but asking others to work on "my baby" is a big step for both me and the magazine.  It's not easy to find someone who's reliable, great at what they do, and fun to work with to boot.

Well, I did it!  I'm very excited to announce that Carol Sulcoski will be joining our editorial staff!

I met Carol several years ago at Rosie's Yarn Cellar, but even if you're not from the Philadelphia area I'm sure you know her work.  She's one of the co-authors of Knit So Fine, the owner and master handdyer from Black Bunny Fibers, the editor and one of the designers of the upcoming book Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns, and her designs have also appeared in several other books and magazines.

With a resume like that, Carol has a lot to offer Knotions -- writing, designing, and techniques articles were all possibilities.  One of the things that many of you have asked for in the readers' survey is that you'd like more periodic content.  I'm beyond pleased to tell you that she'll be doing a monthly book review for us.  I've always been a fan of Carol's No-Bull Book Reviews -- they're thorough, lots of pics, and after reading them I've felt like she gave me all the information I needed to decide if I wanted to buy the book.  Take a look for yourself -- here's a recent review she did on Knitting New Mittens and Gloves by Robin Melanson.

The book for her first review is in transit right now, so look for Carol's first review in the next few weeks.

Winter submissions officially closed yesterday.

I think submission time has become my most-favorite part of this process -- meeting all the new-to-me designers and seeing their work for the first time -- work that they want to be in the magazine.  It's such a big compliment when a designer wants their hard work represented in Knotions.

I'm really excited with the way this issue has come together -- more garments than Fall (something many of you asked for) and more articles too.  We've also got a bunch of small gift items -- a good mix for a pre-holiday issue, I think.  I even hope to have one of my own designs in this issue! 

If you were hoping to submit for Winter but you're a little behind schedule, email me and I might be able to extend the deadline if it would complement what's already in the issue.

Oh, and if you submitted a design for Winter I plan to reply to all submissions by end of this weekend.

As the survey responses continue, there are some more questions that keep popping up on the radar.  Here are answers to a few more popular questions...

I love including a survey - I really get to see what you all are thinking.  And once I see the same comment pop up quite a few times, I know it's something to really think about seriously.

Here's a sampling of questions and comments, some of which I'm sure are on your minds too...

Is this thing on?

Hey, there you are.  Welcome to the first issue of Knotions! If you're reading this then you know that we've moved to knotions.com.  The old domain will start to redirect here tomorrow, so you shouldn't have to update any links you have unless you really...