Return of Extreme Double-knitting: Update #6

As of January 1, 2018, Extreme Double-knitting is (legally) mine. The final royalty statement from Cooperative Press has come in, and (of course) as a side-effect, it’s next to impossible to get them to follow up on the loose ends. I’m probably pretty low on the priority list at this point. The book is still available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and digitally at Knitpicks. Since my relationship with Cooperative Press is now severed, any money from sales at these places should be going to me, but isn’t — and I have no way to keep track of sales so it’s up to CP’s honor to remit payments to me until we can get these venues to take down the books. Of course, there will always be used copies out there, and I’m sure the odd LYS still has a copy or two.

However, if you’re looking for a copy, I highly recommend you wait for the new version, which will be out later this year.

As I’ve already mentioned, my wrist injury has been slowing down my knitting. However, I have completed 6 of the Footsies (2 full pairs and 2 single booties for at least one example of all four new sizes), woven in a ridiculous number of ends on the Whorl’d Tree bag, and (most importantly) begun work on the actual book layout.

I have decided to lay it out oblong (like Double or Nothing) so that the two books fit nicely together on a shelf, and for a number of charts that benefit from the horizontal length. I have finished laying out the patterns and technique chapters; I am now working on the deeper dive stuff toward the end and the appendix. I’ll need to start setting the technique photos and identifying which ones need to be re-shot. Fortunately, I’m about to do a series of teaching weekends, so my hands should be regularly manicured for the next several months, which will make it easier to do those photos.

There have been a few other challenges that have popped up which are slowing me down. The first I alluded to in the previous update: there are a couple of projects that returned from sample knitters that I just wasn’t happy with — not necessarily due to the sample knitters’ work per se, but due to some other unforeseen circumstances. All my knitters have been paid, and will get full credit in the book, but I’ve taken it on myself to re-knit part or all of a couple of the pieces. The most important thing about sample knitting is that the final piece looks plausibly as if it were knit by me. This means the fabric has to meet my high standards for quality and workmanship, at least within reason. I am fundamentally a nice person (I think) and there were cases where I probably should have been less lenient — but it’s a learning experience.

Because I can’t do the model photoshoot until I have all the pieces available, and there’s only so much winter/spring weather left in the season, I am concerned that I may be waiting until the Fall to do the photoshoot and getting the book out for Christmas of 2018 rather than the Spring as I’d hoped. This will surely annoy quite a number of people, not least myself, but it is most important to me that this book be something I’m happy with than that it comes out promptly.

In other news

This week I’ll be heading to Stitches West, where I’ll be teaching (among other things) two brand new workshops on double-knit intarsia and double-knit entrelac. I hope it all goes well! Come and pick up a copy of my book or patterns at Wall of Yarn, booth 827/829.

I’ve got a busy Spring teaching season coming up; check out my recent blog post for all the dates and locations. In addition, I am finally coming back to the Chicago area for Stitches Midwest this year! It’s been too long.

Finally, I guess it’s true: scarcity sells. After the previous blog post, 52 Pickup is down to 3 copies of the final run of 30. Thanks to everyone who grabbed one! If you’ve been waffling about it, now’s the time — these won’t last, and there literally can’t be any more since the printer has erased the file from their servers. There may be a slight delay in shipping as I’ll be out of the state for the better part of the coming week.

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