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August 12, 2008

"A Nation of Crafters" article + ALT FIBER IS OUT!

Interesting article yesterday in Publisher’s Weekly called A Nation of Crafters, on many topics dear to the Knitgrrl heart (such as my new book Alt Fiber, Faythe Levine’s Handmade Nation film + book and more). A few quotes:

Ten Speed Press embraces growing environmental concerns with a September title, Alt Fiber: 25 Projects for Knitting Green with Bamboo, Soy, Hemp, and More. Author Shannon Okey will be touring the country for Southwest Trading Company’s “Go Green” campaign, promoting the use of earth-friendly fibers at yarn stores. Ten Speed’s Ingrid Hawkinson notes, “Crafters today want to experiment with new materials and yet remain conscious and ethical.”

and, so very true:

Perhaps the biggest factor in the fast growth of the DIY movement has been technology. Never before have individual crafters and artists been able to connect with each other so easily, or to connect so easily with people interested in buying their work.

Take Etsy.com, for example. Since its launch in 2005, the online marketplace for handmade items has attracted some 185,000 sellers, with the gross total for sales so far in 2008 sitting at $35 million.

Levine says the impact of the online world can’t be overstated. “The Internet has been the main player in the resurgence of handmade. It’s brought together like-minded people and allowed them to share and grow together via blogs, Web sites and viral networking.”

Did someone mention technology? uh huh.
Speaking of Alt Fiber, I finally got my first author copy and it is spectacular. I am not just saying this because I wrote it. Ten Speed does an amazing job with design and putting together the whole package — even Tamas was impressed and he’s difficult, being a graphic designer and artist extraordinaire himself. He’s so cute. I’ve been trying to get someone to publish this book since about 2004. One of the first things he said was “wow, it’s finally here.”
AND IT IS!
I just checked on Amazon and Alt Fiber is no longer pre-order, it’s available! Click click click. I hope you like it as much as I do.
This day is just awesome.

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1 comment

  • Terri

    I just did the “click, click”, can not wait to have Alt Fiber in my hot little hands!

    Reply to Terri

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