Has it really been that long?
I got a lovely message a few weeks ago from someone who told me she’d found a book that totally reminded her of me and my patterns, and she really really wanted to tell me about it. At least she did, right up until she realized it was actually my book (it was the first Knitter’s Curiosity Cabinet book).
Now this is awesome and hilarious (and she said she was totally fine with me talking about it). But it also served as a good reminder that the first Knitter’s Curiosity Cabinet book came out a long time ago (summer of 2012)! A lot of you are new since then (hi, so glad you found me!). So I thought today instead of bringing back out an old pattern like I usually do on the third Tuesday of the month, I’d take a moment and talk about that book and maybe show off some of my favorite pieces in it.
I figured I’d also take the chance to make all the patterns from that book available individually (they’re usually only available as the whole book because I’m a meanie and things to come in sets) and to put both the paper book and the electronic book on sale for 25% off. You don’t need a code, the prices are changed already. They’ll be that way through the end of the month.
So this was my first self published book. The one I did with a publisher hadn’t gone the way I wanted it to, and I had decided I would either do the next book on my own, or never do another book.
I was scared more or less to death. Publishing a book is a very expensive and very public thing. I have a hideously active imagination. I came up with any number of excitingly terrifying ways it could all go wrong.
But it didn’t. It all went astonishingly well. Better than I ever expected.
It had as weird a theme as any knitting book I’ve ever seen (old botanical illustrations? really? you expect people to put up with that?).
I named my patterns after the plants that inspired them (which meant scientific names, which meant they are hard to pronounce and even harder to spell).
I went with half socks and half, well, other things I liked to knit (for absolutely no reason other than it’s what I felt like designing).
And it worked. You trusted me enough to put up with my shenanigans and let me indulge my inner weird kid. If you hadn’t, I probably would have gone and hidden under a rock and waited to die. At the very least I wouldn’t be about to send my ninth book off to the printer.
So thank you. I’m still more than a little amazed I get to do this as my job (I can even mostly keep a straight face when people ask me what I do…that took a few years of practice). I’m having a tremendous amount of fun doing this, and I promise to keep putting out books (and odd books at that) as long as you guys still want them!
Thank you so much for making them available individually!! I love those pretty yellow socks on the cover!
A lot of knitters are nerds, don’t you know? Sign us up for botanical illustrations and scientific names, inflorescence and Fibonacci and golden proportion. We can’t get enough. 🙂
9th book, you say? Wow. I have to go check that I have the 8 that are out.
Hunter, your patterns are all very individual. I think I can almost always recognize them. I wish you would do a book of your wonderful designs using the toe-up method. There are a lot of knitters out there who do it that way. Think about it. You’re gonna be looking for the subject for the next book. They’re not nearly as ‘fiddley’ as turning a heel or picking up stitches for a gusset (and more).
By the way, I admire your strength of purpose. The way you accomplished what you set out to do. You GO girl.
Echoing this plea – a book on toe up socks. I would buy it on description – pre-order it before it’s even written.
Just a suggestion (no pressure or anything)
Congrats on all of your books!! I am sure the first one is xtra special to you.
I love your patterns! They are gorgeous and unique ~ kinda satisfy my inner weird kid. Thanks for the discount 🙂
Congratulations! My knitting journey began with your first book and continues with your publications. I am about to revisit KCC number 1 to re-do some socks and make others for a second time. It is a fab book for certain.
Agree with BJ, your style is unique and that’s what we love about it. Now I only wish I had a bit more money to indulge this book because the price reduction is very tempting. Thanks for this !
..just to say thank you, for discounting your book so generously: I’ve just downloaded it, having sighed over the gorgeous patterns for a long, long time. Not only are the patterns excellent, the whole book is beautifully done, and a treasure. I’ve been fascinated by cabinets of curiosity ever since I first discovered them (and their relatives – miner’s spar boxes), but I’m also trained as a botanist and work as a botanical illustrator, so your book comes as close to perfection as I ever expect to discover! Totally brilliant.
I love this book! So far, I’ve knit polypodium vulgare cowl, Rosa rubiginosa mitts, Rubus suberectus socks and have just started crocus vernus socks.
Has it really been that long? I so long this book. Lots of lovely designs! I still haven’t made the Rubus suberectus Socks, which I really need to do already! It’s one of my favorite designs from the book and I’ve always meant to get them on my needles. I just keep getting distracted with other projects!
Will the patterns from Silk Road Socks ever be available for individual purchase? Or would that cause an issue with the publisher? I was lucky enough to grab the book when it first came out, but I know lots of people who would love to get their hands on the patterns from it. 🙂