Thank you Shannon!

I interviewed Shannon a week ago and (full disclosure) asked if I could have a copy of her book to review as well. I am so glad that I did. The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design is a must-have resource for knitwear designers. This is a one stop how to guide for all of us "wanna be" designers. It is not a how to on writing patterns, it's a guide filled with industry knowledge that many designers only learn by doing and experiencing. The interviews were wonderful. Shannon and I have both interviewed some of the same people and I enjoyed those interviews just as much as the ones here on my blog. Second full disclosure! I even get a mention in her book for my interviews.



I realized that it's time for me to add all my patterns into Ravelry with links to Patternfish after I saw Shanon's stats on social media sites. So for me the book is a call to action as well.



The section on marketing yourself to yarn stores is especially timely for me as I'm just about to start doing that. I was teaching at the much missed Village Yarns until they closed. Since I was working full time until March I had never actively pursued teaching opportunities. I taught at my guild whenever I was invited but it's now time to look for more opportunities. There is also a section on book proposals which many of us will need to review.



Shannon includes sections on other topics like: what does it mean to be a professional?
test knitting, what to do if your copyright has been infringed, trademarks vs. copyrights, contracts, sizing, new technological possibilities for print, do you need an agent?, advertising, further education and professional organizations and associations. And much, much more!



I'm strongly committed to supporting other designers as I believe that by promoting one another we promote the industry and that we will all benefit as a result.



I have a PDF version so this is not a problem for me but I did notice there is no index. I expect that I will be referring back to the book on a regular basis so those with a print copy might want to tag specific sections with post-its for future.


I highly recommend that you buy this book if you wish to pursue designing.