Twist Collective
Wow. Wow. And double-wow. Twist Collective is live and you owe it to yourself to check it out. I’ve already ordered four of the patterns myself! The brainchild of the fantabulous Kate Gilbert, who I’ve known for some time, having stocked her patterns in my original, online-only store several years ago, Twist Collective is a brilliant magazine offering patterns by ultra-talented indie designers, many of whom you surely already know and love. Or should.
I have to say that at summer TNNA this year there was a real upsurge of interest and activity on the independent designer front, more so than I’d ever seen before. Julia from Patternfish was there (I met her earlier this spring at Amy & Jillian’s Lettuce Knit book launch), Kate was there, and of course we launched Stitch Cooperative, too. Many, many shop owners, designers and other industry people I spoke with at the show took me aside (as well as the other Stitch Coop designers) and said “You know what? This is awesome, and we completely support you…this is where the industry is heading.” Ground-up instead of top-down, you know?
Look at Knitty.com, the original, first-on-the-ground (well, internet) design-focused publication. Look at the success of Ravelry. Look how many designers are choosing to sell their patterns themselves online. I think it’s wonderful. Of course, there will always be an “in person” audience in the shops, which is why Stitch Cooperative is selling to them, and why designers I know continue to sell out classes all over the country. But an awful lot of magic is happening on line and I am proud and happy to be a part of it.
Congrats again to Kate and her team on launching such a great site.
Such a great time to be a designer and I hope the same could be said for the crafters who support them. 🙂