The weather in NYC was absolutely bizarre last Thursday, when I was due to appear at Knitty City on the Upper West Side for a Brave New Knits signing. Outside, it was cool but humid, threatening rain all day but not making good on the threat. From the surrounding suburbs came reports of tornado-strength winds and downpours.

(Standing) Knitty City owner Pearl Chin, me, Kirsten Kapur, (Seated) Connie Chang Chinchio, Melissa Wehrle

My fears that this strange weather would keep knitters away from the event proved unfounded – Pearl’s charming, packed-to-the-rafters shop was equally packed with knitters who lobbed questions at me and at the super-special guest designers who also came to the event; Kirsten Kapur of Through The Loops, Melissa Wehrle of Neoknits, and Connie Chang Chinchio of Physicsknits!

It was wonderful to see all of them again and catch up on the last year of their lives. All continue to knock out fabulous designs, not surprisingly.

Knitters who frequent Pearl’s Upper West Side shop are a dedicated group; all were knitting away on their individual projects throughout the event, and it was fun to see what everybody was working on.

Knitty City has a friendly, homey vibe that makes it a great place to visit. When I arrived (dragging my steamer trunk-sized suitcase full of Brave New Knits projects behind me) there was a group of knitters sitting at a round table working on their projects, looking as if they had been there all day and had no intention of going home. It’s the kind of shop you discover and then never want to leave. The fact that it is well-stocked with many of my favorite yarns made it all the more inviting.

One of the many things I need to do better is post-event posting! A visit to the east coast at the end of September brought me to some fabulous local yarn shops, the first of which was Fibre Space, in Alexandria, Virginia. What a great space!

And although I was sorry not to be able to meet Danielle Romanetti, the owner of Fibre Space, I was very well cared for by Veronica and staff. Here’s Veronica modeling Jen Hagan’s Global Cable Coat  from the book- she really rocked it! 

I absolutely loved Fibre Space’s Jetson-like vibe, with funky light fixtures and funny-faced mannequins to display the projects from Brave New Knits.

Oh, and did I mention all the yummy yarn? Located in charming Old Town Alexandria right outside of Washington, DC, Fibre space is a gorgeous and friendly shop all round.

Since my signing was scheduled for one of the shop’s regular Thursday night Knit Nights, we had a great crowd. I was busy the entire evening signing copies of the book! Not only did the shop run out, but they took orders for another dozen copies. Thank you, Fibre Space!

Koukla Cardigan by Hilary Smith Callis, and Lace Flower Pin by Kat Coyle

The icing on the cake was that I got to stay with a dear friend who lives in Washington; we go back a long way, but don’t get to see one another very often.

Two terrific reviews appeared within the last few days about Brave New Knits. One is by Carol Sulkoski of Go Knit In Your Hat fame, which you can read here if you are so inclined.

The second review is by Leslie Petrovski of Nake-id Knits, whose witty and insightful articles for illustrious knitting industry magazines such as Vogue Knitting and Yarn Market News are always the first I turn to when I receive a new issue. You can read her review here.

I was thrilled by both of them; you never know how an impartial reviewer is going to react to your precious baby lovingly crafted book, after all. I have tremendous respect for both of these women as writers (and knitters), and confess that it made me nervous to think of them reading Brave New Knits with a critical eye.

Is it possible that these two glowing reviews have anything to do with the fact that according to Amazon’s ranking of bestselling books in various categories, Brave New Knits is, for the moment at least, the #2 bestseller in the Knitting and Needlecrafts categories?

Almost all of the book’s projects have been uploaded to Ravelry at this point. Errata and forum discussions are underway in the new Ravelry group called Brave New Knit(ter)s.

While we chatted over coffee last year, in a busy Starbucks near her office in New York City, Melissa gave me a peek at her bursting-with-ideas design notebook. As we discussed her knitwear designs and inspirations, she pointed out a few sketches of stunning garments that could be suitable for Brave New Knits.

When she came to the Origami Shrug, I hesitated for a fraction of a second – I hadn’t seen anything like it in all my years as a knitter, and I was definitely intrigued.

By the time she had finished describing its unique style and construction (Reversible lace! A single seam!) I was sure this would be the one. And what a stunning success it is.

Melissa has been busy since we last talked. Her fabulous Aryn Tunic Cardigan was featured in the Fall 2010 issue of KnitScene, and as she describes it: “All that texture + pockets + big wood buttons = LOVE!”

And her Elementary Vest is in the Fall 2010 issue of Interweave Knits, offering simple but effective colorwork for knitters wanting to try it out:

In addition, she decided last fall that she really needed her own website, designed to her very specific taste, and so neoknits.com was born. Having a beautiful new home on the web makes it easier to get excited about her knitting-related activities, now that Melissa has bounced back from a months-long break to cope with what she calls “a bit of burn out.”

The neoknits.com site has been rejuvenating all round. “With a fresh design, I’ve been much more inspired to keep up with my blogging, even during those periods where secret knitting tends to make blogging difficult.”

Knitting books that feature a wide variety of projects (as opposed to knitting books that focus on one kind of project such as shawls, or hats, or sweaters, etc.) always win points from me for including at least a couple of pairs of socks.

As I assembled the projects for Brave New Knits, I knew there would be socks and I certainly hoped that the designers who volunteered to make those socks would offer up unique ideas.

They did not disappoint, and today the spotlight is on Kirsten Kapur of Throughtheloops, whose lovely Sockstravaganza project made the cover of the book!

The Sockstravaganza socks are so named because they incorporate both cables and colorwork into a single really fun design. The colorwork cuff and leg continue down into a single color cabled foot with ribbed heel.

Kirsten had wonderful materials to work with as well; namely, Deb Kessler’s Fearless Fibers Tight Twist Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in two gorgeous colors: “Spellbound” and “Sloth.”

Not only is the fiber itself fantastic to work with for socks, shawls, and even tiny toys if that’s your thing, but Deb is a color genius whose yarns are beautifully semisolid, somehow managing to be both subtle and saturated.

With the variety of lace weight, sock weight, and other yarns she carries in her Etsy store, it can be hard to choose which to buy, but her colors are consistently gorgeous!

In the year since Kirsten and I met to do her interview for Brave New Knits, she has contributed to several more books, one of which is Stitchy McYarnpants & Caro Sheridan’s book Knitting it Old School, which was also released this month.

Kirsten’s adorable Swing Time short-sleeved pullover has a delicious “pin-up girl” vibe to it, don’t you think?

Photo Copyright 2010 by Denise Siegel

After spending the first half of this year working on commissioned projects, she finally has the time to focus on resuming her self-published designs. And one of her favorite parts of self-publishing is the feedback she gets from knitters. “I really enjoy the way online self publishing allows me to have direct contact… with knitters.”

This October she will host the Through the Loops Mystery Sock KAL for the third consecutive year. Flickr and Ravelry, as well as her colorful blog (in which her musical and brilliant teenagers make frequent appearances as in-house models for all those knitted designs) continue to be the primary ways that she documents her work. Like many of us, Kirsten also enjoys connecting with other knitters on Twitter. Definitely an indie designer for the 21st century!

Inquiring minds want to know where they can find more information and read reviews about Brave New Knits before plunking down their hard-earned dollars to buy it.

So here is a list, which will be updated regularly, of the places where you can read about the book, view select images of the projects, and find out more about the interviews with some of our favorite knitwear designers in the blogosphere.

Jared Flood, http://brooklyntweed.net: read his review here

Diane Gilliland, AKA Sister Diane, www.craftypod.com: read her review here

Angela Hahn, www.knititude.com: read our Q & A interview here

Jordana Paige, www.jordanapaige.com: read her review here

WEBS – America’s Yarn Store, www.yarn.com; Podcast interview on Ready, Set, Knit: here

Jennifer Hagan, www.figknits.com; read her review here

Teresa G., www.CanaryKnits.com; read her write-up here

Pam MacKenzie, www.mycentraljersey.com; read her review here

Hilary Smith Callis, http://theyarniad.blogspot.com; read her review here

Melissa Wehrle, www.neoknits.com; read our Q & A interview here

The Perfect Knitted Accessory

Sometimes the smallest bit of fibery goodness will make you smile. And Kat Coyle’s  (www.katcoyle.com/blog) knitted bits of highly creative goodness for Brave New Knits made me smile from my first glimpse of the sketch she sent to illustrate her idea.

Add This To Your Holiday Gift-Giving List

Who doesn’t love nearly-instant gratification? We knitters definitely love those clever stash-busting projects that can be completed in a single afternoon. And it’s even better when those little stash-busters turn out to be gift-worthy items that we can feel proud to bestow on a loved one.

Deploy A Special Button

And those of us with a secret stash of vintage and other special buttons (OK, maybe not so secret), especially love stash-busting projects that also incorporate one or more of those fabulous buttons as the perfect finishing detail. Kat must have read my mind, because when I first opened the gold boxes into which she had placed these two lovely accessories, I was absolutely smitten.

And I think you will be, too.

Although she feels as if she hasn’t worked as much this year, Kat has had a couple of brilliant successes in two popular knitting publications. Following up her fabulous Courting Sophia shawl pattern in the Spring, 2010 issue of Twist Collective, another of Kat’s designs appeared in Veronique Avery’s St. Denis Magazine Issue #2 – the Bright Stripes lace scarf pattern.

In addition, she made an art piece – something she’s been wanting to do more of, and was part of a group show of textile artists this past spring. For that show, her work was a combination of embroidery, crochet and knitting. And, this summer, she was in another group show – this time, a lace piece using her version of Irish crochet.

She continues to teach children’s classes at Wisdom Arts Laboratory, where the summer’s projects included having the kids make mobiles… and of course, she introduced several to the joys of knitting and sewing.

This fall, we’ll see more knit designs, and if we’re lucky Kat will produce some of her first self-published patterns.