Whew!
I survived my afternoon with 3 toddlers and a baby. It was exhausting, to say the least. Part of the problem was that the younger girl wasn't exactly thrilled about being left, so she spent the first half of the time wandering around looking for her mom (and giving me suspicious looks). The second half was great - the little one warmed up to me finally, and Owen went to sleep. Sydney and the older girl entertained each other the whole time, so that was nice. I even got a tiny bit of knitting done, right at the end, when they were all playing nicely in the same room.
We've got a few more updates:
Elizabeth just finished her first pair of socks ever, in a gorgeous self-patterning yarn, and they look great. She's got cute doggy pics, too!
Erin made some cool brown and black socks, D's Papasox!
Abigail gifted a lovely pair of green/red/blue socks to Ariane for hosting the Holiday Sox Exchange. Very nice!
Crazy Basket Lady just finished a gorgeous pair of Opal socks.
Also, there are a few new knit-alongers who need to contact me with their blog or e-mail addy. If you haven't heard from me with a confirmation that you joined the knit-along, or you have a blog but you don't have a link in the sidebar, please e-mail me! I have had trouble accessing a few of the Blogger profiles, and if you don't have one, I can't get your info from the comments.
We caught another raccoon this morning. We thought they were gone, but apparently not... Bill also opened the front door this morning to discover the keys had been left in the lock overnight! Yikes! At least we had the alarm on so we would've known if anyone had tried to come in. But still! Good thing we live in a relatively safe neighborhood. He tried to blame me for it, but it would never occur to me to open the door and not take the keys out of the lock. So I think it's his fault, no matter what he says...
I'm feeling a little bit down on the whole designing thing right now. The Knit Net thing really bummed me out. I'm wondering if they're exacting revenge for something I said on the Knit Design list when the whole controversy about independent designers was brewing. If you don't recall (I think I posted about this awhile ago), the most recent issue of Knit Net had an editorial about crummy knitting patterns and how Knit Net has never had complaints about errors in their patterns. The editor also went on to say that the big knitting magazines and yarn companies also have error-free patterns, but that independent designers don't. Of course, that made all the independent designers on the Knit Design list go absolutely crazy.
I posted something about how Knit Net had lowballed me on my sweater (and they did, but it was the first offer I'd ever had and I didn't know to negotiate or anything), and I probably wasn't going to submit anything else to them. Which is true, but I'm notoriously flaky about stuff like that (I also said I wasn't going to submit anything to Nursery Knits/Quick To Knit Gifts and look what happened)!
Anyway, I'm wondering if someone from Knit Net saw that e-mail (since Knit Design has about a gazillion members) and now they're punishing me by refusing delivery of my sweater and ignoring my e-mails. Nice way to do business! But then, I should've known better than to open my big mouth. Live and learn!
I also sent a bunch of swatches out at the end of last year and haven't heard a thing back about any of them. I sent to Knitter's, IK, No Sheep For You and Lace Style. I also have the infamous Sydney sweater that has been in Creative Knitting's hands for almost six months. The longer you go without hearing, the less likely it is that they're going to use any of your designs. I'm also convinced that Amy Singer will never ever like anything that I send her, for Knitty or anything else.
I'm trying not to get too depressed about it and be happy about the designs that have been accepted, but it's hard. I know that I shouldn't expect to be a huge success right off the bat, but I see other people doing it and this makes me have doubts that I have what it takes. Bill wondered if maybe my resume has something to do with it, and it might be easier once I have some listings on there. Would an editor look at my resume and see that I don't have anything published, and would that color their view of my submissions? I don't know. They all say that they're looking for new talent, but who knows. I'm sure they also don't want people flaking out. It's easy to make a swatch and a sketch, but can someone with no experience actually flesh that out into a coherent design in multiple sizes? I can, because I've done it, but they don't know that.
Thanks for listening to my whinging! I think I'll get back to my Master's swatches and my Jaywalkers. Even if I can't get published (okay, published in any of the big huge mags/books/Knitty), at least I know I can knit!
We've got a few more updates:
Elizabeth just finished her first pair of socks ever, in a gorgeous self-patterning yarn, and they look great. She's got cute doggy pics, too!
Erin made some cool brown and black socks, D's Papasox!
Abigail gifted a lovely pair of green/red/blue socks to Ariane for hosting the Holiday Sox Exchange. Very nice!
Crazy Basket Lady just finished a gorgeous pair of Opal socks.
Also, there are a few new knit-alongers who need to contact me with their blog or e-mail addy. If you haven't heard from me with a confirmation that you joined the knit-along, or you have a blog but you don't have a link in the sidebar, please e-mail me! I have had trouble accessing a few of the Blogger profiles, and if you don't have one, I can't get your info from the comments.
We caught another raccoon this morning. We thought they were gone, but apparently not... Bill also opened the front door this morning to discover the keys had been left in the lock overnight! Yikes! At least we had the alarm on so we would've known if anyone had tried to come in. But still! Good thing we live in a relatively safe neighborhood. He tried to blame me for it, but it would never occur to me to open the door and not take the keys out of the lock. So I think it's his fault, no matter what he says...
I'm feeling a little bit down on the whole designing thing right now. The Knit Net thing really bummed me out. I'm wondering if they're exacting revenge for something I said on the Knit Design list when the whole controversy about independent designers was brewing. If you don't recall (I think I posted about this awhile ago), the most recent issue of Knit Net had an editorial about crummy knitting patterns and how Knit Net has never had complaints about errors in their patterns. The editor also went on to say that the big knitting magazines and yarn companies also have error-free patterns, but that independent designers don't. Of course, that made all the independent designers on the Knit Design list go absolutely crazy.
I posted something about how Knit Net had lowballed me on my sweater (and they did, but it was the first offer I'd ever had and I didn't know to negotiate or anything), and I probably wasn't going to submit anything else to them. Which is true, but I'm notoriously flaky about stuff like that (I also said I wasn't going to submit anything to Nursery Knits/Quick To Knit Gifts and look what happened)!
Anyway, I'm wondering if someone from Knit Net saw that e-mail (since Knit Design has about a gazillion members) and now they're punishing me by refusing delivery of my sweater and ignoring my e-mails. Nice way to do business! But then, I should've known better than to open my big mouth. Live and learn!
I also sent a bunch of swatches out at the end of last year and haven't heard a thing back about any of them. I sent to Knitter's, IK, No Sheep For You and Lace Style. I also have the infamous Sydney sweater that has been in Creative Knitting's hands for almost six months. The longer you go without hearing, the less likely it is that they're going to use any of your designs. I'm also convinced that Amy Singer will never ever like anything that I send her, for Knitty or anything else.
I'm trying not to get too depressed about it and be happy about the designs that have been accepted, but it's hard. I know that I shouldn't expect to be a huge success right off the bat, but I see other people doing it and this makes me have doubts that I have what it takes. Bill wondered if maybe my resume has something to do with it, and it might be easier once I have some listings on there. Would an editor look at my resume and see that I don't have anything published, and would that color their view of my submissions? I don't know. They all say that they're looking for new talent, but who knows. I'm sure they also don't want people flaking out. It's easy to make a swatch and a sketch, but can someone with no experience actually flesh that out into a coherent design in multiple sizes? I can, because I've done it, but they don't know that.
Thanks for listening to my whinging! I think I'll get back to my Master's swatches and my Jaywalkers. Even if I can't get published (okay, published in any of the big huge mags/books/Knitty), at least I know I can knit!
posted by knittinmom at 11:20 AM
7 Comments:
Why is there not a J behind my name? I did finish january socks...
Chrissy, don't get down about your designing. I think selling any creative product just takes time to get going. I have a similar situation with indexing. I've done a few projects that I thought would immediately lead to others, but they haven't so far.
You're making lots of connections with publishers and other designers. It's just a matter of time and making the right connection at the right time with the right pattern. So as EZ would say, "Knit on through all crises!"
I'm totally with Sonya. Girl, you can knit AND design like nobody's business, so don't let KnitNet get you down. You're talented up the ying-yang and just because one venue doesn't accept your submission doesn't mean another one won't. You hear stories all the time about people who told big-time celebrities that they'd never make it in the field they're in. Guess who gets the last laugh? I feel so frustrated and bummed, too, by what's happened with KnitNet, but I know you have the goods to make your dream into a reality, so don't give up! You know the old adage about when one door closes...another (bigger and better!) one opens. Take heart and believe in yourself, because we certainly all do!! Take care, Chrissy! :-)
Absolutely (what Sonya said)! I know it can be hard to keep perspective in the face of others', well, frankly unprofessional behavior, but please try to remember that you have lots of other designs out there that WILL be published by those who WILL treat their designers with respect! (I know it sounds so very Pollyanna, but there you have it.) If you feel they've written you off, turnabout is fair play and you can return in kind. Don't allow them the priveledge of considering any more of your designs. Their loss, not yours! Keep on knittin'!
Sorry about all the problems you seem to be having with regard to editors and such. I hope it all works out well for you.
I have a question about the sock a long kal...do we have to sign up every month or is it a one time sign up and we will still be signed up for every month? Does that make sense? I was reading the page about it again, and it said something about signing up before the 20th of each month. Is that just for new joiners? Or do I have to let you know each month that I am doing it?
Hang in there! Even if Knit Net is being childish, or it's just a coincidence, it sounds like they aren't worth the trouble. Focus on the successes!
Hey there, don't feel alone. I get rejections all the time! I think I should mention that sometimes it works out that a magazine holds onto your submission for a long time because they DO want to use it; they just have to find room in the right issue...magazine space is not unlimited. There's a happy medium. For instance, I've already been rejected from both IK and No Sheep For You (December and early January deadlines) and that means, "Whew, we really can't use any of this! Send it back, it's stinking up the office!" If they hold onto something for a long time (6 month range) they just might have lost it. That happened to me with Lion Brand. Something in the middle? (2-3 months?) they are still thinking. It is ok to ask what they are thinking at that point, in a polite email submission update. I hope this helps... keep on knitting!
Post a Comment
<< Home