I can't imagine staying organized without my planner. And each year I buy the same one -- a 5.25" x 8.25" moleskine diary with one page of writing space per day. At the end of December, I put my old one on the shelf with the others from previous years, then start a new one for the year about to begin. It is a small ritual that I enjoy. However, this year I  made a minor change. I stitched a reverse-applique cover for my journal out of recycled cotton jersey . . .

 

. . . following the instructions in Alabama Stitch Book by Natalie Chanin (founder of Alabama Chanin). Natalie's book will be in stores in March, one of the four new STC Craft books to be released in the first four months of 2008.

With my new planner ready and looking so special, I can hardly wait for the new year to begin. 

While reviewing the traffic here, I regularly notice that the galleries are quite popular. So, in an effort to give you more of what I think you want, I have added three new galleries this evening: Knitting Classic Style, Knitting Nature, and Save this Shirt. At this stage of the process, when the books are completed and I have a chance to look at--and enjoy--the images inside of them without worrying about the myriad tasks that go into making them, I always feel somewhat  amazed that we actually reached this point, that the author and I and the rest of the publishing team actually finished.  Of course, there are always new books to work on. It is, in fact, an ongoing cycle--one book is delivered to stores at the same time that another proposal lands on my desk. Often people ask me how many books I am working on at one time but I've never sat down to figure that out as doing so feels rather overwhelming. Tonight I will continue to put off that task and simply enjoy the galleries, which make everything look so easy. I hope you will as well.

Sometimes people ask me which of the STC Craft books I like best, a question I cannot answer. In part, this is because I need to be diplomatic. But, more than that, this is because I believe that each book is unique and special in its own way. It sounds sappy and maybe like a cop out to some people, but it's true.

Still, there are a few books that I think are especially important, and those are the three books in our kids' crafting series--Kids' Embroidery by Kristin Nicholas, Kids Crochet by Kelli Ronci, and Kids Weaving by Sarah Swett. These books teach all of the basics and also a little bit about how crafting fits into cultural history.

If you know children who like to make things with their hands, I hope you will check out these books, and, if you have some extra time over the holidays, do some crafting together. I believe that when we teach kids these skills, we are giving them a gift that will last their entire lives (sappy but true, once again).

The decision about a cover for an STC Craft book is a team decision. I take one or several covers to a cover meeting and present them to a committee of people, including the publisher, director of sales, and CEO. Most of the time, even if I am presenting more than one option, I have a clear favorite and I try hard to sell that cover to the committee. Every once in a while, however, I have more than one favorite and I am especially curious to get feedback from the committee. That was the case with Knitting Lingerie Style. Here is the cover we used:

And here is the runner up: 

While I am happy with the committee's decision, I do still really enjoy looking at the runner up. So, it's great to have this blog so I can share it with you and give it a bit more life. Thanks to Anna Christian, the graphic designer for this title, who pulled the file for this cover out of her archives.