Tanis Gray contacted me last year about designing her self-published book. It was late fall, and I would be working around the holidays while she knit the samples and photographed them. An illustrator submitted his wonderful pen-and-ink sketches to be included in the book while I researched trees indigenous to the East Coast. And in January, Capitol Knits: Twelve Modern Designs inspired by America's capital, Washington D.C. was published.
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Self-publishing a book, any book, is A LOT of hard work. Tanis is no stranger to the publishing world, having worked for Vogue Knitting and Interweave; quick turnarounds (during the holidays) were a snap. And her pictures were great. It's always interesting to work with designers (and tech editors) whose processes or writing styles are different from what I'm familiar with. As someone with a traditional print background, I found working with online vendors a bit challenging, but I suppose printing has to evolve to address demands. Capitol Knits in production encountered a few small glitches, but by and large, Tanis and I are satisfied with how the book finally came out.
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The pages you see here are my favorites. I like to think that my primary strength is in high-level concepts, which filter down to the smallest details on my designs. Look closely and you'll see that those star outlines are made of crochet hooks, circulars, and double-pointed needles. Look closely and you'll see that the leaf silhouettes behind the page numbers are from trees that are planted in the surrounding areas of a specific neighborhood that inspired the project. Too much detail? Too subtle? And yet, the book would not have felt complete without those things....
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Capitol Knits is available on Amazon and as single patterns through Deep South Fibers. Go here for the Ravelry project page.
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