(Alternative titles: I've Ordered A Spinning Wheel, or Look Ma! A Real Job!)
2006 was a year of firsts for me. My first book was published (and my second); I wrote a magazine column; I went on a book tour; I appeared on teevee; I've kept my lips sealed for four months about the biggest professional news of my life and I didn't even hint about it.
One of the things I've enjoyed most over the last three years is being an observer of my own internet experience. To look at Crochet Me in the context of the Net at large makes me feel part of something bigger even than the huge community we've developed here. That I've built an offline career by taking opportunities this site has opened up for me has been the wildest ride of my life. To have formed relationships with people based solely on our mutual interest is a loveliness I never stop delighting in.
In August I had a phone conversation that altered my perception of my career more profoundly than any other single experience. It was sort of like discovering something I'd known for a long time but had never considered. I discovered that in all the craziness and excitement of the last two years, I became an editor, truly. It's what I've wanted to be since I was in high school, but I never really knew how to do it (have I mentioned how much I hated being an English major for the semester I had it declared?). Turns out many things really are just achieved by doing them.
Back to that phone conversation. Another thing I realized is that I've started enjoying some aspects of running Crochet Me far more than others (read: some tasks have become mind-numbingly tedious). I started itching for change. I started to feel desperate for change.
And today, after many phone calls and emails I never told you about, and after a somewhat secret trip to Colorado (oh, how I love thee) in September, I have a pretty major announcement to make.
I'm the new editor of Interweave Crochet magazine and the rumour about it going quarterly (with subscriptions!) is finally true. Hand in hand with this, in June Crochet Me will be redesigned, reconfigured, and relaunched with all the modern tweaks and features, a totally new way of doing things, and a revived and renewed commitment to push crochet and the people who love it as far as they can possibly go. And, finally, there's a Crochet Me book in the works! We've been working on it for months, and it'll come out in the fall.
There, I said it. I am so excited to finally tell you.
I've made no secret all along that I adore Interweave Press - their publications and the people behind them. Their commitment to education, style, and technique make me excited, proud, and happy to be working with them so closely. Now I get to say it's “our commitment.†Eeee!
I'll post Here's a link to the official press release (PDF). when it's up.
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