Interweave nitwits

Thanks for all the support over the nicotine thing. It's not that easy is it??

I too am a little worried about them there at Interweave Knits. And not just because it is obvious that nobody who works there has had any decent form of classical education.

The winter IWK arrived on my doorstep some time ago, however I am sure my subscription has expired. Maybe it was a suprise present from them. Still, nothing to complain about there.

Then, just before Christmas as a special treat to myself, I ordered Interweave Knits Crochet 2005 (what an oxymoron). On Monday I recieved a sealed envelope with an invoice/packing slip thanking me for my order of IWK Crochet 05 but inside is KNITSCENE. I didn't order KNITSCENE, I ordered INTERWEAVE KNITS CROCHET. I've emailed them, I hope they come to the party because the international postage is practically more expensive than the magazine itself.

So let's look at Knitscene. What makes it different from Interweave Knits? The intro says it's for knitters who love sumptuous yarns, follow trends but go for the offbeat.. blah blah blah. So I would infer a younger target market. Younger and with more money for expensive yarn. Hmm - does that imply that older knitters have no fashion sense, no money and can't differentiate between crap and quality???

Plus there's the internet options, bonus photos, yarn shops, some exclusive patterns etc etc etc. What clever people to think to marry the internet with knitting. Amazing it hasn't been done before really. What knitty?

First article. "move over Margaret Thatcher. Iron Lady style has trickled down - sttely ruffles, notched collars and tidy buttons...." ARE YOU SERIOUS??? IS THIS THE BEST YOUR COPY WRITERS COULD DO??? To my memory, Margaret Thatcher was an evil stocky woman who wore severe tight suits and was absolutely hated by the people, especially the youth. Not to mention the fact that she is now about eighty. Somebody at IWP thinks that they can manufacture Cool Britannia by just tossing around a British name. I think they have failed to grasp a fundamental cultural difference between the USA and the UK - while you lot adore your leaders the British hate the bastards. This Maggie Thatcher thing is just plain stupid.

Second copy writer's clanger. "Pinks fit for Parliament" - that is so daggy I just laughed.

Although the garments are nice. Unfortunately it is unlikely that the target market could in fact afford the materials to make them. One cardigan I fancy uses yarn that costs 11.50 a ball and requires 12-13 balls.

My favourite project in the book requires 17 skeins of alpaca at $8 per skein plus 10 skeins of brushed mohair at $8 per skein. That's about $220 for the jacket. I could almost get an armani on ebay for that much.

The rest of the mag is up and down. There's that redhead model again. In a disgusting blue monster of a sweater. A nice cardi. A foul beyond beleif crochet tunic.

A style guide thingy from Veronik Avery. Misses the point that if you have to read how to do it, you probably won't be able to carry off the vintage ensemble chuck it together and be fabulous look anyway. Fluff.

A page of knit on the street photos - now that is a good idea.

Anyway, for a magazine I didn't order and didn't want, I certainly got a lot of block mileage out of it.

So my advice to Interweave press would be to
a) save postage and don't send all that computer generated reminder crap.
b) save postage and actually send what the customer ordered in the first place.
c) sack the person who writes your copy for knitscene, they're shit.


By the way, does anyone want to swap a knitscene with an IWK Crochet magazine?? Might be quicker for me, as I haven't heard back from interweave press as yet.


And Finally, do you see that finished projects thingy there on the left? Boring isn't it? I'm thinking of changing it to the 'disasters of 2005' set or the 'knit and immediately frogged' set. What do you think??