photo: Lisanne & Bryce Thomas

It's springy. We like.

<--- See that calm person sitting over there? Where did she go?

Too much [good] excitement in the land of Knitty. Lots of great things are happening, for me personally, for people I know through the magazine and for my knitting friends. This is an amazing time to be involved with our craft and I'm having a blast.

This issue, many of the new books we got to review were written by people we know. That makes for potential awkwardness, except for one thing: they're all fabulous books!

I'm co-author of one of the new releases and thankfully our review staff has expanded just enough to make sure that Jillian and I didn't have to review ourselves. We're pleased that Kay Gardiner of Mason-Dixon Knitting, and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee [the Yarn Harlot] have stepped in this issue to help with the workload.

Probably a good time to restate our review policy: We read the books and test the products ourselves before we write about them. If we dislike something, we just don't publish a review. So if it's in our pages, know that the reviewer found significant merit in the book or product and that's why it's here. We also take care to note anything you might want to know about the product, like how much yarn it will hold, if it's washable or what the size range of the patterns is. We're knitters too, and just a wee bit fussy.

Starting with this issue, Knittyspin has its own editor. Welcome Jillian Moreno to her new position! She's well known to Knitty readers for her fun and funky designs and her detailed reviews in our Cool Stuff section. And now she's taking her fiber background, knitting savvy and catalystic creativity and helping grow Knittyspin into the best it can be. You'll notice one change already -- Knittyspin now has a pattern specifically designed for handspun. Watch for more in coming issues...Jillian's on the case!

We're doing it again! Get ready for the 2007 calendar contest!

Details coming with the spring surprise.

To find out when the spring surprise is up, and any other Knitty news, sign up for the free Knitty reader list! The list is never shared with anyone and we only send out a few messages a year

Well, that's it for me. If you're ever in Toronto on the 2nd Friday of the month, stop by the [formerly]Team Canada knitting/pub night. Details can always be found on the Knitty blog. We're nuts, we act up and we have a great time. And starting with the May meetup, we're adding a new twist. See you there!