photo: Lisanne & Bryce Thomas

Now that's better.

This issue went live while I sat in the Knitty offices [hint: they're very close to where I sleep] in my bathrobe.

As of June 30th, I'm officially a full-time Knitty editor and knitting book author. I find this a shocking turn of events, and something that seems so completely correct for me that I can't imagine it wasn't supposed to turn out this way.

For years [a LOT of years, people], I've been a full-time proofreader/ editor in the advertising industry and Knitty's been produced in my spare time.

Because it seems that every Canadian advertising company has at least one big bank as a client, that means I've been reading legal fine print about the interest we're all paying on our credit cards and what will happen if we stop paying them. [It's ugly, trust me.] Years and years of checking for typos, proper apostrophes, incorrectly hyphenated compound adverbs and other things that I don't even know the official name for. I may have been sufficiently skilled to hold the position, but I didn't really enjoy my work. I did, however, have bills to pay.

This Monday, I woke up, walked several steps to my tiny office and finished making this issue. And this is happening because you -- Knitty's readers -- have spread the Knitty word and the Knitty love far and wide. Thank you. We've grown enough that I can pay what I hope is a fair honorarium to our contributors, Mandy [tech editor who I will kiss on the lips one of these days for her amazing work] and Stephannie [ad manager and key person who made my leap to full-time editorship possible] and Jillian [catalyst, who helps me think beyond my tiny brain and aim for amazing things]. And I now can pay myself a full-time wage.

The first thing I've done to thank you all is rejig the navigation just a little. You'll now find a link to a search function on every page [look over on the left]. Knittyspin is linked from the top navigation bar, for easier clicking. The Knitty blog is also linked from the top, if you're the blog-reading type. And a few other internal things that I thank, with rabid-gushing-love, my husband for programming. He is a very clever geeky man who made something challenging into a simple, elegant solution.

So now, his geeky wife is doing this for a living. The rabbits are happier. I'm happier. And I hope you're happier, too. Stay tuned: there's more good stuff to come.

By the way -- we started the tradition of the crazy summer issues way back in our 2nd year. And after this issue, which covers the ends of us, we figure it's time to bring that to an end as well. So after the summer 2006 issue, we'll be back to publishing quarterly -- every 3 months. And next summer's issue will be full of hot-weather yums and neat layering bits.

We're doing it again! The 2007 calendar contest is on! You could win some excellent prizes if your photograph is chosen to grace the walls of knitters all over the world.

Find out more right here.

And to always know the latest Knittynews, 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.

Don't forget -- if you're ever in Toronto on the 2nd Friday of the month, join us at the Toronto Drunken Knitters' Night. Details can always be found on the Knitty blog. We're nuts, we act up and we have a great time. Don't be shy -- come!