THIS is what Nomad Press is all about

I've been catching up a bit on what's happening outside my office while I'm meeting deadlines.

I came across this pattern in the summer issue of Knitty. It's a gorgeous shawl by Kieran Foley, who has called his design "Cold Mountain." His description begins this way:

• "This shawl is based on my first attempts at designing after reading Donna Druchunas’ inspirational Arctic Lace a couple of years ago."

This reminds me how much I love happening across notes about how knitters are expanding their reach and solving problems by using Nomad Press books, and what a kick I get out of it when when they start a description with words on the order of "this was the first time I. . . ."

Here's evidence of a few seeds planted by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' revised edition of Knitting in the Old Way (which I helped out with, in addition to publishing . . . Priscilla herself was going to publish it, and I was "just" the editor and design/layout/production person, but there was a shift at the last minute which moved Nomad Press from her house to mine . . . ):

• Jen at Looking Glass Knits gets over nervousness about steeks and makes a gorgeous Fair Isle baby sweater with a non-felting yarn
• Professional designer Dawn Brocco gleans inspiration for a delightful Fana-style sweater
• Ashley at Postcards from Pemberton makes a wonderful gansey ("my first sweater with a stitch pattern")

These bits of news make sitting here in front of a computer screen with yarn and knitting needles close by (for testing) seem worthwhile.

It takes a while before these remarks start appearing. The books have to go out into the world, then people have to read and absorb them and let the ideas percolate, and then they need to begin implementing. Which makes it all the more fun when I come across the comments.

Knitting in the Old Way has been out in the world long enough to have this effect, as have Priscilla's Simple Socks and Donna's Arctic Lace. Donna's Ethnic Knitting Discovery and Ethnic Knitting Exploration are still in their early stages of finding their way into people's hands and imaginations.