Popknits News

A Few Last Minute Items

2008-08-22T23:47:01-05:00

The launch of the Fall Issue is coming up fast and there are a few last minute items before I hit the publish button.

It’s not too late to advertise for the premiere issue! Popknits has had over 14,000 page views and 5,000 unique visitors in August so far. That’s a lot of people that could be seeing and clicking on your ads! I definitely expect the number to climb in September when the issue goes live so get in on the action now. Prices go up with each issue! In fact, I’m making it an even sweeter deal to advertise for the first issue. Submit your ad now and save 15%!

For all of the designers out there that are looking to submit for the Winter Issue, please note that the Submissions Pack has been updated. I am now asking for your Ravelry username (which will make it easier for me to input your pattern into the Ravelry database) and have changed the order of the pattern elements. Download the newest Submissions Pack in the Downloads area.

Hope you all enjoyed the preview! See you all back here on September 1.

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The Preview is Up!

2008-08-15T15:09:00-05:00

To keep this short and sweet, the Fall 2008 preview is online! I hope you all find something here that you like!

View the Preview Now!

P.S. Sorry to mailinglist subscribers! The email accidentally went out twice but I’ve fixed the bug and it should be ok from here on out.

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Submissions Closed for Fall 2008

2008-06-26T23:15:00-05:00

A quick note to remind everyone that submissions for the Fall 2008 issue are now closed. If you sent in a submission but received no response, please contact me using the contact form. If you’re interested in submitting something for the Winter 2008 issue, I would love to see your proposal before August 15th (or full submissions can always be submitted before September 15th.)

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Eleven Days and Counting

2008-06-05T00:54:00-05:00

We’ve rounded the corner into June here at Popknits (my favorite month!) and I’m already starting to see a few pattern submissions coming through via email. I know it’s been silent here on the news blog but the pace will pick up in late June/early July. Besides being the editor here, I also do freelance web design and coding on the side and I’m mid-stream on a big project that’ll be wrapped up soon, at which time I can put my full attention towards Popknits. If you’re thinking about submitting, rest assured, I am sitting here with needles pointed at attention awaiting your designs.

Also, my family is taking a quick week-long vacation out-of-state next week. All of this is timed to give me (us, really) the well-deserved break we need to head into a busy summer. If I don’t respond to your submissions right away, know that I will as soon as I return home.

Eleven days left!

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Proposal Deadline Past

2008-05-22T01:04:00-05:00

The 15th of May has passed and I’m excited to say that I received quite a few beautiful proposals for both the Fall and Winter issues! We have a few hats, some tops, and even a lace stole coming our way. I hope someone out there is thinking about submitting some socks (hint hint) as i have yet to see any cross my mail client.

This also serves as a reminder to those who wish to advertise on Popknits prior to the launch of the Fall issue. I do plan on previewing some of the knits right here on the News blog so I expect some traffic to come this way. The News blog is the most affordable spot on the site to advertise so get in quick and get your slot! See the Advertising Rates section for more details.

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“Off Season” Garments

2008-05-10T03:21:00-05:00

Early last week, I took an informal poll over on the Ravelry Popknits group (if you haven’t joined yet, please do!) to see if there was interest in publishing patterns that were off-season (as in, off the Northern Hemisphere’s seasons.) I’m happy to say that poll results showed that 96% of people were definitely interested in seeing a few off-season garments per issue which means that you may submit any vintage inspired pattern at any time, regardless of its wearability for a particular season. I hope to keep Popknits interesting for knitters across the globe and this is one way that will happen.

I look forward to seeing what you all submit! Only a little over a month left before the June 15th submission deadline. If you haven’t contacted me yet about a submission proposal, feel free to use the contact form to get in touch. Otherwise, submit when you have something ready to go. Thanks!

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Submission Pack Update

2008-05-01T19:37:00-05:00

It was brought to my attention that I had a logical conundrum occurring between my submissions pack and the copyright information on the Submissions page. Turns out that I accidentally cut and paste the wrong information into my submissions pack documents! Just to summarize, patterns will still be published with the CC license I specify on the Submissions page. Designers are encouraged to distribute the pattern on their own website once the pattern is in archives, but until then to link to Popknits. I ask for this time leeway because 98% of people will look at either:

the Popknits website.
the pattern author’s website.
or Ravelry which will have links to either..

when searching for new patterns. Three months is long enough for the pattern to gain some momentum, be distributed from (or be linked back to) Popknits, and for us to get the traffic we need to survive. Then a new issue is launched and those authors can feel free to distribute the pattern under the same CC license on their website. I hope this clears up any confusion. I think that this arrangement will work best for us all.

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Regarding the Mailinglist

2008-04-30T20:00:00-05:00

Just a note to say that if you did not receive an activation email from popknits.com regarding the mailinglist after you sign up then please try subscribing again. The system has received a few bounce-back emails from ISPs claiming that the activation email is junk. You need to put popknits.com into your “safe” or “white” lists, if you can. if you have to be specific, the email is coming from steph AT popknits dot com.

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Ad Rates and A Poll

2008-04-27T20:55:01-05:00

Just a quick note to let you all know that I’ve posted the advertising rates on the Advertising page. I’m hoping that businesses big and small will find them decidedly middle-of-the-road. The most affordable section to advertise on is this news blog. I’ve made the rates close to Ravelry’s ad rates so that Etsy sellers can get in on the action. There’s more information over on the Advertising page, of course.

I’ve also had some interest in publishing off-season garments in Popknits and I find the idea very appealing. I think that folks in the southern hemisphere get the wrong end of the stick when North American blogs and magazines only cater to northern hemisphere seasons. I’ve set up a poll to see what you think as well. Head over to Mister Poll to give me your opinion. Polls close on Wednesday, April 30.

P.S. If haven’t joined the Popknits Ravelry group, please do!

P.P.S. I’ve also initiated the Popknits Mailinglist sign-up. You can get in on the action below. The sign-up form is at the bottom of every page.

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On Copyright

2008-04-23T22:37:00-05:00

I think that it’s important to talk about inspiration and its head-on collision with copyright laws. I am only interested in publishing patterns on Popknits that are originals which means that you must not have taken an old pattern and just changed the yarn and re-tooled it. When i talk about the old Vogue Knitting magazines i have around, I’m most influenced and inspired by their silhouettes or colors or construction. I would never take these patterns and plagiarize them and neither should any designer who submits to Popknits. I’m not a huge fan of copyright, actually. I think that it mainly restricts people from thinking freely, but that doesn’t mean that i don’t respect it. If the pattern or item that you gain inspiration from is copyrighted, please do not knock it off and send it in for submission. My main advice is to watch films, go to a museum or two, read some old books or magazines, take a walk in your neighborhood and look at vintage motifs that speak to you and use that to design something that’s vintage-inspired.

It’s also important to note that copyright exists on items newer than 1923 (see this copyright information page for more information.) If you see a very old pattern from before this time and want to use it as inspiration for a modern take on the garment, then I’m more apt to consider it for publication if you can provide the original pattern (so that we can see what the copyright implications would be) and it’s different enough from the original. I’ll speak to designers individually about this upon pattern submission. Thanks!

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