Getting ready to play - book style

My In-laws use this expression "getting ready to play" to describe how their grandchildren approach their activities.  Most of the time is spent planning and gathering the materials needed, and by the time they have everything ready, they have lost interest in the actual thing they were going to do in the first place. 

I often experience the same thing in knitting design.  I love the idea and planning stage most of all.  Sketching (too be more accurate: putting lines and words in my notebook), picking yarns and colors, swatching, and developing spreadsheets for sizing, yarn amounts, etc provide hours of entertainment.  By the end of this stage, the item is already designed and knit up  - in my head - and I'm itching to move onto another idea. 

But alas, there is no getting around the production phase - picking up the needles, casting on, and working up the test samples.  And honestly, I really enjoy this stage too, it's just that sometimes it takes longer than I would like for it too.

So I'm at that stage with a book concept I've been working on for over a year.  The idea grew out of the Super Scarves effort - engaging our community to hand make over 8,000 blue and white scarves for the volunteers who worked Super Bowl 46 here in Indianapolis this past February.   While teaching hundreds the basics of knitting, I was struck by the lack of pattern collections for two colors, ala team colors, that were within the skill sets of most average knitters and yet still sophisticated.  In other words, not just a color blocked garter stitch scarf.  I came up with a few designs (see complimentary designs on the right side of the blog) but wanted to branch out into other accessories besides scarfs.  

Couple that with the problem that arises with trademarked and licensed team logos.  No longer can one publish a pattern incorporating Michigan's Block M, for example, as that would require special licensing from the University and NCAA.  I've explored that, and while not impossible to obtain, is definitely out of my reach if I wanted to secure licenses for numerous teams.  As much as I love Michigan, I realize that a book centered around Maize and Blue designs would have a limited market - and might just be enough to stop a Buckeye from ever working one of my designs again. 

So the book will contain a collection of accessory patterns specifically designed to use two or three team colors.   My planed launch date is August 2012 - so I better get moving on the production phase.   I'll be blogging more about the process.  For now, I've received my first installment of the yarn - I've selected Brown Sheep Company's Nature Spun in worsted weight.   This yarn is a great work horse yarn, available in the necessary colors, and produced right here in the Midwest.  More sneak peaks of the designs to come.