Cooperative Press is my fantasy employer

Cooperative Press tempts me again with Needles and Artifice, a book full of fabulous Victorian-inspired patterns AND a novella to go with them.

OK, OK, it’s steampunk! I confess to a secret fascination with the steampunk aesthetic, even though I’ve never read any and suspect I wouldn’t even like most steampunk fiction. I just like the clothes and the props. I don’t have the figure for the clothes; in fact, I woudn’t be caught dead in some of these items. AND YET—I WANT THE BOOK!

Spats! Knitted spats with brass buttons. This doesn’t depend on my figure…

This hat & cowl set is called “Master and Commander.” Just what every girl dreams of.

The last Cooperative Press book that tempted me is more justifiable, seeing as how I have a nephew on the way. The only reason I haven’t yet purchased Boys’ Knits is that I have plenty of time… I’m still making newborn gifts. My nephew won’t be big enough for anything in this book for a few years.

The cover photo from Boys’ Knits. Cute!!

[Note: all of the above photos are copyrighted not by me. Either by Cooperative Press or the respective authors.]

I’ve also subscribed to Knit Edge magazine, which has published 1-1/2 issues so far. (They started with a sampler which they called “issue zero.”) So far so good: I want to knit the sweater that was on the cover of issue 1. And maybe the colorwork cowl, too.

Iconoclastic is the word for Cooperative Press. The mass-market crafts publishing industry has gotten rather boring. They’ve got too much money invested to risk doing anything that won’t appeal to the broadest possible audience.

Shannon Okey, the brains (and often muscle) behind Cooperative Press, has shifted the paradigm. She’s using the newer publishing technologies of short-run digital printing and e-publishing to open up the field to unique, even quirky ideas. They don’t HAVE to have mass appeal in order to make a profit.

I’ve yet to purchase a physical book from Cooperative Press. Everything I’ve bought from them comes in 1s and 0s. I read them on my Nook, or my laptop. It’s easy enough to knit with my Nook propped up on the arm of my chair. I made these booties from a pattern in the first CP book I bought—Extreme Double-Knitting by Alasdair Post-Quinn. [Yes, for the nephew.]

So Shannon—how about it? See, I know how to use an em-dash. ;-)