Say hello to Sarah Jo and Abra, our summer interns at Knitgrrl Studio! Abra is working with us on some publishing projects, while Sarah Jo is helping with our next pattern collection. We’ll be sure to let you know how they’re doing…if we don’t all melt in this heat first!

In other news, Knitgrrl Studio owner Shannon Okey’s new book, The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design, is now available from the Cooperative Press division of Stitchgrrl LLC (our parent company). You can find blog book tour dates in July and August here.

Finally: are you doing the Tour de Fleece this year? Find yourself in need of a spinning wheel part, or some fiber? Let us know! (We just took a slightly panicky call from an old customer & friend who’d broken her Louet footman connector & are getting her fixed up this afternoon!)

Heads up! There’s an enormous sale going on at Fabric.com on some really great stuff, including Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler prints! Click the button here to get free shipping on orders over $35. I know a lot of you are big fabric fans, too, so thought I’d spread the word!

This upcoming Saturday, Knitgrrl Studio and ALL the other artists in the building will be open from 1-8:00 p.m. for one of our few-times-a-year open studio events. See here for the details, and we hope to see you there! (If you’d like to share the invitation with your Facebook friends, here’s the link).

In addition, there is a new waitlist going for the second session of our technical editing class for knit & crochet designers. You can add your name to the list here. (The first class filled up with 30 students almost immediately — apologies if you missed the first enrollment).

If you’ve been reading the Knitgrrl blog, or keeping up elsewhere (such as our Classes page), you may have noticed our new Get Published! online class. This is one of our latest offerings, along with Designer 101 (which sold out and promptly needed to add a second section!).

I’ve gotten a few emails asking how to sign up for the classes. In the event there is an ‘add to cart’ link, just check out, and we’ll send you an invitation to the classroom. If there’s no add to cart link, simply email us at info [at] knitgrrlstudio.com and we’ll either put you on a waiting list or let you know what comes next.

Get Published! is currently running but will be taught for over a month, so feel free to sign up at any time. You don’t need any special software to join the class, and you can follow along when it’s convenient to you — there are no set deadlines on assignments. Some classes even have students from other countries, so don’t worry about timezones and such!

Another way to find out what’s on tap and which classes are being offered is to join the Knitgrrl Ning network, where the classes are held. It doesn’t cost anything to join and you’ll know before anyone else what’s coming up next!

bookshelf, originally uploaded by chotda

Have you always wanted to write a book? Now’s your chance!

Whether you want to submit your work to large publishers or do it yourself, Knitgrrl Studio owner Shannon Okey has the insider knowledge to help you succeed! Author of 12 major-publisher books and owner of Cooperative Press, which has been publishing craft-related titles since 2007 (including forthcoming title The Knitgrrl Guide To Professional Knitwear Design: How to Keep Your Knits About You), Okey reveals the processes behind:

• building a successful book proposal
• brainstorming a book: discovering what you have to offer the market
• publishing it yourself for greater profit and control
• finding a printer or an appropriate print solution

and many other topics of interest to creative people of all kinds, not just crafters. This class will be held online, not at Knitgrrl Studio.

Class begins 29 March. $85.

If you’re in the Cleveland area, come see Knitgrrl Studio owner Shannon Okey’s newest artwork in the show Undomesticated this Friday night at Wall Eye Gallery!

Undomesticated
19 March – 11 April 2010
Curated by Stephanie Lipscomb & Linda Ayala

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Wall Eye Gallery presents the work of ten Northeast Ohio women creating fine art using mediums and techniques traditionally considered domestic.

Gallery hours: 20 March noon – 6:00 p.m. and 21 March noon – 5:00 p.m., and by appointment through 11 April.

Knitgrrl Studio owner Shannon Okey has been chosen to create the awards that will be presented at the 34th annual Cleveland International Film Festival. Created from handmade, hand-dyed wool felt, these awards will be given to four top filmmakers from all over the world. See page 21 in the festival guide for more details.

Among the previous local artists chosen for this honor is Hildur Ásgeirsdóttir Jónsson, whose textile pieces Shannon loves.

Following up on last month’s sewing patterns as knitting templates class, we’re working on new sewing-related classes for you, both online and off. The marketing class has just started: if you’re a crafter or designer who needs help marketing your work, send an email to us (info [at] knitgrrlstudio [dot] com) and we’ll get you set up.

In addition, Knitgrrl Studio continues to offer team-building exercises for companies and corporations — one of our upcoming events was customized by the client (a certain large Cleveland-based insurance company) to make a certain kind of fabric blanket. You can customize yours, too! Just drop us a line and let us know what sounds like fun, and we’ll bring the class to you!

SO excited! This is seriously one of my favorite products in the world, whether I’m washing a handknit sweater or a delicate cashmere one! We just got some in after months of backorder (it’s popular stuff!), so get it while you can. Limited edition Unleash Soak fiber wash at Knitgrrl Studio.

Check it out! My studio was featured today as part of CRAFT’s January “Make Space For Crafting” feature!

Now you don’t have to be local to Knitgrrl Studio to take classes with us! We’ve posted February’s class choices (4 classes and one all-day workshop being offered in two separate sessions) here at our sister site Knitgrrl along with signup options.

If you ARE local, you are welcome to stop in for help as needed.