We’re making a few changes to the website starting 1 February 2012 (and continuing into the next two weeks). If you have any problems finding something or need help, please email us at info (at) cooperativepress.com

We also welcome your questions or comments on the site redesign; please feel free to leave a comment here.

Thank you!

We’re trying something new at Cooperative Press by putting up previews of our books on Scribd, where you can check out some of the interior in advance and hopefully get a feel for the book before buying. Beyond Knit & Purl is the first one we’ve done so far. What do you think? What other kinds of things would you like to see in previews like this?

Beyond Knit & Purl — Kate Atherley

If you click the link above the embedded frame, you can see it full size on the Scribd site!

We are so happy to announce that Beyond Knit & Purl has gone to the printer, which means that those of you who pre-ordered a copy will be getting the digital edition very soon — and the printed ones will be here shortly! (If you haven’t gotten a chance to order yet, see below!) We’ll be announcing blog tour details soon.

PRINT + DIGITAL
$26.95 plus shipping

DIGITAL ONLY (PDF)
$16.95

Congratulations are in order for Alasdair, whose book Extreme Double Knitting: New Adventures in Reversible Colorwork made Library Journal’s Best of 2011 list! (see it here)

If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, what are you waiting for?

DIGITAL EDITION — PDF ($16.95)

* DIGITAL (PDF) + PRINT ($29.95)

Check out all the patterns on Ravelry.

If you’re in the US, you’re getting geared up for what is an improbably busy (and usually ridiculous) weekend of holiday sales. Black Friday, Cyber Monday…it can be overwhelming. However, if you’re reading this, chances are good you believe in supporting independent companies like ours, so we’d like to let you know…

1. If you’re on the mailing list, we’re sending out information on CP’s holiday sales specials on Thanksgiving (Thursday). Along with special prices, we’ll be offering up bookplates for gift orders designed by the one and only Franklin Habit.

2. We’re doing giveaways, too. Yarn, knitting bags, all kinds of good stuff — so stay tuned for that newsletter!

3. Help us spread the word about shopping indie this season on Facebook. You can go to this album and share the second banner on your Facebook wall with one simple click. It’s an important message to get across in the midst of all the earlier-every-year sales events. Hey, we’re open 24 hours a day 365 days a year here on the site, if you really, really want to shop at 5:30 a.m.!

4. We couldn’t do it without you. Thanks for supporting independent publishers like Cooperative Press this holiday season. ♥

I know your inbox is full, I do! You should see mine. But here’s a few reasons why you might want to consider joining the other subscribers on our mailing list.

1. Keeping costs down. It’s much better to email people who already know who we are and what we’re about than it is to spend money on print ads when we have a new book out. Keeping costs down directly benefits CP and its authors, which allows us to create even better things for you.

2. We’ve upgraded our mailing list system. If you’re a long time subscriber, re-enter your mailing address in the signup form (it should prompt you to update your subscription). We’re asking for your birthday and a few other tidbits so we can send you surprises and invites based on that information. Free patterns? Book launch parties? Who knows — we’re still working on the details — but having that information will give us a reason to develop these new programs faster.

3. We like you. Without our readers, why would we bother? We assume you’re interested when we put out new books, but we know how busy you are. Why not an email now and then to remind you what’s going on over here? We don’t share your information with anyone else, we try not to mail any more than we have to, and we want you to be excited when things show up in your inbox from Cooperative Press.

So, won’t you please join (or if you’re already a member, update your profile)? Thank you!

Everyone involved in the photoshoot for Audrey Knight’s new CP book Reversible Scarves: Curing the Wrong Side Blues at Rhinebeck was a ROCKSTAR. From Caro the photographer-genius to Stitchy the stylist, all the models, the locations…everything. Here’s a few pictures to get you excited — it should be ready for preorder soon. Keep in mind these are just preview shots, straight off the camera, which should give you some idea of how fabulous Caro is.

Why yes, that is the fried dough stand in the background, matching the scarf’s colorway exactly. A happy coincidence!

Designers make the best models. Ann Weaver is being particularly adorable here.

Pamela Wynne has found both a new scarf and a new friend in this shot.

If this doesn’t look ripped from the pages of a fancy fashion magazine, I don’t know what does.

Joelle in the sheep barn. It’s a wonder we managed to get her out.

And in other news, Shannon’s panel for SXSW 2012 was accepted. If you’re heading to Austin in March, be sure to come to Knitting A Long Tail in Niche Publishing.

Hello everyone and thanks for your patience! It’s been a hectic few weeks to say the least!

We did the drawing for the Vogue Knitting Live iPad contest bags using random.org to draw a random number, and the winning number is 36.

If you ordered a bag after the show — please note: still only 100 bags at each show, we did NOT print more after VKL ended — they shipped straight from Rhinebeck because BBR had the bags, we had the postage-d envelopes, and we had to be in the same place to bring those things together! When’s someone going to invent a transporter beam already? Seriously.

(Also, technically, they shipped from Elizaville, NY, from an ADORABLE post office we found while on the road, but that’s neither here nor there. Just interesting).

We’re between Rhinebeck and Stitches East right now, and will be drawing the number for Rhinebeck bags asap. Keep your eyes here for the details.

Your last chance for the season to grab an iPad contest entry project bag is at Stitches East this weekend (an all-new bag design done especially for the Stitches show!) in the Bijou Basin Ranch booth, #1007-1009. (They have some great coupons for the show, too. Grab those here).

While you’re there, grab a copy of Extreme Double Knitting and get it signed by Alasdair this weekend.

It was SO great to meet so many of you at Rhinebeck. Photos to come very soon, I’ll be back in the office on Monday!

Heading to Rhinebeck this weekend for the Sheep and Wool Festival? Cooperative Press will be vending in building C, #37. Next weekend, find us at Stitches East in the Bijou Basin Ranch booth, number 1007-1009 — Alasdair Post-Quinn will be signing copies of Extreme Double Knitting (overnighted fresh from the printer!) and Shannon will be teaching.

At Rhinebeck, meet our authors Anna Dalvi, Kate Atherley, Heather Ordover, Andi Smith, Alasdair Post-Quinn, Stephannie Tallent and Shannon Okey! There will be having signings in the booth all weekend long, as well as copies of Miriam Felton’s book Twist & Knit. We’ll also be teaming up with Bijou Basin Ranch for another iPad giveaway at both shows.

Accordingly, print copies of books ordered over the next week will not ship until the week of the 24th. Thank you for your patience and for your support of small companies like Cooperative Press (trust us, we wish we had a whole shipping department, but it’s just Shannon and a Dymo postage printer!). All copies of Extreme Double Knitting should be here the day we get back, so if you preordered, you’ll have your hard copy very soon!

If you examine what Cooperative Press is about down to its core, it is passion. Passion for publishing amazing books, for supporting artists we love, for bringing change to an industry we adore but that we think needs a bit of an overhaul in the rights and payments department.

That passion isn’t restricted to fiber arts. Fiber arts may be our founder’s central focus, but we also have a deep love for other topics. And so, CP is incredibly happy to announce that we are taking on projects in two new areas, the first of which is (non-fiber) art.

The first book in our art division will be The National Portrait Gallery of Kessa: The Art of Arabella Proffer. As for the other topic? You’ll have to wait on that one a little longer, but I can tell you it’s very, very exciting. What all these topics have in common is a deep and abiding love for indie production and for doing things in your own style — which is also what we’re about.

A sneak preview of the preliminary Proffer cover:

We welcome your comments.