Welcome, Kate!

Happy new year, knitters!

(Is it still fair for me to say that even though it’s February?)

Knitting-wise, 2019 was a pretty strange year for me. I knit quite a lot, of course, but struggled to find the time to share it with all of you. I missed admiring your knitting, seeing what was popular and what was new, and generally being part of this community. Business-wise, while I managed to basically keep up with email and the monthly subscriber lessons, and run my final retreat… …but there were plenty more rough edges than I’m really comfortable with.

All of which is to say that by the time December rolled around, I had some serious thinking to do about how I wanted to continue Amy Herzog Designs in 2020. Ultimately, I decided to try and find a way I could start engaging with you more online, and improve my responsiveness, by getting someone to help out.

Welcome, Kate Atherley!

Once I’d confirmed that the business could afford a new financial commitment even after slowing down this past year, it wasn’t hard to settle on someone who could help. They needed to be knowledgeable about sweaters and knitting, of course. But also comfortable with software and typical tech support tools, and we needed to be able to work well together. I thought immediately of Kate.

Kate is Knitty.com’s Managing Technical Editor, and a seasoned designer and teacher of all things knitterly. She’s written a number of spectacular books: “The Knitter’s Dictionary”, “Custom Socks”, and “Knit Mitts!” are exactly the kind of no-nonsense, clever overviews of knitting topics that I most love. Her “Beginner’s Guide to Writing Knitting Patterns” is the first guide specifically written to help knitting designers create patterns others can easily knit. (It’s a book I personally go back to time and again.)

She was a no-brainer choice for one other reason, too: In her pre-knitting life, she worked in software for 15 years. She covered roles from technical support to documentation to product management. Really, she has an utterly perfect mix of skills to help me — and you — out.

I love working with Kate for her attention to detail, her humor, and the way she doesn’t let me get away with anything. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Kate quite a lot over the last few years, both at my retreats and as a tech editor. I can’t think of anyone better to partner with.

Also, she’s already getting me into trouble – I was supposed to be seaming some sweaters this weekend, and found I had to swatch something she showed me instead:

When you reach out by email, you’ll almost certainly hear back from Kate. She also wrote January’s subscriber lesson and may handle more of the lessons going forward. It’s also possible you’ll see her here around the blog and online. So, please give her a warm welcome!

What will 2020 bring?

As I take on new responsibilities in The Day Job, I honestly don’t know exactly how things will look from here on out.

With Kate’s help, I’m excited to renew my knitting life online and share some exciting software stuff that I’ve continued to work on behind the scenes. I’m still knitting up a storm, of course, and have new design photos by the incredible Gale Zucker to share. I’ve resolved to pop my head up above the water more often here, and on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter.

I’m incredibly grateful to still have this space to share and connect with you all. Here’s to a fresh 2020.