Inspiration
Announcing: The Designer for Field Guide No. 15
We have been anticipating this day for so long.
Our tale begins back in March of 2019, also known as a hundred years ago, back when everybody was footloose and hugging and carrying on, going to fiber festivals without a blink.
Kay and I were in Edinburgh, Scotland, on a dream trip to the Edinburgh Yarn Fest, and we’d arranged a breakfast with someone we’d admired but had never met.
We settled in with coffee and eggs and baked goods, and the conversation flowed so freely that we lost track of time. We talked designers, yarns, news of the day, everything. It was great, a treasured memory that remains vivid to us almost 18 months later.
Who was our breakfast date? Jeanette Sloan.
And today’s the day we share the news: Jeanette Sloan is the designer whose work is the highlight of the upcoming Field Guide No. 15.
The Plot Thickens
We didn’t let geography get in the way of our collaboration. Jeanette lives in southern England. Kay’s in New York. I’m in Nashville. And Melanie Falick, Creative Director for the Field Guide series, lives north of New York along the Hudson. Not a problem!
Fast forward to January of this year, also known as fifty years ago. Jeanette was in New York for Vogue Knitting Live, so she and Kay caught a train up to Melanie’s for a day of planning.
I had to miss this gathering and was left with a gut-wrenching Fear Of Missing Out.
I totally missed out.
Beacon ho!
FORECAST: Cold and clear, with a chance of creativity
Creative Director Melanie Falick and Jeanette pause in amazement at their own brilliance.
It was another dream day, finalizing exactly what Jeanette’s designs would be for this Field Guide.
The swatches were flying, so much accomplished in the room where it happens.
The Joy of Jeanette
Jeanette Sloan is one of the knitting world’s most accomplished designers. With more than 170 designs in her Ravelry portfolio, she has been working at a peak of imagination and skill for a very long time. Along with many contributions to The Knitter and Knitting magazines, she has recently co-edited a collection with Kate Davies, Warm Hands, a delectable collection of 15 designs for gloves, mitts, and mittens.
She has also been a powerful voice in the ongoing conversation about diversity in the knitting world. In 2018, her article for Knitting magazine, “Black People Do Knit,” set her on a path to increase the visibility and promotion of BIPOC makers in the fiber world. She worked tirelessly to create BIPOC in Fiber, a new website that celebrates a huge number of designers, yarn makers, and artists.
ON A RAMBLE AT kinokuniya new york, UNSURPRISINGLY IN THE CRAFT BOOK SECTION, Jeanette with Lorna Hamilton-BROWN, ADVISOR TO BIPOC in Fiber.
When Will It Launch?
Mark your calendars for Friday, August 7.
We will be sending out Field Guide No. 15 to Field Guide subscribers ahead of launch date. If you’d like to be an early bird, go ahead and sign up now for our 2020 Field Guide subscription.
It includes the current Field Guide No. 14: Refresh with designs by Carol Feller (which we will send out immediately to you), Field Guide No. 15 with designs by Jeanette Sloan (shipping in a few weeks), and Field Guide No. 16, which will launch toward the end of the year.
We can’t wait to start sharing all the beautiful design that Jeanette has cooked up for us. We think you’re going to love this Field Guide.
Join Melanie, Kay and MDK Field Guide No. 15: Open designer Jeanette Sloan for a Making a Life: The Conversation—an online event on Saturday, August 8. Register here.
Woo hoo! Can’t wait! I’m so happy I signed up for the 2020 subscription. No FOMO here!
Was just thinking the same thing. Whoop Whoop!!
I’m bursting with excitement to see Jeanette’s designs! Whoop!
Oh gosh, I would normally be choosing an MDK Firld Guide bundle of my very own, but I am on a point in my life where I am culling my library! Baking books, cook books and…yes knitting books. That crazy book purchase at Tolt or at Fancy Tiger Craft where you were overcome by yarn fumes and grabbed that book to put in with ALL the yarn you are buying.
So exciting! I can’t wait to see all of the designs!
I’m a fan of Jeanette’s patterns and am excited about the next Field Guide. I can’t get the subscription because I have #14 in my collection and I don’t need duplicates. I can’t wait for this one! Congratulations Jeanette!
Oh Ann, I feel your FOMO So excited to see FG#15!!!
Yay! So excited to see this and so soon! Thanks MDK for making the 2020 subscription available!!
I love her work and am so excited. Can’t wait for this to launch
More good news from Modern Daily Knitting. Jeanette is the best! Thank you, ladies.
MDK rocks! (Fist pumping in the air) I’m so excited for this! I’ve been following Jeanette since her Rowan days and am a fan! Good job ladies and thank you so much!
Natalie
This is happy news. I took Jeanette’s in bead knitting at VKLive in New York. I found her a charming and adept teacher. I love her designs, her style, and her quirky glasses.
brava! i cannot wait.
This is so wonderful! I adore Jeanette’s work and cannot wait to see what she’s designed for her field guide. She has such an original vision.
Funny story — Jeanette was my first “star sighting” at VKLive NY (my first VKLive). And I actually squealed “You’re my first star sighting!”
I was in the phone with my daughter at the time. “Oh, God, Mom.” See, you can still embarrass your kids into their 30s!
Alas, I didn’t get to see my MDK ladies, but maybe next time!
MDK field guides are the new Calgon take me away Of the pandemic. Anxiously awaiting Jeanette debut
So true.
August 7th! It’s circled in red on my little desk calendar, and I have an alert on my phone! I’m ready! And as others have said, I’m very glad that I have subscribed for the 2020 Field Guides.
What a wonderful intro to Jeanette Sloan. Thank you so very much. I’ve said this many times, but it bears repeating: you ladies are THE BEST!
GREAT choice!
Yay! Can’t wait to get it! 🙂 MORE PROJECTS to add to my queue! Yippee!
I absolutely can’t wait. I hope there’s a section of bead knitting. I was going to take a class but Covid struck and life changed. I love love these field guides. They are just the right size.
I’m so curious to find out what the theme of this field guide will be. I’ll be waiting in anticipation!
Do you have a teaser for the next mdk…great to see a project….deb
Love love love!!! So excited to see Jeanette Sloan’s new patterns, and I love her website!
This is so amazing!!!
Hello, In one of your newsletters I found the pattern Juniper Wings by Carol Feller. I fell in love with this pattern but am having trouble locating the yarn, WalkCollection Cottage Merino. I located some in UK at Tangled Yarn, but they cannot ship due to Covid. Do you have any ideas?
OMG I remember 50 years ago- VKLive in NYC is a n annual trek for us. Hoping it’s back on in 2021. It’s easy to see how creativity would flourish; sensory overload then surrounded by the beautiful scenery of the Hudson Valley. Cannot wait to see the results:)!! I’m not always the first to buy them, but I’ve managed to keep all those Field Guides on my bookshelf- or even better: in and out of project bags:)!
Looking forward to this. Jennifer lives one Metro stop away from my Mother.
I’ve seen previous field guides available on Ravelry – as in you could purchase the individual patterns from within the field guide. Will this option be available again with this field guide? Also are you still affilicated with or using Ravelry? There has been some negativity around that site recently so wasn’t sure if you’re still a presence there.