Knitch Magazine

For almost 30 years now, Knit 'n Style magazine has been a staple among practical knitters who appreciate classic design rather than over-the-top runway fashions. Its Editor in Chief, Penelope Taylor, is one of the busiest women in the industry, overseeing the editorial content, design and photography of a magazine that comes out six times each year, unlike most knitting magazines that are seasonal. With just 60 days between each issue launch date, she has a lot of work to do in order to gather the yarns, patterns and garments to present to her subscribers throughout the world. We caught up with Penelope at home with her pussycats, Oreo and Hoshi.

Knitch: Tell us about the publication. There may be some KnitchMagazine readers who aren't familiar with it.

Penelope: Knit ‘n Style is the oldest of the craft magazines published by All American Crafts Publishing. You could say it started the company. Originally published in 1981 as Fashion Knitting, there was a title change with the December 1997 issue to Knit ‘n Style.

Knitch: Have you been involved from the beginning?

Penelope: I joined in 2006 when I answered an ad for assistant editor, but between the time I responded and the interview occurred, the situation changed and All American Crafts needed an editor.

I think that because I was not from the industry, I brought a fresh, new look to the magazine. And since I 'm a knitter, I approached the contents of Knit 'n Style as what would I would like to see, read, and find out about. Outside of projects, I’ve filled Knit 'n Style with articles about knitwear designers that I’ve wanted to meet, lots of workshops, and “how-tos” instructional articles, as well as book reviews and lots of product reviews.

Since I also am a techno-geekette, you can be sure we're planning amazing content for our website in the near future.

Knitch: Makes sense. You approached the magazine as if you were the target market. Who is the typical Knit 'n Style reader?

Penelope: Our demographic is the over 40 intermediate knitter who loves to knit for herself and her family. We like to present projects that are sure to be in your wardrobe for years to come – classics with a twist or an updated look. I can’t tell you how many of today’s knitwear designers tell me that for years they've turned to the projects in Knit ‘n Style when making something for themselves.

Knitch: That's a terrific endorsement! It must be gratifying to hear that designers appreciate your patterns. We notice you recently changed the format of Knit 'n Style.

Penelope: Yes, we did. I'm a visual learner, so if I don’t understand the words, I hope the picture or the illustration can help me. We decided to add more photos of each project – sort of a 360 imagery of the garment as if you had the sample in your hands. We're known for clear, up-close images and we wanted to expand and give the readers more. After all, it's all about the sweater!

Knitch: It sounds like great fun to be editing a magazine geared toward your own interests. Is it the dream job everyone thinks it must be?

Penelope: The best part of the job is seeing ahead to what is coming down the road in terms of new fibers, books, tools, and knitting related products. We are an avenue to “get the word out” to the knitters, so manufacturers send us samples, galleys (copies of all the pages in a new book without covers), and new yarns (sometimes without ball bands). You constantly live in the future. Here it is Easter time and we're working on the October issue. Hard to get in the swing of fall colors and weather when we are just about ready to find the warmer post-winter weather.

One September I realized it was the last day of the month, and my car was due for state inspection (we can get a traffic ticket if we have an expired sticker on the car). I drove 30 minutes up to the inspection station, thrilled there was no line. The official looked at me, then the sticker and said “Lady, you aren’t due here for another year!”

I was working on issues well into that year, so I just thought it was that year. He shook his head and suggested I take the afternoon off work!

Knitch: To knit, perhaps?

Penelope: That's the one frustration. With so many issues each year, I've got a lot of press deadlines to meet. I don’t get to travel to the European cutting-edge shows, and I'm not able to pick up needles to get as much “hands on” experience with the new product as I might like.

Knitch: We see you at all the important shows in the U.S., speaking to designers and visiting the manufacturers' booths. How do you actually choose the designs you'll be featuring?

Penelope: I work closely with a number of knitwear designers who are well known in the industry and whose work has been featured in the magazine for years. We usually sit down at the TNNA (the National Needle Arts) show in Columbus, Ohio each June, go over sketches, swatches, suggested yarns, and colors. That's a lot of fun, as the designers have been preparing all spring for selling designs. Sometimes I might have too many purple pieces in an issue, for example, so we’ll look at the Pantone Fashion colors that are forecast years in advance. The yarn manufacturers also use these colors and many times when we get on the floor, we'll find exactly what we’re looking for in terms of weight, construction, and color. We also have to make sure that fiber is not going to be discontinued as I am trying to contract for issues 18 months into the future! I always want to make sure we have a good assortment of accessories and menswear designs as well as children. Knitters love to knit for the loved ones in their lives.

Knitch: What do you enjoy most about your job?

Penelope: Because we're a smaller publishing company, we don’t have the bandwidth of some of the other publications. That means I get to wear a lot of hats and have input into areas that I might not have if I were with another magazine. I find that really exciting. I love to learn all parts of the process, including the photography, digital imaging corrections, layout, and web design. I also -- believe it or not -- love the travel aspect, even though the shows we attend usually end on a red-eye back to the east coast. It’s great to get out and meet industry people as well as readers. Everyone is very approachable and easy to work with, from designers to creative/designer directors. I’ve made some wonderful friendships.

Knitch: It sounds like great fun -- except for the sleep deprivation. Is there anything you don't like about the work?

Penelope: Not enough hours in the day to be able to knit swatches with all the yarn that is sent, read all the books that come in -- the pile on my floor is amazing! -- and have down time to get creative about what to include in the upcoming issues. I can't take a one or two week vacation. The amount of work that piles up is in that amount of time is huge, so I do better with long weekends. I’m not sure knitters realize that we publish six times a year, instead of quarterly. That means a new copy rolls off the press every eight weeks and time flies in between issues!

Knitch: You mentioned that you were a knitter when you joined the publication. When did you learn to knit?

Penelope: My Mom taught me. Being the product of an artist (my Mom) and a physicist (my Dad), how could I not be creative? Mom is an amazing “technician.” She taught herself to knit at an early age, and had no one to help her. Her finishing techniques are unparalleled by anyone’s work, and her tension is so even it looks machine knit. She found it difficult to teach me because I'm left-handed. I would spend hours watching the stitches being formed when she or my Granny (Dad’s mum) would knit. My English-born Granny could knit a woman’s worsted weight cardigan in about five days. She flew on the needles! But her English method confused me. I became a “thrower” and I also knit right-handed after all those hours of watching. Mom still knits today, and is a prolific beader, gourmet cook, and gardener.

Knitch: Oh, I know the problem all too well! Being left-handed I, too, have had to learn to knit from left-to-right and right-to-left. On the bright side, we never have to change hands when we knit! Are there any particular projects do you enjoy?

Penelope: I came to the sock knitting craze a little late, but I find sock making so portable. I'm also working on wraps, scarves, and cowls with luxury fibers – smaller projects on smaller needles. In college and after, I always was a worsted-weight girl. But now I love silks, silk-blends, alpaca, and hand-paints on much smaller needles. When I retire, I'll get back to my Arans. I love texture and all those patterns!

Knitch: With your busy schedule, I'm surprised you find time to knit at all right now.

Penelope: Truth be told, I seem to really find time when I am flying somewhere. Knitting has always been my “go to” travel craft. I’ve been passionate about a number of crafts since I was five -- cross-stitch, knitting, crochet, sewing clothes, quilting, wearable art, bead knitting, bead crochet -- but knitting has always been with me. That’s almost 50 years of knitting! I can honestly say that I have cardigans in my closet that I knit in the 1980s and still wear. Buy quality fibers, knit a classic, and you will have it the rest of your life!

Knitch: After working so closely with yarn manufacturers, designers and shop owners, are you inspired to own a shop?

Penelope: I actually was a retail shop owner for 10 years. I owned a glass bead shop. It was a bricks and mortar place but I also packed everything into a huge cargo van and traveled to all sorts of conferences and multi-day shows, selling beads. I specialized in all handwork that used beads except making jewelry. I taught, travelled, and lectured. It was a wonderful time but I thrive on change. Publishing is my third career...so far. I do know that I will be knitting the rest of my life!

Knitch: Yes, you have so many interests! Are you still pursuing them?

Penelope: Photography was a serious hobby of mine in high school and college. I never intended for it to become a career. It was just a passion of mine. I couldn’t paint and draw like my Mom and my sister, so it was a form of art that came easily to me and I understood the “science” of it (the early beginnings of my geekette-ness). Somehow it disappeared from my life until I came to the magazine. Running the magazine’s fashion photo shoots, and styling the product shots introduced me to commercial digital photography. Working with Steve Young, who has been a part of the New York fashion photography scene for almost 50 years, has been a remarkable experience. And I’ve gotten the photography bug once again! I’ve traveled to almost all 48 of the lower states and I'm very much in love with the national parks, especially the ones out west and the Canadian Rockies. I particularly enjoy landscape and flower photography --- the big picture and the small details. The next photography workshop I'm taking is a four-day landscape concentration with Nikon Master Tony Sweet out on Whidbey Island in WA. I've also recently returned to university with a concentration in photography and web design so I can bring fresh ideas to Knit 'n Style magazine.

Knitch: Then it's a good thing you have an assistant to take care of emails for you.

Penelope: Oh, yes! Oreo is my sweet 16 year old black and white cat. She weighs all of 5 pounds and always has managed to keep her school girl figure. She loves to participate in everything I do. Sometimes I work from home she's right on top of me while I am working on the laptop:

She walks across the keyboard so many times that I honestly don’t even notice her anymore. Hence the emails that get sent without me even realizing it.

Oreo was the feature of an editorial in Knit 'n Style when she kept emptying the yarn bowl on my coffee table over and over again!

Oreo helps with Penelope's email.

Penelope Taylor lives with her two cats, her laptop and several cameras in northern New Jersey.