Pitching zombie
Well, so much for my first pitch. Months ago, I came up with a way to make an old t-shirt into yarn. I wrote a pattern for something I called a Zombie Beanie, as a way to put new life back into beloved but ragged old gear. Right around that time, the Anticraft put out a call for patterns, and I submitted it.
Instead of sending in a sketch of a willowy, long-necked, sleek city girl modeling my knitted design, I sent in this.
I got an autoresponse e-mail from them … and the months went by. Finally I spotted something on their blog that said “we have officially emailed everyone who submitted for the book.” Except me. Which is fine, I guess. It was a last-second attempt and I screwed up royally on the submission guidelines and just generally fell flat in my attempt to get the thing out the door. I don’t mind, though. It proved I could get something done and create a mock-up, and it demystified the process for me.
But that also means I have a pattern on my hands, and I don’t know what to do with it. I’m thinking I could get my shit together and shop it out to Knitty and Craft magazine. The pattern itself isn’t too exotic; it’s mostly the shirt-to-yarn technique that makes it interesting. But I think it’d be fun to go through the process and get comfortable enough for it that just submitting my stuff isn’t scary anymore.
And if all that doesn’t work, there’s always here!
6 Comments to Pitching zombie
Molly
January 22, 2007 8:32 am
I think you Zombie hat and display are too cool! If you do get your pattern out, I would buy it. Turning a fave t-shirt into yarn is a fantastic idea. Do you know how much you would sell it for?
Arlette
January 22, 2007 4:27 pm
Yay! Glad you like it. I’ll move it closer to the front of the project queue in my head.
I do plan to sell patterns within the next few months. No way would I charge more than $3 or $4 for the pattern — I wouldn’t pay loads of money for a hat pattern myself, so why charge a lot for one?
Sarah
January 22, 2007 6:17 pm
I say submit it! It seems like a great Knitty project — they don’t have anything quite like it yet.
Molly
February 4, 2007 6:23 pm
I’ll keep watching for it then! I’m interested in other Zombie Knits!!
Elspeth
February 18, 2007 7:35 pm
I also heard nothing from The Anti-Craft when I submitted a pattern. Yours seems way more Knitty to me anyway, since it involves a new technique. Also, don’t discount submitting to a magazine! You could be the next Eunny Jang! Good luck!
Arlette
February 19, 2007 11:54 pm
Eunny Jang? Dang, that’s a heck of a high place to aim. But hey — why aim low? Thanks for the words of encouragement! I think I’m going to submit it to Craft: first and see what happens!