I have incorporated computers into my life pretty extensively.  We moved to electronic health records years ago.  I post to Twitter and Facebook, I take and edit photos on my phone, and figured out how to do a blog, didn’t I? For someone who learned trigonometry on a slide rule, I think I’ve adapted really well to the New Age.  I was more than happy to junk the slide rule for math, but when it comes to reading, I still prefer books. A paperback in my bag to read at lunch makes me happy. I find hardbacks the easiest to read while knitting (they lie flat on the table).  Books have been part of my life for as long as I can remember and I haven’t seen any compelling reason to move to an e-book.  Books don’t run out of battery, they don’t go dark when left alone for awhile, and they are easily read in the sunshine, out on my porch.

But, I know that having “Annetarsia Knits” available electronically is necessary, today.   So, after the book went to the printer, the team set about to put “Annetarsia Knits” in PDF format. Colors needed to be changed, links added, and all sorts of complicated computer stuff had to happen in a language that, thankfully, Sarah speaks fluently.  How Sarah has managed to design both a beautiful printed book, and now a terrific PDF version, is simply amazing to me.

Sarah Jaworowicz is the book (and now, PDF) designer, and she is…all of the best words that I can think of.  Sarah is funny, sweet, hard-working, brilliant, patient, calm…Sarah is just amazing.  We clicked the first time we met, at the Dizzy retreat in Rochester NY.  Sarah doesn’t knit, but her mother, Deb, does.  Deb asked if I would talk to Sarah as “she had just graduated from college (Canisius College in Buffalo, NY, and graduated with a Bachelors in Digital Media Arts. Her website is www.sarahgracedesigns.com.) and wanted to design books someday”.  Well, there is no time like the present, right?  I hired her on the spot.  I wasn’t sure what exactly we would do together, but after 15 minutes with this young lady, I knew I wanted her working for me.  We started out by updating all of my class handouts, then progressed to working on “Annetarsia Knits”.  Along the way she also designed “Dreaming of Shetland”, the fund-raiser e-book for Deb Robson.  She volunteered her expertise for that project, as we all did, and no one except Donna Druchunas put in more time.

So, when Sarah said she could turn the printable book into a PDF book, I, of course, believed her.  As far as I am concerned, Sarah can do anything.  And tonight, she sent me a copy to review.  In just a few moments the whole, entire book downloaded onto my computer from Dropbox.  There it all was, beautiful and clear.  And when I click on a pattern name, it goes right to the pattern.  Amazing!  When I click on a page number that is referenced….zoom!  It goes there.  Who needs an index? This is fantastic.

I’m still going to carry my books around, because they make me happy, and I am comfortable with them.  And for me, a printed book is a “real” book.  But the electronic version has some definite good points, and I will enjoy having access to the book content wherever I can access a computer, iPad, or iPhone.  I can put the patterns into KnitCompanion, print them out, and other things that probably haven’t been invented yet. It’s a fast-moving world, and I’m doing my best to keep up!

You can still pre-order the PDF, but I anticipate releasing it on June 9th, and the price will increase at that time.  Sarah, our baby is about to enter the knitting world!  That will make lots of people happy while we wait for the “Real Book”….

Sarah’s “thinking face”

This documents Sarah’s modeling moment. Her hand is the one in the beauty shot for “in the Loo”! Stylist Cindy Taylor is directing her.

Sarah and Ann, at the photoshoot for Annetarsia Knits, going through the days’ shots.