The naming game

Can I ask for feedback please?

I've had the title of the book etched in my head forever - it came to me and instantly seemed suitable. However, am having one of those anxiety ridden, questionable days, and am now wondering whether the title could be deemed controversial. Fair enough, there are plenty of folk out there who see my designs as 'weird' (in a derogatory sense), even 'ridiculous' and I've had more than my fair share of criticism, so I'd like some clarification if possible!

"Going Straight - The New Generation of Knitted Hats"

I like the play on words - going straight obviously referring to the needles themselves, and the techniques involved in making a seamless Hat on the straight instead of in the round. Couple that with the fact that the designs are far from 'straight' in that normal, regular, boring sense. They're not all wacky and what not, quirky maybe yet perfectly wearable, each and every one (in fact, it has been commented by one or two who have seen the book Hats in the yarn that they are somewhat tame....)

Yet I realise that 'going straight' has many other implications. Any thoughts on this?

Before I depart back to my sample knitting & tutorial writing, I'd like to refer to a point Maylin made in the comments on the new beret a couple of posts back. It was a good point - I agree, it is, like many, one of those Hats that would look great modelled on a real person. However, there are good reasons why it/they are not, and as it's been mentioned before I'd like to try and clarify.

For starters, I *loathe* photos of myself. There are rare shots that make it through quality control, yet on the whole most are utterly cringe-worthy. Being photogenic is not one of my qualities. I know most of us hate ourselves in photos, but seriously, shots of me do not make for pleasant viewing. Besides, the one and only time I modelled one of my Hats for a pattern (MagKnits, April 2006) not only was the pattern slated, but so was the I. Naivety led me to do it, and I learnt my lesson. Never, ever again! (I've dared link to that pattern to remind us all of how awful those photos are. I still stick by that design, though ;)

I do have beautiful, stunning, enviably photogenic friends, yet I'm far too reclusive most of the time to organise a photo shoot. It's been done for the book - so you'll all be pleased to hear that all the Hats will be appearing on lovely people taken by a talented photographer (to be revealed at a later date) (and all Hats looking damn fine, if I say so myself) Yet for individual patterns it takes a lot of organising. If they lived next door instead of the other side of London it would be easy peasy but alas they don't. So instead I compromise by trying to take half decent shots on a head model - better that than ruin a design by sticking my face to it. There is also the issue of getting permission for publication etc, which is why many knitwear/crochet designers model themselves.

I have thought about going back, getting all the pattern sample Hats together and bothering/bribing my friends for a day or two. The hitch there is that many of those sample pieces have sold, although if they've sold once they could sell again, so it may be worth my while re-knitting them and doing the pose on a human thing. That though, is something else that will have to wait until after the book is finished.

So many things to do........
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