Giveaway: Ten 10-Yard Cuffs Ebook!

As with all other styles of things, it's a great format for some cases and not as great for others. I prefer ones that don't require hardcopy in order to be useful. I love the embedded hyperlink and in-text searching features they can include. I think they need to be carefully formatted in consideration of this style's advantages, rather than using the usual book design parameters that often don't translate well within an ebook format. The best ebooks are created by authors and book designers who have a clear understanding of how the reader will use and review the information. That said, love the look of these cuffs and this long-time old knitter would enjoy winning this draw.

That picture is yummy! I would love to try knitting again . . . i started with a huge project and gave up long ago :)

Hooked completely.

Have teenage girls and these would be great. By the way, on my way to Farmer's Market myself today. Hopefully, Ill remember the camera

I'm still rather new to ebooks. It seems so weird, not flipping through pages like a traditional book, but their also so much more convenient in some ways. Because sometimes it's just a pain to flip through pages as you're trying to follow a pattern.

What a great giveaway. I love e-books. They are always that instant gratification that I look for. Snail mail books are good, but e-books are great. Thanks for offering this one, the cuffs are so clever...

I like the idea of ebooks. I have not been able to bring myself to use a reader yet (nor can I afford one). I prefer the idea of curling up with a book over my laptop.

Thank you for your blog and all of your many classes.

i like ebooks because I have space issues and I like that I can tuck them away. Although sitting at the computer to flip through isn't as fun.

Thanks for the blog. it's always interesting.

I love the idea of ebooks and self publishing. The only problem I have with it is I cannot read of a screen for too long so need to print them off! lol

I've been thinking about this topic for a while. I personally LOVE curling up with a good book. I love the feel of a nice paperback. Books are also very portable, I can throw one in my bag to read anywhere. (This was especially important when I lived in NYC and used public transportation a lot.) I love looking at the library my husband and I have collected, and I just feel secure surrounded by a lot of books.

While much of my love for books is sentimental, some of it is practical too. I like to read on my porch, and it's kind of a pain to take my laptop out there, adjust the brightness, etc. As a stay-at-home mom, I simply can't afford a portable reader like a Kindel, though when the technology ages I'd like to get one. I also like to let friends borrow books, and there is a type of literary community that forms around the printed word. You can't loan out an e-book because even if they are not protected, if you e-mail it to a friend, you would esentially be making a free copy and giving it away. There is something not right about that, especially if you do that with books by independant authors.

Now there are a few good reasons for e-books. The biggest one for me is that I can easily set my laptop on a stand next to a rocking chair and read while I nurse my baby. She doesn't get distracted by the computer in the same way she does when I hold a book. I've used DailyLit to read a few books in my feedreader this way. As for crafting books in PDF form (like Lee's), it's very easy to prop my laptop up on the couch and follow a PDF pattern while I knit. In many ways this makes it a better format that a physical book, which is often hard to prop open. I guess e-books work better when I need both hands free for other things while I look at the book.

E-books are also more environmentally friendly and sustainable. This is a definate plus for the e-book.

I have mixed feelings about the "conserving resources" point. Sure, there may be paper and ink saved, but what about the many hidden resources that are used to make all of the computers & related e-equipment that go along with them?
There are also plenty of folks who can't afford to own all the equipment necessary to access e-books. I personally wouldn't print out an e-book, due to the expense of ink for my home printer.
I'd be unlikely to refer to my e-book (if it's craft related) very much, as when I'm crafting it's too awkward to be looking at my computer. I also find reading from the computer screen to be uncomfortable.
Most of my book use is through the awesome Multnomah County library. Using the library is a great, affordable way to conserve resources!
Having said all that, I think that e-books are a good resource for independent publishers; an inexpensive way to get their ideas out into the world.

I love the E-books. As a blind person, the E-books allow me to read the books using my screen reader!

I love that crafters are publishing their own ebooks! I like to know that the money I pay for the material is going directly to the creator. I think of it kind of like buying a CD directly from a band at a concert rather than getting it from the store.

Hmm, I'm in two minds about ebooks. I love the fact that that you can bypass the middle man and get your hands on a book that is as the author meant it to be. On the other hand, I'm a bit of a luddite and can't be bothered mucking around with an ebook reader, not to mention the expense. I do love a 'real' book that I can touch, flick through, read on the tram and wait for in the mail. Far from needing instant gratification, I find it much more exciting to wait for the book to arrive and then finally ripping the packaging off. I love the way books smell. I'm a bibliophile. =)

Oooh, lovely little book! I have mixed feelings about e-books. I think they're perfect for crafters, a great extension of the online tute that's published on a blog, and a fantastic way for talented people to make some money from their ideas. But like Renee, I still like the feel of a book in my hands. If I'm reading a novel, it would have to be paper.

I would never print out an e-book - for me that defeats the object of its format. They're great for saving resources, and in an electronic format they can be so much more flexible than a paper copy, in that hyperlinks can be added, so if an author mentions a supplier, 'click' and you're on their online store buying supplies!

I used to work in a universty library, and the debate about e-books there was an interesting one. They're being used more and more as standard text books, which makes sense to me. The software that's available to view them with is becoming ever more sophisticated, and means the reader can bookmark, highlight, make notes, cross reference and quote. All things that save time.

So it's a yay and nay from me. Either way, I'd love to win 10 Ten Yard Cuffs!

e-books, what could be better in the land of instant gratification.
All her cuffs looks marvelous.

I actually enjoy ebooks a lot. I like to read, but don't have the room for books since I live in a tiny apartment. So I satisfy my thirst for knowledge through the pixel media that is all the rage on the internet.

MariAngel on Ravelry

I love the concept of eBooks -- you can buy whenever (even in the middle of the night) and print out when you need it. I've been enjoying the mainstream media's electronic versions -- via Cloverleaf -- where I can read magazines and "clip" content to save. Many fewer papers to recycle.

E books are cool I should write a couple!! Waddya think.. loomknitting ebooks?

I think it's fantastic for many reasons. It's typically easier on the wallet and the enviroment, it puts proceeds into the pocket of the author in a far more direct fashion than traditional publishing, and ideally, should they continue to grow in popularity, it'll make what books do well and get read as much about what books are good as about what books have a publishing giant with a big advertising budget pushing them. The internet and electronic media are fantastic for word-of-mouth like that, and for allowing items to compete on their own merits, not the merits of their promoters.

My boyfriend and I like to discuss writing a ZombieCraft e-book. Not so much crafts about zombies as crafts that'll be really handy when the dead rise- making a sword from an old rusty leaf spring, canning your own food without dying of botulism, that sort of stuff.

About the toastered CD comment above- as I understand it, CDs are optical media, not magnetic. Magnets have no effect, so you don't have to worry about that one- just store your backups where they can't get scratched up.

I can see e-books as the future, if you consider the value we are reassigning raw materials (such as trees and petrolium). Save the Planet, Save Crafting so to speak.

But I am leary of anything strictly that stays on electronic medium. (Yea, I could take it to Kinkos and have them print it, but then you suck up resources.) You see, I'm awful with computers. I've sent 2 to early graves. The Blue Screen of Death isn't a b-rate horror flick; it's what I fear every time I warm up the laptop. I'd hate to lose everything in one fatal stroke (I know-backup early and often, but we have kids undefoot who love magnets and can't tell a coaster-ed CD from one with my financial life's history on it.)

love the photo -- great giveaway!

I am thrilled with the new self publishing trend. I'm not neccesarily on the bandwagon of ebooks b/c I love the tactile feel of turning the pages of a book. BUT, either medium they come in, I'd much rather buy self published rather than thru a big name publisher. The big publishers, imho, keep way too much of the sales money and the authors barely see any of it. Nope, get rid of the middle man.

love love loooove LOVE ebooks. Love instant gratification, no errata sheets, FREE POSTAGE (you KNOW what I mean), library in my pocket. With a good ereader like Stanza, annotations, bookmarks etc are a breeze. Content has added value in e format. Wooo ebooks!

Sister D,
I love love love the trend of self publishing, but I must admit that I am slower to come around to purely digital books and booklets. I want to hold that little book in my hands and flip pages. I want to get it in the mail. I want it to have been touched by other human hands. I also want to be able to write notes in margins. And I am really lazy about printing up digital stuff and binding it up myself. I have digital format stuff that I have purchased but (gasp) never actually looked at. Very sad and shocking, but a true confession.

sister diane i Love the new poscast! I just started my own blog and i was wondering where to go with it and you have helped.