We’ve been waiting for the new edition of YOKES to arrive from our printer, and I thought I’d go back through my records and check exactly how many copies we’d sold, in total, since the book was first published in December, 2014.
I discovered that the total number of YOKES we’ve printed and sold is (wait for it) fifteen thousand! That’s a whole lot of yokes!
If you are at all interested in our particular model of (very niche) small publishing, you may like to know that the vast majority of those copies (more than 75%) have been sold directly by us, through our online shop, over the past 6 years. In both retail and wholesale contexts, Yokes has sold the most of any of the 17 titles we’ve produced (so far) and it is a title that continues to sell well.
Clearly other knitters out there love YOKES as much as I do!
This makes me happy, since the designs I produced for YOKES remain among my all-time favourites, and I loved the research and writing I did for this book, from exploring the complex cultural history – and important impact – of the Greenlandic nuilarmiut.
. . . to getting to meet my yoke heroine, Kirsten Olsson, and talk about Bohus design.
Having published a new yoke sweater just last week, it’s fairly obvious that I still love making them!
As well as being frequently inspired to create new yokes, I still find I have things to say and questions to ask about this style of sweater . . . so perhaps, one day I might think about YOKES 2. But in the meantime, as the new edition lands in the KDD warehouse, YOKES 1 is a project that I and the rest of the KDD team are allowing ourselves to feel a wee bit proud of today. And if you fancy acquiring the 15,001st copy, you’ll find the book is back in stock in our shop.
And, for any yarn or bookshops out there (wherever in the world you are) if you would like to stock our best-selling title (or any of our other books) please contact Sam: wholesale@katedaviesdesigns.com
Happy yoke knitting!
KDD & Co 
I just love my copy of the book. The patterns are so well written.
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Kate, I love hearing about yokes, the math, the creative… A most wonderful post….
and many thanks, many months later, for the post about how you cut your hair!!! I am doing it, and loving it… the cowlick which I fought my whole life is suddenly my favorite part…. a swirl at the crown of my head.
Thanks for all that you gift us, all the time
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hurrah for your cowlick, Susan. Glad the homehaircutting is working for you!
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Looks perfect for gifting!
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This was my first KDD book. I really enjoyed the essays – I have a love of all things yoked and Shetland. I clearly remember the Jamiesons shade cards that my mum had when I was little, feeling all the little coloured strands of yarn. Then the wool arriving in hanks in a box from Shetland, and the winding beginning! I knitted myself an Epistrophy cardigan almost 6 years ago, and funnily enough this week I’ve cast on an Epistropheid hat in the same Jamiesons wool. Your combination of beautiful patterns, writing and photography is an absolute winner, I hope you sell many more copies.
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Congratulations!! Yokes is, I think, the earliest entry in my (extensive and ever-growing) collection of Kate Davies books, and it’s still a winner! :)
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I had no idea 💡♥️🐑 Nothing like a yoke sweater of yours to feel oh so in love with the Northern fibres!
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Fifteen thousand! I’m all “yoked” up just thinking about it!
Thank you for your inspiration and for being an inspiration. If I could only knit like you!
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15,000 !!!!!!!! I was eating breakfast and nearly choked! Mind boggling! I bought it when it first came out and still want to do the Cockatoo Brae. I seem to be bogged down in knitting for others. Congratulations on that awesome number.
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What an achievement! It’s such a classic for yoked sweaters, and my favorite book of yours that I own. I do have a question: Is there any chance the patterns can be made for inclusive sizing? I would love to be able to download a book update with those, and I am sure there are a whole lot of other knitters who would love the option as well.
xo Nicki
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This was the first time I ever read your name. I wanted to knit myself an Icelandic-style sweater and only knew how to make a knit and purl stitch, no garment construction, no stranded knitting, nothing. I saw this book in a bookshop in Lerwick and learned that what I want to learn about is called a yoke. I didn’t buy your book then, because I absolutely couldn’t make sense of the knitting instructions, but I learned bit by bit, started reading your blog and trying simpler projects and finally got there (https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Havrenn/shetland-lopapeysa)!
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what a beautiful yoke, Tereza. I’m glad to have played a small part in your journey!
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Thank you! Congratulations on your 15 000, what a number!
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I loved reading the old blog on Cockatoo Brae. it was my first kdd knit in 2017 and first main knit after a knitting hiatus of over 20 years, so I came to it with no background, little knowledge of heritage knitting and absolutely no knowledge of steeking. I also didn’t know the Brae was real and in Lerwick until I happened upon it last year en route to a SWW workshop. Hilariously I also happened to be wearing the cardi and my husband took a photo, alongside a slightly embarrassed and giggling stream of women of a certain age also wearing theirs! That lovely cardigan has opened up for me a whole vista of crafting, women’s history and wool that I never had before. More powers to your elbows Kate and kdd!
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this makes me really happy, Pauline! Hurrah for the Cockatoo Braes!
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Dear Kate, it is indeed a fabulous book and a super achievement from both the historical and knitting perspectives – one to treasure which I do. I am also thoroughly enjoying the new club patterns as well. Thank you.
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Always a joy and an inspiration to read your posts, Kate. Helen xo
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I bought the first one 3 years ago when I discovered the Buchanan top in it. My family clan name is Buchanan and each generation has a memory box which is added to and passed on..I’ve started knitting the top which I shall add to the box along with the YOKES book. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
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By absolute coincidence, I took mine down to look at yesterday as I have long planned to do the Asta Sollilja because it’s beautiful and because of it’s literary reference to Independent People. I knitted Cockatoo Brae in 2015 and still love it’s crisp pattern.
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15,000 WOW! 👏👏👏
I bought one of the first edition when it was launched so I fully understand why it’s been & continues to be such a popular publication.
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I love all your yoke patterns and what a beautiful photo of Kerstin Olsson, but I think she is wearing the Nya Azalea (new azalea) not the ägget. It doesn’t really matter. Like you, I think everything she did was genius. I am in awe of you both!
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ah – I think you may be right! my apologies
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You are a marvel Kate. xxMeg
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