Most likely for one, or a combination of, any of the following reasons:

The content is too long for a magazine article.

The content is too subjective or personalized for a magazine article.

The content doesn't tell you how to do everything step-by-step, but merely suggests an idea of how to do things.

There are curse words.

The content would be counterproductive to publish in a magazine that had to keep its advertisers happy.

The content is extraordinarily interesting and inspiring to exactly eight people on Earth.

Because some people are happier to have "permanent" ownership of a piece in virtual, never-yellowing, never-tearing, uncluttery and less expensive electronic format -- and others, more traditional, like to hold a piece of writing in their hands, and be able to read it when the electricity is out and the battery on their laptop is dead.

As said before, though, anyone who buys a print version of a NOSHI monograph does also automatically receive a link to the PDF version (for their own personal use only).

Yes, you could, but it won't look anywhere near as good, or hold up as well, as the ones we print. A printed PDF of a NOSHI monograph will have low-resolution graphics and will not have the same page layout as the printed pieces will have. You will end up with something that looks like a crappy handout from an office meeting.

The paper versions of NOSHI monographs, in addition to having attractive and easy-to-use layouts, are printed on 67-lb paper. Very sturdy and posh-looking! (And if you're going to continue to try to beat the system and go through the trouble of printing your PDFs out on heavy paper, you'll probably save no money that way. Buying the paper copies a la carte, through us, is the best way to build an attractive, easy-to-use, corporeal NOSHI library.)

You will receive an e-mail that provides you with a secured URL. You will use that link to download your PDF version of the monograph you wish to receive. The link can only be used one time, by one party, and is only available for 3 days from the time the purchase is made.

In that email, the link may get broken up into multiple lines by your email reading program. If that happens, make sure to copy and paste the entire URL into your browser, or it won't work.

The purchase of electronic versions of NOSHI monographs should be regarded with the same respect given to pattern purchases. It is, of course, a no-no to photocopy or share files. It's also relatively easy to track, and if the electronic version proves to be highly misused, we will of course switch to paper format only.

NOSHI monographs are only sold online at noshi-knitting.com, and are affiliated with no distributors, shops, product lines or publishers.

Yes. But chances are you already have it. You will need Adobe's free Acrobat Reader software. You can download it here, for free.

So that we may maintain an on-demand printing schedule that does not require us to spend every day at the post office, we employ a monthly printing-and-mailing schedule. Orders for paper monographs placed by the fifteenth of the month will be mailed by the last day of that month; orders placed after the fifteenth will be mailed by the last day of the following month.

With limited titles available in the early stages, NOSHI monographs will be mailed flat, using USPS First Class. When more titles are available, and multiple monographs may be purchased, Priority Flat Rate shipping will be put to use, to save everyone money.

As long as the NOSHI series is actively being published, any monograph - from the first to the last - will be available for purchase on fresh, new, state-of-the-art heavy paperstock, or pixels, at your request.

We are planning to offer embossed NOSHI binders later this year, in which one can keep one's hardcopy monographs in any order one wishes, safe and protected from the elements.

When we released the NOSHI monographs #001 and #002 for sale in 2006, we did not place the three-ring binder holes in the monographs, deciding to leave it up to the reader to do so. We have since decided that since our longer monographs will require professional heavy-duty hole punching in the finishing process, we will provide it for all monographs, so NOSHI monographs now come with holes pre-punched for three-ring binder use.

Whenever they are ready to appear. There is an expectation of a minimum of three to five titles per calendar year, but no one will be held to that if the work isn't thorougly realized and presentable.

Well, this isn't "Star Search". We are not trolling the blogs or hunting down new "talent" in the field of writing-about-knitting. We want to be writing about knitting, and that's what we are doing.

That said, the door is absolutely open to newcomers, but they are going to, for the most part, have to knock on it themselves.

Drop us an e-mail at noshi.knitting at gmail dot com. Tell us about your idea, if what you want to do is write. And before you tell us about it, take some time to ask yourself: Why don't I think this will work in a regular old knitting magazine? Why am I not trying to sell this idea to the Hip Knitting Book of the Week Club?

Sometimes, the answer to those two questions is, "Because it's not a very good piece of writing." Sometimes, though, it IS a good piece of writing, and there's another, more convoluted answer to why it won't work for a book publisher or magazine. If you think that you're someone who is in the situation that goes with that convoluted answer, you may want to check us out!

If illustrating or photography is something on which you want to sharpen your teeth, we are happy to give you a shot or at least add you to the list of folks to call when we need photos, diagrams, or other graphics. The e-mail address again is noshi.knitting at gmail dot com.

If you find an error, in a pattern suggestion or otherwise, in a NOSHI monograph, please contact us via e-mail and we will check it out and apply any necessary corrections.

If you have "issues" with opinions, manifestos or other freedoms put forth in a NOSHI monograph, you are of course welcome to discuss those issues with your friends and cohorts, but NOSHI is not a venue for sparring, nor is it a field in which point engenders printed counterpoint. That's what the blogiverse is for. Whether our own writings or a third party's, the editorial process at NOSHI is finetoothed, and many arguments set forth in print will have been put to the test, and defended, before they make the page. While NOSHI monographs may somewhat redefine the term "monograph" in their subjectivity and personalization, we feel they should also offer the author the "last word" on the subjects of which they have worked hard to shape at least one small corner. In simpler terms: there will be no NOSHI monographs used as a vehicle for bitching about pieces someone else has previously written.