Today’s interview is with designer Mona Lykaina, originally from the Western Isles of Scotland and now living in Germany. Her blog in Gaelic can be found here.

Mona modeling Calanas

Who taught you to knit/How did you learn to knit?
I learned to knit as a very young child from my grandmother and other people in my family. I knit quite a lot during my primary school years, including sweaters for myself. However, a lot of what I do in knitting today has been self-taught since I picked it up again a few years ago.

How did you get started designing?
In a way, designing has always been an essential part of knitting for me. When I was a child, no one around me used patterns. I remember my grandmother measuring me and doing mysterious calculations on the margin of an old newspaper, and then she would tell me how many stitches to cast on. When I came back to knitting in 2009, and more specifically to Ravelry, I was surprised at the ubiquity of patterns, and at the scarcity of more systematic information. My reason for picking up knitting again was to knit sweaters for myself, and I had very specific ideas about them, I knew what I wanted them to look like. So, I did not want patterns, I wanted to understand how a sweater is constructed. I did knit a few ones from patterns, but I was always trying to understand the concepts behind them. And as soon as I felt confident about that, I started to knit more and more from my own sketches and calculations. So, it was a logical transition. And then people started to ask me about my designs, and I made several attempts at writing patterns. I was rather naive at first, and it did not really work well. However, I also started to teach workshops about sweater construction, how to measure yourself, etc at local fibre events, so I got a lot more input and feedback about the whole topic. Then I made another, more serious attempt at pattern publishing earlier this year, in February, and this time it seems to be going better.

Emmeleia

What inspires your designs?
All my designs are garments that I want to wear. I have always been interested in fashion and textiles, but in a rather geeky way and often stubbornly out of tune with fast-moving trends. It was one of the persistent frustrations of my teenage years that I was always imagining myself in clothes that would look really cool on me, and then I could never find such things in shops. In a way I am still like that, but now I know that when something does not exist in local high street shops, it may exist somewhere on the internet, or I can knit or sew it. I think I just subconsciously inhale visual ideas of clothes all the time and mix and mess them around in my head, so that it is difficult to tell where exactly I got certain ideas from. Sometimes they are little everyday things. For example, sometimes a garment in a shop window catches my eye from afar, and I immediately get an idea for a knit design, then I walk closer and the item turns out to very different from what I saw at first sight, but it does not matter because I have my design idea in my head. I’ve also been known to stare at random strangers because their sweater has an interesting detail.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
Usually the inspiration. I have a sketchbook full of sweater ideas, and I’d need nine lives to knit them all. Many fellow knitters are surprised that I am quite averse to yarn stashing. I prefer to buy yarn for specific projects, and it can sometimes take me a long time to decide on the perfect yarn for a design. I want to support small yarn businesses, traditional sheep breeders, fair trade companies, so the yarns I use tend to be expensive, and I need to calculate how much I need for a specific design before I can commit to buying it.

On the other hand, I’ve started to spin and use a lot of my handspun yarn for sweater projects, too. There it is usually the other way round, I start with the yarn and just figure out what it wants to become.

Dogs & Wolves

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I don’t think I deliberately try to incorporate anything. My designs usually evolve from a vague idea of a certain shape or style, then I add the details. I like clean lines and functional elements, but I also enjoy playing around with texture. I prefer certain constructions and shaping methods that I know will result in a good fit, like set-in sleeves or a yoke/raglan hybrid, and front and back darts for waist shaping. My garment patterns always include lots of modification advice, because I would like to help every knitter achieve that perfect fit that I’m aiming for in my projects.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
Definitely sweaters and tops.

You use a lot of complex cables in your designs, what is the story behind this?
Well, I suppose I just like them. They have a long history in some parts of Europe, and a lot of people think of them as “traditional”, but they are essentially timeless. The funny thing is that I’ve never thought of them as complex, just pretty. A bit tedious to knit, sometimes, but as I’m so focused on the look of the finished object I don’t mind that. I remember I was knitting the heel of my Gyvatė sock on a longer train trip, and it took me about 2 hours. That was a bit of a nuisance but I did not think much of it. Later I gave this pattern to a dozen friends for testing, and almost everybody gave up or changed the heel to a simpler version.

Winter Song

So I’ve been thinking a lot about how to make the instructions for these cable patterns clear and accessible. I usually knit from wonky hand-drawn charts myself, and I find it easy to memorize a pattern after a few repeats. When you cable on the wrong side, you just have to think about how it is supposed to look on the right side. But many people have told me this is challenging for them, so I’ve put a lot of effort into providing clear charts and instructions, and I’m still working on that.

Do you have an aspirational knit – a complicated/challenging design that you want to knit “some day” when you feel ready?
I have several ideas for sweaters with interesting allover stranded colourwork, but I am really slow at knitting that because I don’t have a good two-handed technique. So I keep postponing those sweaters.

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?
Hopefully I’ll publish two more garment patterns this year (or early next year): Bean-Sìdhe is a silk top with a gauge of 8 stitches per inch, so probably no one wants to knit that 😉 But I do think there is a lack of patterns for this type of garment, even if you can’t really wear it in public. The other one, Cascadian is a cardigan that I am very much in love with at the moment. The original is made with a handspun yarn, and it was my first time using beads.

A bit further down the line are several sexy summer tops, as well as a small series of sweaters inspired by medieval women (I’ll give you their names: Alienor, Melkorka and Merofled… now you can guess what that might mean ;))

Tiristeach

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Shetland wool. (Not for sexy summer tops, though ;))

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
My accessories patterns feel very under-appreciated 😉 Well, I suppose I’ll just have to accept the fact that people see me as a sweater designer.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
If you want to knit sweaters that fit, please have yourself measured thoroughly. It makes all the difference! The best way to do this is to get together with a good friend and measure each other.

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
I don’t really do those 🙂 My big plan is that I want to write a book about sweater construction and how to knit sweaters that fit, in German. I have a fairly extensive script from all the classes I’ve been teaching on the topic, and I get a lot of positive feedback about that. I am just very undisciplined when it comes to working systematically on a larger project.

If you could have dinner with one knitting designer (living or dead) who would it be and why?
That’s a tough one. I think what I would really like to do is to invite two dozen German designers to dinner and encourage us all to learn a bit of networking from our North American colleagues. We need something like Twist Collective in German, we need something like the Indie GAL, we need more fibre events with high quality classes and workshops from local people. Some of the larger events have started to invite English-speaking “star” designers and I think that sends the wrong message to the German knitting community. It excludes a lot of people who are not confident in the English language, and I also think it is more important to support local teachers and designers and develop this part of our community. We have a lot of knowledgeable people here.

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View all of Mona’s patterns here. All photos copyright Mona Lykaina. All images used by permission.

You can find Mona on the following social media sites:

• Facebook Page
• Pinterest
• Spindle and Sword Ravelry Group

What is the Gift-A-Long? The GAL is a big knitting and crochet designer promotion with prizes and more than 5,000 people participating in a giant KAL/CAL. Come join the GAL group on Ravelry!

Today’s second interview is with Nancy Whitma,n knitting designer and owner of online yarn shop WhitKnits.com. You can find her blog here.

Nancy modeling A New Slant

Who taught you to knit/How did you learn to knit?
My paternal grandmother taught me to knit and crochet when I was 7 or 8 years old. I dabbled a bit with both until high school when I became serious about knitting.

How did you get started designing?
I probably spent about three decades doing lots of knitting, but rarely following a pattern. Even when I did use a pattern, I modified it quite a lot. I never thought of myself as a designer, just a knitter. When Ravelry came on the scene and I saw what other indie designers were doing, I realized I could as well.

Piet on Point

What inspires your designs?
Everything and anything. It’s hard to know what will be inspirational. I have been inspired by art, architecture, a stitch pattern or a color. Just recently, I was inspired by a fellow Raveller’s avatar.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
For me it is always the inspiration. Without it, I don’t create anything. No matter how much I love a yarn, the design inspiration must precede it.

Ganz

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
It changes over time. When I first started to publish patterns, I was doing more with lace. Recently I have been working with color blocking using modular garter stitch. I am always willing to try an interesting stitch pattern or fabric manipulating technique like I used in Rushmore Hat and Cowl or Ganz.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
This too changes over time. First it was socks because I was really into them at the time. For a long time I have been taken with shawls and the possibilities that open up with simple shaping.

Eden Prairie

Tell me about your designs inspired by stained glass, what is the story behind this inspiration?
Years ago, I studied stained glass. Once I was introduced to modular knitting, it seemed like the perfect construction method for knitted stained glass. I was googling stained glass images and came across this picture which gave birth to Eden Prairie:

Inspiration for Eden Prairie

Using some of the design elements of Eden Prairie, I came up with High Street Shawl. Whitman Sampler was an opportunity to use up leftovers while playing with the outlines of color-blocked shapes on a cowl. Piet on Point is inspired by the work of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. So it’s not stained glass inspired, but the look is the same as is the modular construction.

Mind Over Miter evolved out of the stained glass designs. It uses modular construction and borders surrounding different elements, but it uses stripes instead of color blocking and miters to move the stripes in a different way.

Mind Over Miter

Do you have an aspirational knit – a complicated/challenging design that you want to knit “some day” when you feel ready?
Yes, I do. It’s a color-blocked shawl with an art deco feel. The color blocking is unlike anything I have done to date and it is posing a challenge in terms of construction and shaping of the color blocks. I think if it marinates for a while, I will figure out a solutions.

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?
I have a design that is almost ready to be tested, but apart from that, there is no release queue. I am not a disciplined designer and don’t plan out my releases. I design what I am inspired to knit and so my process, which might not work for others, is pretty haphazard.

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
Epic Lattice Socks. I really thought it would be a hit. That’s probably because I loved them so much and wore them all the time. It just goes to show how hard it is to predict what will appeal to others. That is one of the reasons I design what I like and hope others like it as well.

Whitman Sampler

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
Push the envelope in terms of skills. I have come across many knitters who stay within a narrow comfort zone, knitting one thing over and over, assuming they are not ready to move on. I led a sock knit along where the bulk of the knitters had only knitted stockinette socks. They thought the pattern for the knit along, socks with a repeat pattern, was too advanced for them. I promised that I would do whatever it took to get each of them to make the pair. It was really amazing to see their confidence grow and the designs they took on after completing their knit along socks. Nowadays there is so much support to be had just by going online. It seems a shame not to even try something new.

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
Not a one! Remember that I am not a disciplined designer so even if I made a resolution, I probably wouldn’t keep it.

If you could have dinner with one knitting designer (living or dead) who would it be and why?
Herbert Niebling, an amazing lace designer. It’s said that he could transfer say a floral image directly to a chart and have the design done at the same time. This is a pretty amazing skill. I would love the chance to speak with someone whose mind works that way.

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View all of Nancy’s patterns here. All photos copyright Nancy Whitman. All images used by permission.

You can find Nancy on the following social media sites:

• Facebook Page
• Twitter
• Whitknits What Knots Ravelry Group

What is the Gift-A-Long? The GAL is a big knitting and crochet designer promotion with prizes and more than 5,000 people participating in a giant KAL/CAL. Come join the GAL group on Ravelry!

Today’s interview is with Linda Marveng from Oslo, Norway. You can find her blog here.

Linda Marveng

Who taught you to knit/How did you learn to knit?
I learnt to knit at school but needed my mum’s patience to help me out every time I got stuck.

How did you get started designing?
I always had to modify patterns to make them fit me better, and reached a point where I thought that I should have a go designing myself. It was not long after I had started designing, that I was approached by a Norwegian publisher; Cappelen Damm asking if I wanted to make a knitting book – they had heard that I had worked for both Rowan Yarns and Loop in London – and I certainly did. It was the ultimate challenge for me. My knitting book was published in 2012, but it has unfortunately only been translated into Finnish.

Saga

What inspires your designs?
Fashion forward, elegant and feminine garments that can be worn together with both casual and party outfits. I also love garments that can be worn in different ways depending on your mood and the weather.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
Most of the time it is the inspiration that comes first, but not always. The color or fiber of a specific yarn or the combination of the two, can also kick start the design process.

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I tend to choose a set-in sleeve since it fits best with my style of garments. I prefer double button-bands and hems for a more professional look. I do love tucks and use them at the bottom of a sleeve or as a divider between the main pattern and the collar.

Atika

What is your favourite type of item to design?
Jackets or cardigans if you like. I prefer to call them jackets because I try to make them more formal than an everyday cardigan. A lot of the time I also want to make a matching cowl to go with it. The cowl must be large enough to be worn around the hips too since it is essential to keep me warm when the temperature drops in my native Oslo.

Tell me about designs like “Atika” and “Shawl Sleeves”, you have a fashion-forward aesthetic to your designs.
I had found a reversible stitch pattern and ideal yarn mix by combining a tweed yarn and a mélange alpaca yarn, I called the design – or rather the beginning of it – Atika, for the meeting with the editor of the Norwegian magazine Made by Me, shoe designer Monica Stålvang and dress designer Judith Bech to plan our “Nordic Vintage” series. Judith had a felted wool dress without sleeves in the same color, and I thought it would look fabulous with a cowl across the shoulders and long loose sleeves that looked attached but were not.

Shawl Sleeves

I found the idea for the Shawl Sleeves in a fashion magazine, a picture of a jacket with loose fronts, and immediately thought that I could make my own version of it, by merely continuing each sleeve into a shawl. The Norwegian magazine Familien had commissioned a series of 6 designs in strong colors, and wanted me to use the dancer Francesca Golfetto as the model. With her dark colors I thought a deep yellow tweed would be ideal, but I could not find the right one so I had to mix two yarns to achieve my goal. It has been fun to discover new ways of wearing them using a set of shawl pins.

Do you have an aspirational knit – a complicated/challenging design that you want to knit “some day” when you feel ready?
Yes, I do what to design a knitted dress in a fine yarn. I have several ideas on the shape of it – they cannot be combined so I need to choose one – but no stitch pattern nor specific yarn in mind yet.

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?
I am working on completing 9 patterns that were professionally photographed recently, 4 of which will be published in the special issue Familien Håndarbeid (Handcrafts) in March. I am also eagerly awaiting the photos of my first design for the Interweave knit.purl magazine for Spring/Summer 2016.

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
That is a difficult question, since I do like to vary both the type of fiber, its structure and thickness. At the moment, I would pick SweetGeorgia Yarns Superwash DK because of its magnificent stitch definition and the beautiful hand-dyed color range.

Jacket in Cross

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
Jacket in Cross, from my book, in my opinion. It is one of my favorite designs but very time consuming to knit. One of the Norwegian editors agreed and wanted to include it in the “Nordic Vintage” series so it was professionally photographed for a second time, and re-published in the special issue of Familien Trend.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
Learn to enjoy finishing. I think that seams support and shape a garment into perfection. All finishing requires, is that you do it stitch by stitch, just as you knit. It is like the icing on the cake, to me.

Shawl Sleeves

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
It will be the same as last year’s, to send off more design submissions to International magazines.

If you could have dinner with one knitting designer (living or dead) who would it be and why?
I have already been so fortunate to have shared several breakfasts with Norah Gaughan at the Danish island of Bornholm for the Strik Bornholm event last year, and would like to have dinner with her too, to learn more about her approach to cables as well as her innovative garment construction methods.

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View all of Linda’s patterns here. Shawl Sleeves photos by Kim Müller. Atika, Jacket in Cross and Saga photos by Eivind Røhne. Linda’s portrait by Michael Marveng-Puckett. All images used by permission.

You can find Linda on the following social media sites:

• Facebook Page
• Pinterest
• Linda Marveng Ravelry Group

What is the Gift-A-Long? The GAL is a big knitting and crochet designer promotion with prizes and more than 5,000 people participating in a giant KAL/CAL. Come join the GAL group on Ravelry!

Today’s second interview is with Jenny Wiebe of VANGY Knits, another Canadian designer.

Jenny, modeling After the Ball

Who taught you to knit/How did you learn to knit?
I don’t actually remember learning, because both my grandmas and my mother were all avid knitters. At some point in my childhood I picked it up, likely on each of their knees as they knit away. When I actually go into knitting as an adult, I went to my mom for a refresher.

How did you get started designing?
I started test knitting for other designers. As I did this I learned what made a good pattern, and what didn’t. One day, sitting in church, I saw a cute blouse with ruffles on the sleeve, and I thought, “Hey, I could totally knit that!” I went home and cast on Edith, which was my first sweater design.

What inspires your designs?
My kids. I’ve got 5, and they all love my knits. I’m slowly narrowing down what I like to knit for them, and what they like to wear, and so that’s what I design, mostly. I do, also, knit for my imaginary infant daughter! 😉 I’ve never had an infant daughter, but the imaginary one is incredibly well dressed in handknits.

Smocked

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
Inspiration, for sure. I actually don’t have a huge stash, because once I’ve got an idea of what I want to knit in my mind, I like to find the perfect yarn for that project, and rarely is that in my stash.

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I like simple designs with a little flare: a unique collar, or stripes, or some ruffles, or the like. I also appreciate that people knitting for children aren’t usually looking for something hugely complicated, so I like to work top down and seamless, if I can.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
Cardigans. I enjoy knitting hats and cowls and such, but when it comes to putting design to paper, I much prefer working on cardigan patterns. There are so many possibilities, and so much joy in seeing my handknits worn.

Rhymes with Shawl

Tell me about “Songs and Stripes”, what is the story behind this collection?
I knit the first pattern in the collection, Rhymes with Shawl, for my sister-in-law’s foster daughter, who would eventually become my daughter, through adoption. She needed a little love, and a handknit sweater is how I show my love. Next came Cadence and Hue, which was meant to be the boy version of Rhymes with Shawl. It took me 2 years to get the guts to knit an adult version, but Curtain Call was it. I thought that would be the end of the collection, until I knit a few projects with fingering weight yarn, and realized I needed a light weight version for myself. So, I knit up After the Ball, and completed the collection!

Do you have an aspirational knit – a complicated/challenging design that you want to knit “some day” when you feel ready?
Cables. I would love to do a really complicated cabled sweater in multiple sizes.

Elwood

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?
I’ve got an addition to the Little Old Man Collection on my needles right now. It’s so much fun, and I might do a mystery knit in the new year.

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
That’s a hard one. I don’t actually feel I’ve tried enough different yarns to pick just one. I need to branch out a little more, I guess.

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
Rundle. It’s this gorgeous, squishy cowl that gets so much attention when people see it, but online it gets lost amongst so many others, I guess.

Grow Old with Me

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
Knit what inspires you, not just what you think you can do. Pick a project that you actually want to knit, and do it. There is nothing you can’t learn on YouTube, and in the end, you will have something you actually want to wear/use.

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
I’d love to release 12 patterns next year: One a month.

If you could have dinner with one knitting designer (living or dead) who would it be and why?
Hands down, Elizabeth Zimmerman. Mostly, because I love her writing. I am an avid reader, and can’t believe how much I love reading her books. My husband thinks I’m such a nerd when I read her books, because I laugh and smile, and read passages aloud just to hear what her words sound like. I love her.

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View all of Jenny’s patterns here. All photos copyright Jenny Wiebe. All images used by permission.

You can find Jenny on the following social media sites:

• Facebook Page
• Instagram
• VANGY Knits Ravelry Group

What is the Gift-A-Long? The GAL is a big knitting and crochet designer promotion with prizes and more than 5,000 people participating in a giant KAL/CAL. Come join the GAL group on Ravelry!

Interview # 8 of the design interviews is with Triona Murphy, of Triona Murphy patterns for handknitting.

Triona modeling Land Under Wave Hat

Who taught you to knit/How did you learn to knit?
When I was about 20, a friend of mine stayed at my house for a while and left a “How to Knit” kit behind. It included a video (on VHS—yikes!), a skein of squeaky acrylic yarn, and a set of horrible, incredibly blunt metal needles. Out of curiosity and boredom, I popped in the video one day and was immediately hooked by the challenge of learning the stitches. I found knittinghelp.com and the old Knittyboards pretty quickly, and everything beyond simple knitting and purling I learned from those websites or from library books.

Chandail

How did you get started designing?
I purchased a sweater on a trip to Paris and wore it to death after I got home. While I loved it, there were all these things I wanted to change. It was boxy with no waist shaping, had an unflattering neckline, and the cables were all out of proportion. So I decided to design my own version with all of those details fixed. When I posted it to my Ravelry project page, a whole bunch of people said they would purchase a pattern for that sweater, which surprised the heck out of me! But I had just left my job and had some time on my hands, so I studied every pattern I could get my hands on and then gave it a shot. That sweater (Chandail) is still my most popular pattern to date!

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
Before I started designing, I had a hard time finding garment patterns that flattered my large chest and smaller waist. All of my garment patterns are designed to be flattering to this body type (without needing custom solutions like short-row bust darts). I also try to size my patterns as far up and down as is feasible because I hate excluding anyone.

Dream a Little Dream

What is your favourite type of item to design?
While I love designing woolly sweaters, I haven’t had as much time recently due to having my first child last year. So my current favorite is hats! They’re really quick and a great canvas for fun colorwork or intricate cables. I love wearing the finished objects when the temperature drops outside.

Tell me about “Babe in the Woods”, what is the story behind this collection?
This collection was designed in collaboration with the Malabrigo Freelance Pattern Project. Their superwash yarns are some of my absolute favorites, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity. Because my design time is limited with the little one, I knew I needed to keep my collection to small items—and with my ready-made model, a baby/child collection of mostly accessories in mostly bulky yarn made sense!

Babe in the Woods

My son, who was only about 8 months old when we did the photo shoot, was such a trooper! He has now modeled about a dozen of my designs and is getting really good at it. 🙂

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?
I just finished up an extensive test knit for a nautical-themed baby/child pullover, and next on deck for pattern writing is a cabled vest for the same age group. On my needles, I currently have an Aran-style, dolman-sleeved adult pullover.

Blue Betty

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Oh boy, this is a tough one. My favorite yarns are hand-dyed in semi-solid colorways, smoothly spun, and bouncy. Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage and Malabrigo Yarn Rios are both definitely up there. I just released a hat design in Frabjous Fibers March Hare, a new yarn to me that I really enjoyed working with—hopefully I can do more with that yarn in the future!

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
The Aureate Scarf from the Babe in the Woods collection didn’t get a whole lot of love on its own, but my son wore it constantly last winter! It fastens with snaps into a sort of cravat shape, which fits perfectly into the top gap of a bulky winter coat and doesn’t leave any long ends that would be a strangulation hazard. Plus it’s mega-cute—my son got tons of compliments every time he wore it out somewhere.

Aureate Hat and Scarf

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
This is pre-New Year, but I’d really like to try steeking during the Gift-A-Long this year. I’ve never tried the technique, but I love colorwork, so it seems like something I should have in my designer toolbox!

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View all of Triona’s patterns here. All photos copyright Gavin Cahill except for the baby photos which are copyright Triona Murphy. All images used by permission.

You can find Triona on the following social media sites:

• Twitter
• Triona Designs Ravelry Group

What is the Gift-A-Long? The GAL is a big knitting and crochet designer promotion with prizes and more than 5,000 people participating in a giant KAL/CAL. Come join the GAL group on Ravelry!

Today’s second interview is with Vicky Chan of Vicky Chan Designs, a fellow Canadian designer of both knit and crochet patterns, as well as those that combine both.

Irene – floral lace yoke cardigan

Who taught you to knit/crochet – How did you learn to knit/crochet?
My aunt taught me to knit and my grandmother taught me to crochet when I was little. It was fun learning with my two sisters the basics through knitting a scarf and crocheting a coin purse.

How did you get started designing?
It all started with “may be I’ll give it a try”.

What inspires your designs?
Fashion magazines and Japanese craft mooks.

Ava – lacy shells cardigan

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
The inspiration.

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
Botanical and lace themes.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
Sweaters.

Julia – floral lace tunic

Many of your pieces combine knitting and crochet. How does the design process differ than designing for just knit or crochet?
(I only have few pieces combining knitting and crochet at the moment, but I do plan to design more of them.)
The design process is pretty much the same for me, except I would also consider how the knit and crochet portions should complement or balance each other, and if the gauge difference between the two would impact the yarn choice.

Do you have an aspirational knit/crochet – a complicated/challenging design that you want to knit “some day” when you feel ready?
I would like to try free form crochet on a sweater.

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?
A knitting pattern is coming next in my release queue.

Arianne – two way floral lace cardigan and floral lace yoke shell

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit/crochet with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Any nice, soft cotton/linen yarn because I have sensitive skin.

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
The sweater that I have wanted to design for my husband.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters/crocheters?
Make a swatch.

Clair – continuous motif shrug

Any knitting/crochet/designing New Year’s resolutions?
I’ve never made any New Year’s resolutions – I’m too impatient to wait for the New Year. ?

If you could have dinner with one knitting/crochet designer (living or dead) who would it be and why?
Michelangelo! What? He doesn’t do knitting/crochet design? Can I still have dinner with him? Pleeease…
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View all of Vicky’s patterns here. All photos copyright Vicky Chan. All images used by permission.

You can find Vicky on the following social media sites:

• Facebook Group
• Pinterest
• Vicky Chan Designs Ravelry Group

What is the Gift-A-Long? The GAL is a big knitting and crochet designer promotion with prizes and more than 5,000 people participating in a giant KAL/CAL. Come join the GAL group on Ravelry!

Today’s interview is with Jennie Santopietro of A Lovely Homemade Life, a designer from Texas.

Jennie in Lady Wren

Who taught you to knit/How did you learn to knit?
I started off crocheting in college. A sweet friend taught a whole bunch of us in the dorms how and let’s just say, there were a lot of scarves around campus that year. I didn’t switch over to knitting until many years later when I joined a local yarn club that met once a week at a coffee shop. I had just started dabbling with knitting, learning from YouTube videos and taking on projects that were just a little beyond my skill level. Soon after, a couple of the women decided to open a local yarn shop–The Fiber Universe in Peoria, IL–and I wanted to help in any way I could. They needed some samples knit for opening day, so I picked up patterns and yarn from them and got busy knitting. Once I realized how versatile knitting was and the endless variety of patterns and techniques, I was hooked.

How did you get started designing?
Having kids, and being able to stay home with them, was a big part of becoming a designer. I love making special things for them and I started imagining different pieces I wanted to create. I could never find patterns for exactly what I had envisioned, so I started making up designs myself. Baby Wren was my first published design, and after I released it, the ideas just kept flowing. I now work with a tech editor and have brought all of my early designs in line with my style sheet, so I’m excited about what the future holds as I continue to grow my portfolio.

Christmas Morning Vest

What inspires your designs?
Featuring a certain technique or stitch pattern is usually the impetus for a design. Once I’ve decided how best to showcase what is special about a particular knit, the rest of the details seem to fall into place.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
Definitely the inspiration. I have two sketchbooks full of designs that I hope to get around to writing up in the future. When an idea hits, I try to draw it out and make notes about it right away. I’ve tried buying beautiful yarn first, but I tend to get stuck working from yarn to design and all the while my stash keeps growing!

Perdrix

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I like to incorporate texture into my designs. There are so many lovely stitch patterns and variations to work with, and I like combining them in different ways. I also love to provide multiple options within the same pattern for lots of customization possibilities.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
I really enjoy designing sweaters of all varieties! My sketch book is filled with mostly sweater designs, in fact! They’re so much more time consuming to sample knit and to grade, so I try to intersperse sweater designing with smaller accessories to avoid getting burnt out.

Lady Wren

Tell me about “Lady Wren”, what is the story behind this design?
Lady Wren is by far my most requested design. When I released my first pattern, Baby Wren, I got tons of messages asking if there would be an adult version in the future. Honestly, I hadn’t even considered it, but it really was a great idea. I live in Texas, so as much as I love wool sweaters, I don’t get to wear them very often. A short sleeved cotton blend sweater seemed like a very functional piece. I wanted to be sure the pattern was accessible for beginning knitters too, because I know making the jump to adult sized garments can be intimidating, so I tried to balance simplicity with just enough detail to be an interesting and beautiful project to knit and wear.

Do you have an aspirational knit – a complicated/challenging design that you want to knit “some day” when you feel ready?
I have plans to design a series of sweaters for men, women and children that incorporate colorwork using a cool technique at the shoulder to preserve the continuity of the colorwork pattern. I have all the yarn, and the sketches–it’s my big project for 2016.

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?
I have a hat design, called Featheround, off to my tech editor now that will be out in December. It’s a hat with a feather motif brim band that can be knit as either a beanie or a tam, depending on what shape you like. I’m also working on a MKAL called Bowties Are Cool because I’m a huge Dr. Who fan. The release of Clue 1 will coincide with the season finale in January 2016! It’s my first MKAL so I’m really excited!

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Just one? That’s tough…can I say anything MadelineTosh? Okay, Tosh Merino Light. The colors simply glow. Each colorway has so much depth and tonality to it. And all of their bases are heavenly. I’m really spoiled to live only an hour away from their flagship store…it’s my favorite yarn shop destination!

Scarlet Ibis

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
Scarlet Ibis. It’s my first shawl design and it also includes instructions for an asymmetrical shawlette. It’s charted and written, so it’s easily accessible no matter your instruction style preference. It’s knit sideways from the center out to the tips and I just love the garter wedge in the center that gives it a wing-like shape when blocked. It was such a joy to knit and I love the elegance of how it drapes around the shoulders and the feather motif. I just want everyone else to love it too!

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
Don’t be afraid to frog! I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve wasted working on projects that I knew weren’t quite right or that I wasn’t in love with. Life is too short to waste time on knits you won’t wear!

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
I’d like to publish 10-15 new designs next year. I would also love to host more knit alongs in my Ravelry group (A Lovely Homemade Life) and build up a fun community of knitter friends! I love connecting with people on Ravelry!

Bluejay

If you could have dinner with one knitting designer (living or dead) who would it be and why?
Asja Janeczek. I am in love with everything she releases. We’re “friends” on Ravelry, but I’m thinking we’d be BFFs in real life 🙂 The language barrier might be an issue (I have my BA in French, but I don’t think it would help much)…but I’m sure our mutual love of knitting and designing would win out.

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View all of Jennie’s patterns here. All photos copyright Jennie Santopietro except for the first photo which is copyright Michael Santopietro. All images used by permission.

You can find Jennie on the following social media sites:

• Facebook Page
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• A Lovely Homemade Life Ravelry Group

What is the Gift-A-Long? The GAL is a big knitting and crochet designer promotion with prizes and more than 5,000 people participating in a giant KAL/CAL. Come join the GAL group on Ravelry!

Today’s second interview is with Lotta Groeger of Atalante Knits, a designer from Berlin, Germany.

Das Waldhaus socks, toe up or cuff down. They are so much fun to knit and the effect with the cables is really neat.

Who taught you to knit/How did you learn to knit?
I learned at least the knit stitch when I was younger from my mother. But never really knitted, so I forgot what I learned. I re-learned to knit, and purl this time too, when I stared at Uni thanks to internet tutorials and youtube. I needed something to keep my hands busy and preferably portable to do while traveling to Uni or between lectures.

How did you get started designing?
At first I adapted sock patterns for my growing knee high collections. So I made charts for myself before I started designing. Then I found some stitchonaries and started to combine different patterns. And well sometimes you just search for that one perfect garment or accessory and can’t find what you’re looking for, so I made my own.

friendly neighbourhood spider-shawl, I’m so in love with this design. And I used my own handspun, from a Doctor Who fibre club.

What inspires your designs?
I’m a very nerdy person. I have two collections inspired by fairy tales. Currently I have a few designs inspired by superhero comics and I’m working on more.

Other times I just find a neat technique and just have to play with it.
But I also have a friend who sometimes requests designs when she can’t find that one perfect pattern and I try to design it for her.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
Usually the inspiration. I have a folder with more or less finished design inspirations, the designs are between just two or three notes to full drawings and calculations. But sometimes there is yarn that just wants to be a certain thing and I’m not the one telling it it can’t!

What is your favourite type of item to design?
Anything lace. I just love to knit lace. Lace is really something I can knit anytime, anywhere. That fun to create holes and nudge stitches into different directions and then you have created an intricate beautiful pattern. And the magic of blocking a lace piece never stops being amazing.
And socks. you just can’t have enough socks, be it with or without lace.

Tell me about “Once Upon a Time collections”, what is the story behind these collections?
I really love fairy tales. My mother has a huge collection of different fairy tale form different cultures and read them to me and my brother when we were younger.

I recent years I started to read the comic book series „Fables“, honestly if you like comics or fairy tales take a look!, which rekindled my love for these characters.

Lady Sif Gauntlets – One of my superhero inspired knits. And every woman needs to feel like a warrior god sometimes.

Do you have an aspirational knit – a complicated/challenging design that you want to knit “some day” when you feel ready?
I really want to get to the point of being satisfied enough with the quality of my sweater patterns to actually publish one. But there is one that’s looking really good, so the „some day“ is pretty near.

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?
I had a really great photoshoot with my photographer/friend in which we managed to take pics of some really great designs. So there are a few shawls, I did mention that love for lace, a cowl and socks coming. Most inspired by comic book characters, not all heroes 😉 But which one is the next one to be published is still a bit unsure. But keep an eye out for the „new releases“-thread in the GAL group, I’ll post there when.

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Uhhh that is a tough one! Yarn Edition Cashmere & Silk is a really lovely 65% cashmere and 35% silk, that is so soft I wanna sleep in it. But it’s not perfect as it’s really warm and sometimes I don’t want to knit with fuzzy yarn.

But for those occasions I may smuggle in a skein of DyeForWool Fingering // Merino/Silk which is surprisingly slick and cool for such a high merino content. The shawl I made from it is still perfect for winter.

Juliane

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
Juliane. It may look really complicated but it’s so much easier to knit! I designed that for the friend mentioned above, and she loves it so that was enough for me.
But I would like to see more knitter work up this design as it’s so close to my heart.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
Charts are really easy and if you made a mistake, you can just frog.

I usually craft with a „I won’t die if it goes wrong, so let’s just do it“ approach. With my sewing I stared with advanced sewing patterns and never bothered with „easy beginners“ patterns like cushions.

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
As usual: More structure and discipline with my files. I can be a bit chaotic and sometimes find files with notes without a pattern or notes on printed charts that make no sense after a few weeks ….

If you could have dinner with one knitting designer (living or dead) who would it be and why?
May I have Ysolda S. Teague? I really like her patterns, Coraline may be one of the things why I restarted knitting, and she reads like a kick-ass-person!

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View all of Lotta’s patterns here. Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Shawl photo copyright A. Siegel. Remaining photos copyright N. Fleischer. All images used by permission.

You can find Lotta on the following social media sites:

• Facebook Page
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest

What is the Gift-A-Long? The GAL is a big knitting and crochet designer promotion with prizes and more than 5,000 people participating in a giant KAL/CAL. Come join the GAL group on Ravelry!

Today’s interview is with Kelene Kinnersly of Kelene Kinnersly Designs, a fellow Canadian designer.

Offbeat Seed St Hat

Who taught you to knit/How did you learn to knit?
I taught myself to knit with the help of good old YouTube.

How did you get started designing?
I dove in, head first with the help of a good editor and lots of support from my knitting friends and family. It just seemed a natural fit for me.

What inspires your designs?
Often I am inspired by the yarn itself. The colour, and what it reminds me of. Other times its elements I find in architecture and nature.

Graced Cardigan

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
Yarn

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I often like to put in a little design element that you wouldn’t normally see in a particular design, Like a round of eyelets or row of purls after ribbing. I like to think of it as, I’m leaving my little signature.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
Lately I’m in love with designing my own colourwork motifs. I’ m sure you’re going to see a lot more of stranded work from me in the future. I also always have a shawl on the go.

Among the Shadows Shawl

Tell me about “Promiscuous Stripes Shawl”, what is the story behind this design?
I wanted to make a sideways striped shawl. I had the purple Cascades Heritage for a long time (months upon months), I kept putting it beside other yarns trying to pair it up, you know I was looking for the prefect contrast in a variegated yarn. I was on the search when I came across the quote in “Knitting in plain English” (I think) that said…if you’re pairing a variegated with a solid, pick the least prominent colour in the variegated that is the closest color to the solid. It was a light bulb moment, and it made pairing it a lot easier. I love the colour combination.

Do you have an aspirational knit – a complicated/challenging design that you want to knit “some day” when you feel ready?
I have a couple!! They involve complicated lace.

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?
I have a little bit of everything on the go. Hats, sweaters and a couple of pretty little lace shawls for summer.

Mitfits fingerless mitts

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Mad Tosh Merino (Editor’s Note: madelinetosh tosh merino)

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
My Diamond Cut Collection of fingerless mitts. All based on diamond cuts, and the personalities associated with each cut.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
There are no mistakes, only learning experiences!!

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
I would like to pull together a full fall collection, maybe even find another designer that I could collaborate with, for this purpose.

Once Twice Three Times a Cowl

If you could have dinner with one knitting designer (living or dead) who would it be and why?
Joji Locatelli hands down, she seems like a very down to earth person and she seems to love to knit just as much as me. I would just love to sit knit and chat with her.

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View all of Kelene’s patterns here. All images copyright Kelene Kinnersly. All images used by permission.

You can find Kelene on the following social media sites:

• Kelene Kinnersly Designs Facebook Page
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Kelene Kinnersly Designs Ravelry Group

What is the Gift-A-Long? The GAL is a big knitting and crochet designer promotion with prizes and more than 5,000 people participating in a giant KAL/CAL. Come join the GAL group on Ravelry!

Today’s second interview is with designer Steven Hicks of Rodeo Knits, the first in the sub-series of interviews with male designers. I was curious to find out if their views on designing were influenced by their gender so I asked them two additional questions: “Do you find it challenging to be a “man who knits”?” and “Do you think being a male designer helps set you apart/differentiates you as a designer?”

Steven Hicks

Who taught you to knit/How did you learn to knit?
I taught myself to knit out of Family Circle magazine when I was about 7 years old. My first project was a hat — the pattern was literally a big garter stitch square with a whip stitch seam joining the cast on/bind off and a length of yarn threaded through the garter bumps on one end to close it up. Actually, a perfect first pattern and so much better than an interminable scarf.

How did you get started designing?
Like many knitters/crocheters/crafters, after so many years of practicing your hobby, you start to drift away from following patterns religiously and start tinkering with your own designs. This period for me coincided with a new yarn shop that opened in my hometown. It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time that gave me the opportunity to start teaching classes and designing patterns for those classes.

What inspires your designs?
I’m generally inspired by a technique or a specific stitch and then expanding on that and seeing where it takes me. For example, I was enamored with a star stitch and the texture it created. From there, I designed the three patterns Carriage Trail, Quarry Creek and Ridgeview. Each uses the same star stitch with variations of other textures like cables or lace.

Ridgeview

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
For me it’s inspiration and the yarn comes second. At the same time, the inspiration can be affected by my desire to use a specific yarn, though more likely, it’s a weight of yarn that I want to use. I’m very caught up in sport and light DK weight yarns right now.

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I think because I started from the teaching side of the business, I’m always trying to incorporate a new technique or skill into each design. I want everyone to know that they can do anything in yarn, to refuse to be intimidated by anything. I think the hardest part about any technique in knitting is trying to learn it from a badly written pattern, and writing patterns is hard work. And I’m sure I’ve written my fair share of terrible patterns.

Trio – South Hills, Quarry Creek, Carriage Trail

Do you find it challenging to be a “man who knits”?
There’s an initial novelty in being a man with needles and yarn. There’s also always the “Oh, Rosey Grier did needlepoint” comment. And of course, some yarn shops aren’t able to comprehend that I know what I’m doing. But with Ravelry and the rise of some big name male designers/knitters, that’s changing very quickly.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
Right now it’s neckwear — scarves, cowls, shawls, etc — but I’m also going through a major stranded colorwork phase. So far it’s a series of hats, which just seem so accessible. I just released Whittaker and there are at least three more to follow.

Whittaker

Tell me about “The Vandalia Collection”, what is the story behind this collection?
“The Vandalia Collection” was the first group of patterns I released as a “serious designer.” I wish there were a more interesting story to go along with it. I sat down with a notebook and my sketches of ideas and just put it together, making changes and edits so that I feel like it goes together a little more cohesively and has a wider range of designs. And since I try to name all of my patterns after something related to West Virginia, my adopted home state, I thought Vandalia would be a good name for the collection. Vandalia was an early name proposed for the state of West Virginia.

Do you have an aspirational knit – a complicated/challenging design that you want to knit “some day” when you feel ready?
I’ve been working on a series of sweaters that I’m very excited about, but also very nervous about. There is so much that goes into a sweater design, so many moving parts. 2016 is the year, though.

Do you think being a male designer helps set you apart/differentiates you as a designer?
I’m not sure gender has much to do with a person’s ability as a designer but it is a defining characteristic, albeit one that I can’t control, that does help give me an identity. For example, sometimes I’ll run into someone that I’ve met very briefly at the local yarn shop and they’ll say “Oh, you’re that guy who knits” and it’s a great conversation starter.

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?
There are three more stranded colorwork hats that I’m refining and reknitting and testing and a cowl that I’m still designing-on-the-needles and now I’ve reached a point where I need to make some big decisions. And sweaters! But that’s down the road.

Sneak Peek

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
“Only one” is a knitter’s worst nightmare! But I almost always reach for Miss Babs’ Yowza. I mean, the yardage is unbeatable, colors are gorgeous and the weight is perfect for a lot of different projects.

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
I really wish that Ruffner was more popular and I know deep down that it comes to the photographs. In a perfect world, I’d love to pull that one away from the world, make it disappear, and re-release it with amazing photos. It’s a lace poncho knit flat but completely seamless thanks to a well-placed provisional cast on.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
You can knit anything. Knitting is only knits or purls with some variations and sometimes an intentional hole. And an unintentional hole is just a design element.

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
It’s definitely sweaters. There are at least 6 designs that I’ve been working on trying to refine and work on all the different sizes and options.

If you could have dinner with one knitting designer (living or dead) who would it be and why?
I’d say Pam Allen (call me!). She always seems to have a timeless sense and accessibility in her designs. And I love the Quince and Co. yarn and what they stand for.

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View all of Steven’s patterns here. All images copyright Steven Hicks. All images used by permission.

You can find Steven on the following social media sites:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Tumblr

What is the Gift-A-Long? The GAL is a big knitting and crochet designer promotion with prizes and more than 5,000 people participating in a giant KAL/CAL. Come join the GAL group on Ravelry!