I’m thrilled to finally release Herzblut Scarf. This scarf has been ready for a while but I was saving it to release during the Indie Designer Gift-A-Long 2014. This scarf is perfect for chasing away winter blues. Select a brilliant jewel tone like the deep red shown in the sample or something that will make you smile on a grey day. The scarf is designed to take advantage of the generous yardage of Wollmeise ‘Pure 100% Merino Superwash.’

Today’s Gift-A-Long interview is with crochet designer Sarah Jane from Brisbane, Australia.

How did you get started designing?
Once when I was browsing around on the internet I came across an ad on the website of an Australian yarn company looking for designers/sample crocheters or knitters. I sent them an email, they took a chance on someone who had never designed a thing in her life and I never looked back…about 6 months after that I stumbled across Ravelry and things were never the same again!

What inspires your designs?
Just about anything can inspire a design, sometimes it’s the yarn, sometimes a stitch pattern and sometimes I am after a certain ‘look’. For the most part I seem to have more ideas than I could possibly ever create, I have a notebook full of (very bad) design drawings and notes. My mind is constantly thinking about different designs and how to construct them in crochet.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
It varies, sometimes I am inspired by the yarn and sometimes I have an idea that I need to search out the perfect yarn for. There are times when I need to design to a criteria that includes a certain yarn as well.

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I’m not sure really, I love texture and I like things that are just a little different, I would say that my main criteria is to try and design things that are outside of the ‘norm’ for crochet.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
I would have said that I don’t have a favourite until I looked at my page…it seems that I have a particular penchant for designing hats and cuffs. I do love designing accessories, they are a type of instant gratification and they suit my lifestyle, I am hoping to branch out into more garments though.

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit/crochet with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Goodness, the pain of having only one yarn to design with..how to choose! I think I would have to go with Dream in Color’s Jilly…the range of colours is gorgeous and fingering weight yarn is my favourite to use.

What’s your “comfort crochet?”
Ummm, I don’t really have any, it’s usually just whatever I am working on at the time along with a good movie.

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
My Asperous Hat and Cowl is a design that I really love but it never really went anywhere.

Which three GAL designs are top of your list to knit/crochet?
I’m not sure how to pick only 3 but I love Shakespeare in Love by Carol Sunday, Sheepy Draughts…and a Wolf Too by Aurelie Colas and Floral Bubbles by Elena (Lena) Fedatova.

What’s the best thing about crocheting?
The creativity available with only a hook and some yarn…you can make almost anything and it doesn’t make much mess (if you don’t count the stash!)

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other crafters?
Don’t let any technique or stitch scare you. Anything is possible if you take it a stitch at a time.

Any crocheting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
Not yet but I’m sure I’ll have some by the end of the year. I am hoping next year to become more serious with my designing as my youngest child starts school and I should have more time.

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View all of Sarah Jane’s patterns here. All photos are copyright Sarah Jane and used by permission.

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!

The number of crochet designers participating in Gift-A-Long this year has grown. For a listing of all crochet designers, please click here.

Today’s Gift-A-Long interview is with Jennifer Dassau of The Knitting Vortex. Jennifer is known for her use of interesting construction techniques and simple, attractive garments.

How did you get started designing?
I’m not much of a recipe-follower, so not long after I began knitting, I started deviating from patterns; I especially like making things seamless, and if it’s a garment, working from the top down. Designing my own pieces was a natural extension, because I like to use interesting techniques, and atypical construction.

What inspires your designs?
I like to make things I’d want to wear myself, especially sweaters and small accessories. And when it comes to shawls, I’m definitely inspired by unusual shapes and methods.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
They’re symbiotic! Typically, the yarn will be calling out to become a certain sort of item, or the item will be perfect for a special yarn.

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
Seamless shapes, or shaping if it’s a sweater! I can seam perfectly well, but I really like the organic nature of a piece that’s made as a whole.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
I love topdown sweaters, and have been on a two-color sock yarn shawl binge as well. Lately I’m getting an urge for wintry accessories, like hats and infinity cowls, so some of those are in the works.

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
You’re killing me! I’ll just narrow it down to a merino/cashmere/nylon blend, that’s the best I can do. String Theory Caper Sock is a favorite.

What’s your “comfort knitting?”
Garter stitch, in any weight or item.

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
I have a soft spot for the Arachnophilia shawl . . . crescent, a pretty beaded edging, silky/merino blend yarn . . . I wear mine all the time, but I’m sadly alone in my fandom.

Continental or English?
English; when I first learned to knit, I tried Continental but it didn’t click. My goal now is to be able to knit with both hands, but I never have time to practice, so I’m not making much progress.

What’s the best thing about knitting?
The FO! I’m a product knitter all the way; I love being able to make things.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
Just go for it – there’s no knitting police!

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View all of Jennifer’s patterns here. All photos are copyright Jennifer Dassau and used by permission.

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 Henna Markkanen, a designer from Finland who loves to design with lace and cable patterns.

How did you get started designing?
It actually began with finding Ravelry with its variety of knitwear patterns, as well as finding out how simple it actually is to publish one’s designs and/or offer them to online magazines. Leafing through all the wonderful patterns, projects and photos Ravelry had to offer made me curious to start trying my own hand in designing.

What inspires your designs?
I suppose each design has a slightly differing inspiration, but mostly, I get inspired by first coming up with an idea for a lace or cable pattern, and then I build the actual design around it. Those patterns are, on the other hand, inspired by various sources – geometrical shapes, mathematics, nature… Sometimes the inspiration also comes from knitting another designer’s pattern and both learning from it and being impressed by it. Aletheia, for example, was born after knitting the glorious Evenstar Shawl by Susan Pandorf, and thereby falling for circular lace shawls.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
Almost always, the inspiration, closely followed by the hunt for a suitable yarn. Sunray Shawl is an exception – there I was inspired by the sheen and colour of the yarn and only after acquiring it began to have ideas for a design.

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I really like both lace and cable patterns, so each of my designs incorporates one or both. I also like to maintain some form of symmetry or logic with the flow of the lace/cable pattern. For example, in my newest design, Pelion, the cable pattern is complex, but the new cable strands are always formed after the same intervals, thus making it easier to follow the large chart – at least in my opinion.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
Previously it was lace shawls and scarves, but after learning about garment design as well as grading for different sizes, I will have to answer that my new favourite is garments. I haven’t designed many, and the numbers are pretty laborious to work out, but I just enjoy the maths and logic involved. The garment will still have to incorporate lace or cables, though, to be a favourite.

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Malabrigo Arroyo – the softness and colourways are just too lovely.

What’s your “comfort knitting?”
Anything that’s not too easy but not too complex either. For example, a garment with a cable or two thrown in for interest, but simple enough to watch a nice tv show while knitting it.

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
Consonance vest (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/consonance). I enjoyed designing, grading, knitting and writing the pattern really much, and thought that each small detail succeeded well, so it’s a pity that it hasn’t garnered more attention.

Which three GAL designs are top of your list to cast on?
I’m currently knitting Heidi Atwood-Reeves’s Belle Isle, which will be a Christmas present. And, if only I had time, I would cast on Ink by Hanna Maciejewska or Willowherb Pullover by Marnie MacLean, both of which I have had my eye on for quite a while now.

Continental or English?
Continental. That’s the way I was taught to knit when I was a child, and the method has stuck with me ever since.

What’s the best thing about knitting?
I like to both see and feel how the fabric forms, be it a lacy figure, an intertwining cable, the interesting form a variegated yarn takes or even the soft, smooth surface of plain stockinette.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
One thing I too frequently skip is knitting a large enough gauge swatch. I have learned the hard way that it really saves me from a lot of frustration. So, from experience, I heartily recommend knitting one when casting on a project in which gauge is crucial.

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
Nothing firm, but I would like to learn something new, knitting-wise, during 2015. Perhaps double knitting?

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View all of Henna’s patterns here. All photos are copyright Henna Markkanen, except where indicated otherwise. All images used by permission.

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 Choo, an Ontario designer who creates stunning lace pieces. Linda’s daughter, Shaulaine White is both her model and is also a designer. It must run in the family!

How did you get started designing?
I have always changed patterns and seldom knit something as written unless it is a test knit. Most of my sweater patterns (and sock) were done from scratch to match my size and gauge. Writing things up seemed a natural evolution. I started designing lace shawls geared towards the beginner lace knitter. I used them for teaching at a LYS.

What inspires your designs?
Most of my designs are inspired by something in our garden. It can be a plant, texture, colour, or mood.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
Usually the inspiration comes first and the yarn is chosen to suit it. Less often, but sometimes the design is inspired by a special yarn or handspun.

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
My designs are usually lace and sometimes a texture. I love Estonian lace stitches and use them often. My designs often look more difficult than they actually are to knit.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
It used to be shawls, but I am now venturing into socks, cowls and fingerless gloves.

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
If I had to pick one, I would say my handspun laceweight.

What’s your “comfort knitting?”
Probably socks. If I am particularly stressed, I revert to fairly plain sweater knitting, where I can just focus on the yarn and the process.

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
My Estonian Garden series of shawls seem to have the fewest projects. Maybe the combination of nupps and entrelac is a bit intimidating to many.

Which three GAL designs are top of your list to cast on?
I haven’t really decided yet, since i am in the middle of a series of test knits for another designer, Romi. Once I am done with those, I will likely go and look for a sweater design to knit up.

Continental or English?
English

What’s the best thing about knitting?
The process itself and feeling the yarn. That is why I love spinning so much. Life is too short to waste on substandard fibre.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
Knitting is a great stress reliever. It has kept me sane through the years. Well, relatively sane.

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
I have spent the last 6 months or so on socks and other accessories. I want to get back to several shawl ideas. I am also toying with the idea of writing up some of my sweater designs.

The main resolution is to organise my stash and get some of it used.

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View all of Linda’s patterns here. All photos are copyright Linda Choo. All images used by permission.

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 Gift-A-Long interview is with Laura Chau. Laura began her designing career while working at a well-known yarn shop in Toronto, Ontario.

How did you get started designing?
I began working in a yarn shop not long after I started knitting seriously in university. I learned a lot while I was there and was inspired to design my own sweater when I couldn’t find the pattern for what I had in my head! That idea was my first self-published pattern, Lucy in the Sky.

What inspires your designs?
I mostly design things that fill a gap in my wardrobe. I do keep an eye out for interesting details and constructions in everything from current fashion to interior design and architecture.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
It depends. When I worked in the LYS, I would see lots of different yarns and would try to come up with an idea to use it for. But these days I’m often asked to come up with the idea first and match it with a yarn later, or I’ll need to order yarn for an idea because I don’t have it in my stash!

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I always try to design items that are fun to knit and comfortable to wear. I like stitches that are easy to memorize, so you don’t always have to keep looking at the pattern.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
Definitely sweaters! I love wearing them, I love knitting them.

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Oooh that’s a tough one. I love Koigu.

What’s your “comfort knitting?”
Stockinette sweaters all the way!

Which three GAL designs are top of your list to cast on?
I don’t get to knit much by other people, but I love Light Trails by Suvi Simola and Krewe by Lee Meredith.

Continental or English?
Continental.

What’s the best thing about knitting?
I love that it’s a slow process that builds something bigger. Good metaphor for life, or something. On the practical side, I love that it can be ripped out and started again if you need to!

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
Keep at it and enjoy the process. Don’t settle for making things you don’t like!

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
I don’t make a lot of resolutions, but every year I want to be happier and more productive with my work than the year before!

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View all of Laura’s patterns here. All photos are copyright Laura Chau. All images used by permission.

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 crochet designer Beth Graham. Beth is another local designer and friend of mine. Her patterns have been featured in several crochet design books, as well as through her independently released designs.

How did you get started designing?
After I began teaching crochet at my local yarn shop, Shall We Knit?, owner Karen Crouch suggested that I make up my own patterns to go with the classes. Although I wasn’t sure I could do it, I decided to give it a go, and discovered that I really enjoyed the challenge of communicating clearly in this format. A Useful Pot to Keep Things In, is an example of an early design I wrote to support my teaching.

What inspires your designs?
I design mostly for myself – as well as for my imaginary student. I like to learn new things and I have a goofy sense of humor. In fact, I’ll often come up with a silly word or phrase first, as with my Wedgie Blanket, and then play with ideas that fit the name.

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I like texture, geometry, and simplicity. Specifically, I like patterns that look harder than they are, and I’m drawn to tailored forms that appeal to knitters just discovering crochet.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
I really love quick, one-skein projects – primarily pieces using fingering-weight yarn, which I find can soften crochet’s structured look and feel. I also love using up leftovers from previous projects, so many of my designs incorporate small amounts of scrap yarn.

What’s your “comfort crochet?”
A better question would be, “What’s your ‘comfort crafting’?” And that would be socks. There’s nothing better than making and wearing handknit socks. In fact, I must have about 30 pairs in my sock drawer right now!

One of the best things about knitting so many socks? I end up with lots of leftovers for my long-term Bandwagon Blanket project.

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
The Jenny June Scarf, adapted from a thread crochet bedspread motif in a book from the 1880s located via www.antiquepatternlibrary.org, is perhaps my least-appreciated design to date.

Which three GAL designs are top of your list to knit/crochet?
Howlcat by Alex Tinsley; Vinter Votter by Anniken Allis; and Soft as Butter by Sarah Jane Designs.

What’s the best thing about knitting/crocheting?
For me, the best things about knitting and crochet have been the people I’ve met and the chance to learn new things.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other crafters?
New crafters should strive to be fearless learners. It’s really hard to learn new skills, and as adult learners we often fall into “all or nothing” thinking: If I can’t learn something immediately, that means that I’m no good at it and that I’ll never be good at it.

Not true.

Learning is hard work, and it’s a process. Be gentle and patient with yourself, and remember that all the mistakes you make now will turn you into a better crafter down the road!

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View all of Beth’s patterns here. All photos, unless otherwise noted, are copyright Beth Graham and used by permission.

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!

The number of crochet designers participating in Gift-A-Long this year has grown. For a listing of all crochet designers, please click here.

Today’s Gift-A-Long interview is with Alex Tinsley of Dull Roar. Alex is known for a prolific designer known for her love of simple textures and interesting shapes. She lives in Michigan.

How did you get started designing?
In college I was knitting a lot to keep myself awake in class, and I started selling my spoils on etsy. I rarely used other people’s patterns, preferring to just sort of making stuff up as I went. After awhile I noticed that a lot of people were selling patterns (this was pre-Ravelry, when you had to email the pdfs individually from etsy) so I started doing that as well. When Ravelry came along I transitioned over to pretty much just doing patterns.

What inspires your designs?
Usually I’m toying with some stitch or motif or design element that I’m into at the moment, and playing with how best to show it off/combine it with others. No magical bolt from the blue, I’m afraid- just good ole trial and error 😉 At this point I tend to have ideas faster than I can knit them, so I write down or sketch out whatever pops into my head so that I can go back to it later.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
It totally varies! Some yarn seems to plant an idea in my head, sometimes I’ve agreed to design with a particular yarn so I have to think something up for it, sometimes I have an idea and have to go stash-diving. I collect a lot of single skeins so I usually have a good number of options for small projects like hats.

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I tend to keep my designs in the advanced-beginner/intermediate area (or what I call “tv knitting”- interesting enough to hold your attention but easy enough that you can probably watch tv while you work.) And obviously I make a lot of hats 😉 I’m not sure there are many other consistent characteristics though.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
It’s probably obvious from my Ravelry page, but hats!

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Malabrigo Merino Worsted, my yarny soulmate.

What’s your “comfort knitting?”
A good ole stockinette hat in the round. Maybe in handspun yarn.

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
Vahl is one that I liked quite a bit, but didn’t really catch on.

Which three GAL designs are top of your list to cast on?
*Sigh* to be honest I probably won’t get to knit any of them, I almost never have time for personal projects 🙁 But I did pick up Jenise Reid’s Persian Curled Toe Slippers (so cool!) and I’ve had several of Alicia Plummer’s patterns in my queue for ages. And by several I mean like… at least 50% of them, haha.

Continental or English?
Continental

What’s the best thing about knitting?
You can make just about anything you can imagine, with just a bit of string and a few simple tools. That’s so cool!

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
Don’t forget to check your row gauge! Sometimes it matters more than you think it will, haha.

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
Not resolutions exactly, but I do have some big plans 🙂 I hope to see more garments in my future!

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View all of Alex’s patterns here. All photos are copyright Alex Tinsley, Dull Roar. All images used by permission.

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 Laura Goodman of Dragonwing Arts. Laura lives in SW Virginia and designs with several independent yarn dyers.

How did you get started designing?
I started designing when I couldn’t find a pattern on Ravelry that fit what I wanted for a particular yarn. I had gotten a skein of yarn from a local dyer, Unplanned Peacock Studio, and I really wanted a leafy scarf. I couldn’t find anything even close to what I had in mind, so I started scouring stitch dictionaries and found some stitch patterns I really liked. This became my Spring’s Beginning Scarf. I still love wearing this scarf regularly and have thought repeatedly of making it into a triangular shawl at some point.

What inspires your designs?
Sometimes it is something I have seen locally, such as the window at the Moss Performing Arts Center at Virginia Tech. Sometimes it is the yarn that gives me inspiration on it’s own, such as the yarn used for my Jack Frost Shawl. The theme for the yarn club was Fairy tales, and with the ice blue that had a metallic silver strand running through it, it made me think of ice crystals and snow showers.

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
It varies. Sometimes, the yarn I am given inspires the pattern. Sometimes, I am able to get a yarn dyed specifically to match my ideas. It is absolutely wonderful to be friends with an independent yarn dyer!

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
I really love lacy designs and textures. I try to use shapes and textures to convey my ideas.

What is your favourite type of item to design?
LACE! Lace and more lace. I love to knit it, so it is what I am most drawn to. I’m trying to expand, as I know not everyone has my obsession with intricate lacework, but I always want to go back to what I love.

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Malabrigo lace…. mmmmmmalabrigo. I can put more than one ply together if I need something thicker. Great feel, beautiful colors and I can afford it, need I ask for more?

What’s your “comfort knitting?”
Lace, believe it or not. I prefer if it has easy wrong side rows, but I do love how the design evolves and develops as I work.

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
My Princess Cut Diamonds scarf. I think I need to knit a new sample and get some better pictures. I think this is really one of my favorite designs.

Which three GAL designs are top of your list to cast on?
1. The Ambassador by Kimberly Golynskiy, but I have to get the beads still
2. Pelion by Henna Markkanen – a wonderful new release!
3. Rufflebye by Jennifer Dassau – I may have to make more than one of these, it looks like a wonderful way to use a hank of sock yarn!
I really doubt I’ll have time to get all three done, but wow, I want to!

Continental or English?
English – I have tried continental, but it’s not comfortable.

What’s the best thing about knitting?
The relaxation and the enjoyment of the finished product. It is so calming and enjoyable, and I end up getting something wonderful about it.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
It’s ok to make mistakes! If you have to frog a project, so be it, it just means your yarn lasts you longer! We all make mistakes, and it’s ok.

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
I have two patterns on my needles I want to get done. I also would like to come up with some new ideas. I didn’t design much this year because life went and got in the way. I want to get my name out there and have more people knit my patterns. I would love to get enough of a following to actually have *gasp* test knitters and not have to do it all on my own!

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View all of Laura’s patterns here. All photos are copyright Lee Meredith, Leethal Knits. All images used by permission.

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 Gift-A-Long interview is with Anne Blayney of AnnieBee Knits. Anne is another local designer and friend and we were all amazed by her stunning early design – the Chawton Mittens. Being published by Interweave for one of your first designs is quite an accomplishment!

How did you get started designing?
My first substantial design was the Chawton Mittens that were published in Interweave’s inaugural issue of Jane Austen Knits back in 2011. (I just recently re-released them with updated notes and under my own branding.) Quite honestly, I submitted the design on a whim — with the encouragement of my local knitting group, but never really thinking that it would be accepted. I saw the call for submissions and the idea for the mittens sprang to mind quite fully formed. The technical details of quite how to realize that idea took longer, of course, but I was incredibly lucky to have such a start! Having the professional team behind the magazine showing me the way certainly set the standard high for my own independent designs — now I wouldn’t dream of releasing a pattern without a tech editor’s help, for instance.

What inspires your designs?
I tend to be inspired by techniques, or ways of resolving a certain issue. In the Chawton Mittens, it was about how to bend the cables around the cameo, and how to handle the long floats in the cameo. In my newest shawl pattern, Brightness and Contrast, it was about how to deal with really wildly coloured handpainted yarns — those yarns that are so exquisite in the skein, but so chaotic (and often muddy) when knit up. In one of my earliest designs, the Umami Cowl, it was about playing with different yarn bases in the same colourway, one superwash and one feltable, to experiment with the texture. In a new design I’m working on, for a pair of mittens, it’s a new construction, working in an entirely different direction than most mittens! The focus on techniques and problem-solving means that my designs may have very different styles from one piece to the next, but it also means that I’m never bored — and neither is my tech editor!

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?
Sometimes the yarn IS the inspiration, as with Brightness and Contrast or the Umami Cowl. Other times, it’s definitely a case of having a design in mind and seeking out the yarn that will best realize the vision. (Yarn inspires me in general — it makes me want to knit! — but it doesn’t always insist on a certain design.)

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?
Is it a cliche to say that I only design things that I’d be happy to wear? I want my patterns to be approachable and clear, and my designs to be pieces that make the wearer feel warm and beautiful (or handsome, I suppose).

What is your favourite type of item to design?
I’m most comfortable with accessories — because that’s what I knit most for myself! I love shawlettes and probably have enough to wear a different one every day for three weeks, or much longer if I reclaimed ones that I’ve knit as gifts. I love the flexibility of accessories, and the ability to reinvent basic wardrobe staples with a splash of colour and special yarn!

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)
Oh goodness, I can’t possibly choose. It would almost certainly be fingering weight, wool (maybe with silk or cashmere) with no nylon content — I love to make everything from sweaters to shawls to gloves to blankets in fine yarn like that. But asking me to pick one dyer would be like asking a painter to pick only one tube of paint!

What’s your “comfort knitting?”
I’ve been knitting squares for a mitered-square blanket for myself for several years now. Well, truth be told, I knitted squares for one, then my sister got engaged and I ended up giving her the blanket as a wedding present. I started another one for myself immediately! I knit the squares separately, so they’re modular and portable, and I can rearrange the colours as I add new yarns. I’ve finally hit 170 of these 4″ fingering-weight squares for the new blanket, so now I just (just!) need to weave in the ends and seam it up, then add a border. Not having my little bag of squares with me at all times is making me twitchy, though; I need to find another portable project so I always have something easy to grab! I know you, too, are very familiar with the allure of the mitered square…

Which is your most under-appreciated design?
Probably the Umami Cowl — though I can understand why its appeal has limits. The yarn company (Waterloo Wools) has closed, and it’s not always easy to find coordinating yarns in superwash and non-superwash versions, particularly in heavier yarns. I think I may work up a fingering-weight version, because lots of dyers offer superwash sock yarn and non-superwash shawl yarn. Then again, there are always new things to knit, so my older designs languish without as much attention as I might intend to give them!

Which three GAL designs are top of your list to cast on?
I’ve already made a little Anticipation sweater for a friend’s baby, due next month. I’ve also cast on an Airstream hat to coordinate with it. (Shhh!) I’ve also nearly finished a Cross Stitch Cowl, for myself.

Continental or English?
English. I’ve never learned Continental, much to my chagrin!

What’s the best thing about knitting?
I call it ‘productive fidgeting.’ I’m really not that good at sitting still, without something to occupy my hands.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?
No matter how complicated the design, the thing about knitting is it’s always just one stitch at a time. Breathe deeply, and make that next stitch.

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?
My local knit group is coordinating a Stashdown event for 2015, so you can bet that knitting from stash is on my list! (I may be guilty of wanting to buy ALL THE YARN now so that I can count it as stash come January…)

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View all of Anne’s patterns here. All photos, unless otherwise noted, are copyright Anne Blayney. All images used by permission.

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!