Once
a week I post interviews with interesting people about their insights
on their experience of working in the Knitting industry. I’ve noticed
that every one of these individuals makes their living in a slightly
different manner bringing their own unique presence to the Knitting
world.
You can find Chrissy here and here on Ravelry.
Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere! My main source of inspiration is my giant
library of stitch dictionaries from all over the world. When I’m getting ready
to start on a new design, I sit down with a stack of them and page through,
marking stitches that catch my eye and trying to figure out interesting ways to
modify them to fit a particular garment or combine them with other stitch
patterns that have grabbed my attention. I’m also constantly inspired by
garments I see in movies or on the street. My ”The Dude Abides” socks from my
book “Toe-Up!” were inspired by Jeff Lebowski’s famous Cowichan-style sweater
in the movie The Big Lebowski. I’d been trying to come up with a colorwork
design for weeks, and as I watched the movie for the millionth time one night,
I was suddenly struck by the colorwork pattern of this sweater. I paused my DVR
and quickly sketched out the motif. It was truly serendipitous, because the
design fit perfectly on a 64-stitch sock!
What is your favourite knitting
technique?
This is a tough one, and I have to say it’s a tie between
mattress stitch, which is always miraculous to me, and Judy’s Magic Cast-On,
which helped me overcome my aversion to toe-up socks.
You focus on designing socks, could
you tell us a little about the reasons why?
This just sort of happened without much input from me,
actually! When I was first starting out and submitting lots of designs to
various publications, it seemed that the only things I could get accepted were
socks. I decided to go with it, and there are really a lot of things to love
about socks. I like always knowing what size needle to use to get gauge, I love
being able to grab a 400-yd skein of sock yarn and know I’ll get a pair of
socks out of it without too much “will I run out? NONONONO!” stress, and I find
that socks are a nice little canvas for playing with stitch patterns and
colorwork designs. I’ll wear colors and patterns on my feet that I would never
wear if they were incorporated into a sweater.
Do you look at other designers' work
or are you afraid that you will be influenced by their designs?
I’ll page through my knitting magazines when they arrive in
the mail, but I don’t spend a lot of time looking at others’ designs. It’s
impossible not to be influenced by other designers’ work, but I do want to try
to minimize it as much as possible. I have a terrible memory, and if I see
something I like and then want to design something like it six months later,
I’ll never be able to remember if I saw it in a knitting magazine, on one of The
Real Housewives, or if it came to me in a dream.
How do you feel about the so called
controversy of "dumbing down" patterns for knitters?
I think this is a little bit of a tempest in a teapot. There
are so many great designers out there, and so many different styles of pattern
writing, there’s something for everyone. No designer will ever be all things to
all people, so if knitters want something that’s a little more sophisticated,
there are designers that will cater to that. There’s a huge market out there
for knitters who just want to knit, have fun, and not think too hard. I really
try to gear my patterns toward these knitters and teach them a little something
in each of my patterns. I have gotten a couple comments questioning the extra
techniques I include in my patterns, but I figure if someone doesn’t want a
tutorial on Judy’s Magic Cast-On, they can just skip that section!
How many sample/test knitters do you
have working for you or do you do it all yourself?
I always make sure that at least two people have knit each
of my patterns before I unleash them on the general public. I have a stable of
about 50 potential test knitters to draw from, and about 5-10 regulars who do
the majority of my test knitting. I also have two tech editors review each of my
patterns. I tend to do most of my own sample knitting as part of my design
process. I tend to do a lot of tweaking and ripping as I work through the
design. I do have a couple sample knitters that I’ll use to reknit a design
that I’ve already worked up, but this isn’t something that happens too
frequently.
Did you do a formal business plan?
Absolutely. I’ve actually done a few business plans – one
when I was first starting out, then another as I shifted my publishing from
being mainly published by others to a heavily self-published wholesale print
pattern business, and the most recent when I started self-publishing books. I
probably need to do another update to reflect my shift from mostly print to
mainly digital over the past year or two.
Do you have a mentor?
I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of help on this wild
journey! When I was first getting my self-publishing business up and running, I
got a lot of great advice from Chris de Longpre, Janet Szabo and Jill Wolcott
(and I know there are others I am forgetting). As I moved into self-publishing
books, I’ve been lucky enough to count Cat Bordhi as a mentor and I can’t thank
her enough for how much she’s helped me. Janel Laidman was a graduate of Cat
Bordhi’s Visionary class the same year as I was, and she has been a great
inspiration and sounding board. She’s the one who came up with the framework
for the gorgeous design for my newest book, “Indie Socks”.
Do you have a business model that
you have emulated?
Sort of? I’ve really incorporated bits and pieces of lots of
other designers’ business models into my own business. I’m also constantly
changing things to reflect where I want to go and how I need my business to fit
into my family life (which is getting busier and busier as the kids get older and
require more shuttling to and from various activities).
What impact has the Internet had on
your business?
It has made it a heck of a lot easier in some ways and much
more difficult in others. I absolutely love the Ravelry pattern sales system –
after spending years printing and sleeving patterns to send off to shops, I
really adore being able to sell my patterns without any intervention on my
behalf. On the other hand, the competition is incredible. Since there are no
barriers to entry now, there are an incredible number of patterns to choose
from, including the huge number of free patterns available. I try not to spend
too much time lamenting this, because free patterns aren’t going away (nor
should they). I really try to focus my energy on how I can make my patterns
stand out from the crowd, which includes making them as fun to knit and as
error free as humanly possible.
Do you use a tech editor?
I use two, and it’s absolutely the best money you can spend
if you’re self-publishing patterns. Seriously, you can hire a good tech editor
for an hour for the cost of a skein of sock yarn. If you as a designer make
sure that your pattern is in tip-top shape before you send it to your tech
editor, it shouldn’t be overly expensive. I always go through my patterns with
a fine tooth comb, including rechecking every stitch count and bit of math,
before I send it to my editors. The pattern also goes through test knitting and
formatting – the tech editors are the last people to touch it before it is
released. Having a solid style sheet for your patterns will also help your tech
editors be efficient and save you money.
How do you maintain your life/work
balance?
It’s a constant battle. I’ve really had to scale back over
the past few years in order to maintain my sanity. For instance, I don’t travel
to teach and I rarely teach locally. I don’t do a lot of submissions to other
publications any more in order to avoid deadline-itis. I try not to work nights
and weekends, even though it’s really easy to do since my office is right
there, calling to me. My business hasn’t grown as much since I’ve taken these
steps, but my kids also aren’t trying to hide my knitting from me anymore.
How do you deal with criticism?
I rant about it to my husband, and then I really try to put
it on a raft and send it out to sea. I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve never
been the subject of any really brutal criticism, but even the relatively benign
stuff still stings. Being told that your work is boring, doesn’t add anything
new to what’s already out there and your layout is cheesy isn’t going to make
your day better. I don’t actively monitor reviews of my stuff, and I think that
just not knowing what’s out there is easier on my psyche. I appreciate
constructive criticism about things I can actually fix (I am always happy to
hear from knitters about possible errata), but I’d rather take the
head-in-the-sand approach to folks who aren’t fans of my design aesthetic or
pattern layout.
How long did it take for you to be
able to support yourself?
Hahaha, if only I could support myself! It took about three
years for the business to start making a small profit. The years since then
have all been in the black, but the amount of profit fluctuates wildly
depending on what I’m doing (how many patterns I release, whether I’ve
published a book that year, how much advertising I’m doing). My income covers
the occasional mortgage payment and things like summer vacations and soccer
uniforms, but I would have a lot of work to do before I’d be self-supporting in
a meaningful way!
What advice would you give someone
who wants to pursue a career in knitting?
Expect to do a lot of hard work. Hire a tech editor if
you’re self-publishing. Network, online and off! Don’t expect to make a ton of
money. Get used to rejection if you’re submitting for publication (expect
10-30% of your submissions to get accepted, and submit a lot – out of 10
designs submitted, maybe 1-3 will be published). Always act like a
professional, even if you don’t feel like a “real designer” yet. Don’t take
things personally!!!
