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| http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/twist-sweater |
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 Jenise here, on Pinterest here and here on Ravelry.
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| http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/double-take-shrug |
Where do you find inspiration?
My favorite place to find
inspiration is in my own closet - one of the best things about being
able to knit is having ability to knit myself a top just like
my favorite, but fixing those little details I don't like, or improving
the fit. For instance, adding bust short rows, or shortening
it slightly (since I am petite), or making it in a fiber or color I
prefer and can't find or afford in stores. I am actually in in the
midst of releasing a collection (2015 sweater collection: http://www.ravelry.com/
What is your favourite knitting technique?
Working
in the round. For a silly reason - I hate turning my work around! I
don't know why I feel that I waste so much time and effort in the couple
of seconds it takes to turn my work around, but I just hate it.
Besides working in the round, I love Kitchener stitch. And the more
complicated it is (working in pattern stitches, anyone?) the more
accomplished I feel when I get it done perfectly!
How did you determine your size range?
Initially,
I had a look at the CYC standards, and started working with them.
Going from 28-50 inch bust sizes was 6 sizes, and when I have tried
making more than six sizes, it just muddles my brain. I guess you could
say I am stuck in a size rut now :) Also, I am confident within that
range, but I have minimal experience fitting larger or smaller sizes
than that and I would rather not offer a badly-fitting size. As it is, I
have adjusted my sizing charts at the upper range here and there. More
weight does not mean longer arms, or broader shoulders, so I have
tweaked numbers here and there to fit the shape most women are. Right
now the ladies making my sweaters seem to be primarily in the 34-42 inch
bust range, so the range just makes sense to me.
Do you look at other designers’ work or are you afraid that you will be influenced by their designs?
One
of the best places to learn what works, is to evaluate FOs and see how
the different factors like the yarn, stitch pattern, style lines, and
ease play together to make a more or less successful design. I simply
can't knit all the sweaters, and so I often browse patterns and
projects on Ravelry just to see what worked and what didn't, and what
different choices do to the overall effect. Looking at pictures won't
do it all, but combined with experience knitting, pictures of other
sweaters can do a lot for learning about designing them.
How do you feel about the so called controversy of “dumbing down” patterns for knitters?
I
usually write my patterns with a more experienced knitter in mind, and
often use "advanced" techniques like grafting or wrong and right side
patterned lace. So I don't feel a need to write to the lowest possible
skill level, and as an advanced knitter myself, I don't like having to
skim over instructions on how to purl mixed into a pattern. If you
can't purl, k2tog, cast on, or cast off, those are best left out of the
pattern besides a short note. If the knitter doesn't know how to do it,
it is up to them to check their "how to knit" book, or to utilize
you-tube, which is likely to teach them much better than my wordy
explanation. The one time I think tutorials should be
included in a pattern is when an unusual technique is used, like an
uncommon cast on, or a confusing form of a stitch that might be
confusing for the knitter to look up.
How many sample/test knitters do you have working for you or do you do it all yourself?
As
much as I would like to do it all myself, my wrists won't allow me, and
I love being able to write more patterns than I have time to knit
samples too. At any given time, I am likely to have 1-3 knitters
somewhere slowly working on something. Right now I have a larger than
usual group knitting for me, about 7. There is a second sample of a
sweater, a big colorwork blanket, and a bunch of little accessories over
a number of ladies.Test knits, when I do them, are more informal and involve 4-12 knitters at a time. They tend to be more like a KAL in my group.
Did you do a formal business plan?
Ha!
No. I wrote my first four patterns on a whim, for fun. It wasn't till
I started having good sales that it even occurred to me that it might
be a viable business. I have had the privilege of having the basics of
life (food, housing, transportation) covered by my family, and I was
free to decide this was a route that might be worth trying, and be free
to experiment without worrying about this months rent. As a result, I
put a good year and half into full time design before it started making a
decent amount of income, and now with three and a half years of full
time work behind me, I am enjoying good sales and income. It wouldn't
have been viable if I needed to pay rent every month - only now am I
getting to the point where I could live off my design income if I needed
to.
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| http://www.ravelry.com/ |
Do you have a mentor?
For
design? Not really. The only way I survived the first year or two was
by reading and reading in the designers groups on Ravelry! From there I
picked up a lot of helpful information, and then my own experiments and
charts did the rest. Design is different for everyone, you really have
to experiment to figure out what is going to worth your time.
Do you have a business model that you have emulated?
Not
intentionally. I tend to work in fits of "hey, this might be fun!" and
see what ends up being the projects that make the money. It always
surprises me what will make the most sales. It took me about
a year before I was confident enough to think I could work on a
magazine deadline, and by then I was usually making more off my self
published designs than most publications pay, so I more or less
accidentally ended up following a primarily self-publishing model.
How do you maintain your life/work balance?
Before
my marriage, life and work were well melded and blended till you could
hardly tell which was what, besides taking Sundays off. If I'm knitting
and having coffee with a friend, is it life or work? If I'm on
vacation with my family, but getting photos of my newest sweater that
I'm wearing that day for the website, is that life or work? Now that I
am married, I usually take Saturday and half of Monday off as well, so I can spend some time focused on us and the household. For
myself, I would tend towards the workaholic side, and I usually deal
with that by making myself prioritize relationships. If there is an
event with friends, I go. I might bring knitting along, but I have a
rule that if the project gets to the point where I can't follow the talk
anymore, I put the knitting away till I'm alone and can focus on
figuring out the knitting. I love my work! It often enough feels like
relaxing and fun, so there is a sense where knitting is my life as well
as my work.
How do you deal with criticism?
By
seriously asking myself if it is true or not. If it is, change. If it
isn't, move on and forget. If it is something silly, who cares.
How long did it take for you to be able to support yourself?
Three years of working full time. Partly due to the amount of learning that
has to happen before you can consistently make acceptable-good designs,
partly just learning the ropes of the business side and figuring out
what my work is worth.
What advice would you give someone who wants to pursue a career in knitting?
Keep
Learning. Keep pushing yourself. Once you make something, be sure to
look back at it and evaluate. Think about what you did wrong, or what
could have been done better. Think about what worked and what didn't.
This process of constant evaluation (and do it when you see other
designers work too) builds up that intuitive sense that tells you what
will work and what won't when you design your next projects.
What’s next for you?
A
publisher of printed books recently contacted me, asking me to write a
book/pattern collection for them, so that's the current big project!
Otherwise I still have a couple sweaters left in the 2015 collection,
and a number of other projects live on in my mind, waiting till I have
time to turn them into a pattern.
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| http://www.ravelry.com/ |
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