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| http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kilians-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 Anne here and here on Ravelry.
Where do you find inspiration?
I am obsessed with beauty in the tiny details that surrounds us, and I often think about the words of Keats: "Beauty
is a joy forever". I find beauty everywhere I go, and as I walk and
run a lot in the forest and along the seaside I take great pleasure in
scrutinizing leaves, birds, waves, flowers, skies..... When I am in
town, or traveling, I look a lot at buildings, pavements, doors, and
also enjoy looking at what people are wearing, and how they wear it.
Sometimes I can freeze to the ground, looking at a garment - and I do my
best not to annoy anyone by staring too much:))
All the
beautiful things that I see come together in a (for me unknown) way,
often combined with old memories. A color can lead me to think about a
detail of a dress seen ages ago. My fascination for the A-line shape
which I use a lot (Bahar, Love is everywhere, Udakua, Flirt etc.) I can
trace back to my aunts tunic-like dresses worn in the 70ties. My
inspiration always comes unexpectedly - and often at night. I must
sketch it down immediately, if not it will be gone the next morning.
All of my ideas doesn't turn into garments, as by now I have far more
ideas than time to realize them.
What is your favorite knitting technique?
How did you determine your size ranging?
I
do not use a standard size ranging when creating a garment. The
pattern repeat is the single most important factor I have to deal with
when deciding the size ranging. Thereafter I think a lot about how a
design will look at different people. I try to make the
size ranging as wide as possible, going from 30" to 50" or above. This
is however not always possible. And to my shame I must admit that the
first designs I wrote down only included a few sizes.
I am a
34" myself, and I always make the sample in my own size (as I enjoy
wearing my own designs a lot:)). In the beginning I found it hard to
work out many sizes, nowadays I have more experience and am happy to
offer a much wider range.
Do you look at the work of other designers?
From
time to time I take a look. I admire the work of many designers, and
have a handful of favorites. Especially those who use techniques which
are very elaborate, combined with a great shape and choice of colors.
In my opinion some of the well-known designers are artists as well as
they have the ability of working out a great shape. I never look at their work for inspiration really, it is more pure admiration.
How many samplers/tester do you have working for you, or do you do all by yourself?
When
I start up a design I work everything out by myself, from the sketch,
through the knitting process, to the pattern-writing (most often those 3
elements are going on at the same time:)). If I have the time I have
been asking for testers. Sometimes I have had the pleasure of working
with the same tester on several occasions.The test-knits
have been extremely valuable for me! It takes a lot of time, but it has
been great in so many ways: finding out that the design works for all
the sizes, getting feed-back on how to improve the pattern, spell
checking..... I have met so many nice people, all my testers have been
very pleasant to work with and I cannot thank them enough for sharing
their time and their knowledge with me. I wish I had the time to test
everything I make, but the process requires daily contact with several
testers during a months time or more. Hopefully I will have more time
in the future:))
Do you have a mentor?
No,
I do not have a knitting mentor. I do get a lot of input from one of
my sisters who is an experienced knitter, and I enjoy the feeling of
sharing and discussing with someone very close. And my
daughter has been my mentor when it comes to everything
computer-related! Honestly I do not know how I could have made it
without her help:)).
How do you maintain your life/work balance?
This
is rather simple really: when I go to my "real" work in the morning,
the knitting world stops existing. And it is also the other way around: when I come home I do not give my
work one single thought: and I can dream, get inspired, sketch, knit and
write patterns as much as I like (which is a lot:)). A normal day for
me includes knitting in the morning while eating my breakfast, and some
knitting late at night before going to bed. When I travel I always
bring my knitting along - I would feel completely lost without it! I
try to figure out every opportunity I can get to knit a couple of rows.
My daughter is always late whenever we go anywhere: I sit in the car
knitting and waiting for her!
How do you deal with criticism?
How long did it take before you were able to support yourself?
For
me designing and knitting is much more than about money. I will never
be able to support myself upon the designing, and I am perfectly happy
that I can manage to buy the wool that I need and a chocolate bar from
the income:)).The true value is the joy I have from working
the design from sketch to pattern, to meet appreciation, to see my
pattern made up by other people. The designing gives me a challenge and
suits my personality: I can find the peacefulness of the handicraft,
the challenge of calculating and the joy of getting more experience
through the process.
What's next for you?
In two weeks
time I will have my summer holidays:)) Meaning lots of knitting on the
tiny island "Asmaloy" in the southern part of Norway, and also a visit
to a small wool mill in the southwest of Sweden. I am working on a
couple of new designs that I hopefully will be able to present in the
early autumn. At one point or another I will have to decide how I will
proceed in my designing and also in promoting it. Design and knitting
are joy and pleasure to me, and I would like to keep it that way. I
think that feeling would be lost a bit if I start thinking about it too
much from a business point of view. In many ways I am still that little
girl making up wardrobes for her dolls, and I would like to hold on to
that feeling.
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| http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/buckwheat-blossom-pullover |
