An Interview with...Suvi Simola

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/reflected-lines

 Once a week I post  interviews with interesting designers about their insights on their experience of working in the Knitting industry.  I’ve noticed that every designer makes their living in a slightly different manner bringing their own unique presence to the Knitting world. 


You can find Suvi  here on Ravelry.


Where do you find inspiration?
It's a difficult question because there's inspiration everywhere! It may be a fashion magazine, Pinterest, something seen on the streets etc. The only thing that I can say for sure is that for some reason, I don't get inspiration from nature, I look at nature completely from photographers viewpoint and seldom think about knitting at the same time. 

And one more thing I've learned - you can't force yourself to get inspired. You have to take it easy, keep your eyes and mind open and let ideas to find you, otherwise you'd only get stressed out. 

What is your favourite knitting technique?
I love knitting Stockinette stitch in the round. It's soothing and it's beautiful in its simplicity. Garter stitch is great for the same reason.

How did you determine your size range?
For fitted garments, I usually go with 10 sizes, 2" apart. I feel that 10 sizes is easier to manage when checking the pattern, grading etc. than for example 12 sizes. For over-sized garments, it's usually 5-6 sizes.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/outlined

Do you look at other designers’ work or are you afraid that you will be influenced by their designs?
Yes, of course. It's nice to know what others are doing and when I get an idea, I usually check that there isn't something very similar on the market. I have my own style so I'm not afraid of getting influenced by others designs though.

How do you feel about the so called controversy of “dumbing down” patterns for knitters?

I like to go with the principle "as much as necessary, as little as possible". It's a good thing to make the patterns as detailed as possible so even the beginners can knit from them but there's a point where adding more and more notes and suggestions, turns a pattern from being easy and helpful, into complicated.

How many sample/test knitters do you have working for you or do you do it all yourself?
I make all the samples myself because I feel I have to knit the garment by myself to be able to write the pattern but as always, there's an exception to this rule. I've once written a pattern for a baby blanket that my friend knitted. I knit only a ¼ of the blanket to be able to write the pattern but the photographed sample was made by her. It was a nice project working together.I have wonderful test knitters, usually 3-10 for a project, depending on sizing and how complicated the pattern is. 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crayons-5

What impact has the Internet had on your business?
Internet is a necessity for my business. Couldn't be able to work without. 

How do you maintain your life/work balance?
It was hard at the beginning but now I think I've established a good routine that keeps things in balance. At some point I realized that I have to draw a line somewhere so now I don't check my work emails late at night and usually don't work at all on weekends. Things are much better now.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fold-and-turn

How long did it take for you to be able to support yourself?
I started this career in 2008 but for many years I was doing it only part-time. I'm now doing it full-time and it certainly has had an impact.

What advice would you give someone who wants to pursue a career in knitting?

If that's what you really love to do then go ahead! It's not an easy job and every pattern requires a lot of work and attention but it can be your dream job if you want to.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/merike

Beauty is Bought by Judgement of the Eye

"Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye" Shakespeare

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-barbara-franklin-cardigan

Knitters struggle with body image in the same way that virtually all women in our culture do. When I work with them on custom fit projects I find myself feeling sad that they can't be kinder to themselves. They use derogatory descriptive terms about themselves and argue against fitting suggestions because they are trying to hide the parts of their bodies that they hate.

Whether a garment flatters or not is in the eye of the observer. No one can tell you what exact hem length, or neckline shape is most flattering for your body. That’s your choice, however if you don't make peace with your body you won't be able to figure it out either. 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-barbara-franklin-cardigan

Here are my rules:

• Ignore sizes and measurements.
• Assess proportions and shapes unemotionally.
• Accept that clothing can make those shapes look different.
• Find something you do like about yourself.
• Stop comparing yourself to other women.  

The sweater I'm wearing was customized to fit me. If you look at the schematic from my drafting program you will notice I don't have much of a waistline. I have very short arms. My armhole depth is shorter than the average. Did you notice any of those things before I pointed them out? Probably not and other people won't notice how you differ either.

Knitting garments that make you look and feel wonderful is all about accepting the shape you have, and then selecting patterns and custom fitting them to your body.

Two Years Ago.......

Two years ago I started a blog series based on one of my classes, The Fudge Factor. I've done this class as a lecture (not as hands on, but the information is the same). It's math intensive and tends to be of interest to more experienced knitters. I'm linking back to those posts today because I so often see questions related to the topics addressed in the posts in Ravelry forums.These posts speak to the situation when a knitter wants to use a pattern and work in a gauge different to the one the pattern was written for. You may want to read them more than once. The math scares knitters off, but be persistent, the information could change your whole approach to knitting.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

An Interview with ... Amy Gunderson

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/grellow-cardigan

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 Amy here and here on Ravelry.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/jailbird-2

Where do you find inspiration?

Everywhere, all around! I tend to be very garment focused when it comes to knitwear. I love clothing as a method of expressing myself both stylistically, artistically, and as a means of conveying “who I am” in some ways. I am also all over the map with my own personal style, from conservative (tough to pull off with tattoos), to punk, girly, lazy, and everything in between. I definitely take cues on shape from current trends, in terms of hemlines and general shapes. I try to focus mostly on items that will look good on a broad variety of body shapes. In terms of knitting techniques, again, I'm all over the board; I love everything! I might do a lot of Fair Isle for a while, then move to twisted stitches, then dabble back in crochet, and so on.

What is your favourite knitting technique?         

If I had to choose one, it would be either fair-isle or intarsia. It's like painting with yarn.

How did you determine your size range?

I had only a few independently released designs before doing exclusively magazine work, and then onto my current role at Universal Yarn. Each magazine has their own requirements for sizing. My size range for the independent things was based on what I saw around in other patterns. As I mentioned, I prefer to design with every size in mind when possible, so I have almost always included sizes to fit from 30-55” bust.

Do you look at other designers' work or are you afraid that you will be influenced by their designs?

I definitely look at others' work; I'm on Ravelry way too much! Every day I'm amazed by the innovations I see in the knitting world. I worry about being influenced only to a reasonable extent. This is a topic I see discussed frequently, and for the most part, I've gotten very bored by it! Especially now with my job at Universal, I have to produce a large number of designs for a wide variety of yarns. Coincidences happen with designs, especially those that are somewhat basic. If I think the best way to show off one of our yarns is to make a stockinette stitch v-neck raglan, I'm going to do it! And it's been done before! For items with more specific elements, I always go back to what my dear friend Sarah once told me. She said in reference to my work at that point, “I can look at these and know they're yours. They just have your “stamp” on them.” So if I'm going to sit down and design a fair-isle yoke sweater, even though there are hundreds or thousands of designs out there already, I take comfort in Sarah's words knowing/hoping mine will be “me”.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/swoop-tee

How many sample/test knitters do you have working for you or do you do it all yourself?

For Universal items, it depends. I do a lot of the stitching myself, especially for the more “experimental” items, and especially around TNNA time! We are often in a time crunch at showtime, and I just don't have time to arrange for sample knitters.

I still do independent work with magazines, and I stitch those all myself. I'm not speed knitter, but I'm reasonably fast and I have no life!

Do you have a mentor?

All the women who have generously shared their knowledge via the internet or books – they are my mentors. In real life, I didn't really know anyone who knit until I started at my current job. I can remember the first time I said “ssk” out loud. It was weird to actually have a conversation about knitting! 

Do you use a tech editor?

The honest answer is “usually”. Of course with magazine work, there is a technical team looking over every pattern they publish. With Universal, if we produce a paid pattern collection, if it is my pattern that needs editing, I hire a tech editor. If it is someone else's pattern, I will do the tech editing. With any of our free patterns, typically they get a proofreading, but not a full tech edit. There are limited resources and no one else on staff there has the capability of doing so except me. 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/big-house

How do you maintain your life/work balance?

Poorly! My husband is understanding enough to drive anywhere we go together so I can squeeze in car knitting. I stay up way too late most nights working on a variety of projects. I did manage to paint my kitchen a couple of months ago which is really the only non-knitting activity I've done for some time! I also walk our dog every evening, and have an hour of dedicated non-knitting t.v. with my husband. Those are the only two times of the day I'm not breathing knitting. 

How do you deal with criticism?

Eh, you can't please everyone all the time, right? When it comes to aesthetic, there is no right or wrong. I just do what I love, and hope other folks love it too.

How long did it take for you to be able to support yourself?

I feel extremely lucky to have my job as Creative Lead at Universal Yarn. If it wasn't for that, I don't know if I would be trying to support myself solely on a design income or not. It's so hard, so very hard for designers to make a living. I'm really glad I haven't had to go down that path (yet).

What advice would you give someone who wants to pursue a career in knitting?

Make sure you like math, are good at it, and have a back-up plan!

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mixed-miters-scarf

Where do Great Patterns Come From?

Usually news stories about knitters get focused on the granny angle. The NYTs recently did a piece on Josh Bennett. They decided to also cover a blogger, Samurai Knitter a.k.a. Julie Theaker, who had disclosed her opinion of his work on her blog...6 years ago? I don’t know why we knitters get such rough treatment from the mainstream media.

As a result of the coverage Julie has written a very interesting post on the business model used by mainstream magazines as compared to online publications. In this case the comparison was to Twist Collective.

I think having knitters understand the economics behind the business decisions in the knitting world is always a worthwhile exercise. Take a look at her post, most of it is a review of the issue itself, but sharing the background on why TC is producing such great work is fascinating.

In my case I want to sell patterns, my income stream comes from pattern sales as well as teaching and speaking events. To sell patterns, I'm very focused on the patterns being good and that means items are reworked if they don't match the vision I had when I started the design. Some are completed abandoned, some get rethought over a longer period of time until I resolve aesthetic or technical problems. I haven't submitted to any of the mainstream magazines because I'm convinced that the tight timelines lead to the publication of work that wouldn't have made my personal cut. I believe the reason we are seeing such wonderful work from self-publishers is that slower pattern development leads to the best work of the designer.

What do you think? Do you get your patterns from magazines or from self-publishers? 

If you enjoy reading my blog, I'd really appreciate it if you would tell your knitting friends or share links to your favourite posts online with Twitter, Ravelry or Facebook. Word of mouth is really helping to grow my business as knitters respect the views of other members of our community. Thanks!

Do You Want to Become a Knitting Star?

 

Here's a little more from Josh Kaufman's book on learning fast, tweaked for knitting skill acquisition.

There's a pretty big gap between reading about how to do something and then actually doing it. I can read all the advice available on a particular topic but to truly understand the nuances of a motor skill I need to perform it, adjust, correct errors and practice to reach competency. 

Josh's principles for effective learning follow:

1) "Research, but not too much". I have a lot of reference books for knitting. When I need to check something I usually use two or three. I don't take the time to check every book I own. At a certain point reading about how to do something becomes redundant, you need to just do it.

2) "Jump in". Sometimes new things feel incomprehensible. I see this in classes with students often. They are afraid to pick up the needles and try something new. This is a good sign if you don't understand at all, it means you are about to learn a lot! Often you lack vocabulary and that is why you feel disoriented. Vocabulary becomes clearer once you get going. In my case Entrelac was a skill that wasn't easily conceptualized before I tried to knit it. Once I actually knit a sample under the instruction of a patient teacher I no longer had any issues understanding the written instructions. 

3) "Mental models and hooks". As you work through new skills you will acquire concepts that apply to help you learn. They are the labels and relationships. Think of the difficulty of remembering how to complete the knit stitch when you first learned. Insert the right hand needle from the front to the back through the loop on the left hand needle, wrap the yarn....that's a model. A hook will help you remember something by relating it to something else. Here's one for the directionality of decreases.

4) "Imagine the opposite". This is where you imagine everything that can go wrong. It helps you to avoid errors.

5) "Talk to practitioners". My students are way to hard on themselves. It is important to be realistic about what level a novice can work to. An experienced knitter can help you assess realistically how well you are doing. Stay focused and you will improve quickly.

6) "Eliminate distractions". All levels of knitters talk about the difference between easy TV knitting and focused knitting. If you are struggling, it's time to turn off the TV, the phone and find a place to be alone. You'll get "it" faster when you are focused.

7) "Spaced repetition". Moving memory from short term to long term storage takes repetition. You won't forget the first cast on you used when you learned to knit a few years ago, however I just had to go back to the reference source for a new one I learned recently and have used on only one project so far. Once I use it a few more times the movements will come back more easily to me. The image below is Edgar Dale's cone of learning, it gives percentage of learning loss over time based on your mode of learning.

8) "Scaffolds and checklists". Refer to lists of items of things you do everything you practice. Many are internalized so quickly, you may not realize you have a mental list. As an example, turn on your laptop, click on an icon, enter a password, open an application....Scaffolds refer to a list of the physical movements that lead into performance. They are used in sports and can provide a calming transition into becoming focused on your goal. When I start to knit, I adjust the lamp, get comfortable, sit up straight, and place my knitting so the yarn flows smoothly from the ball.

9) "Predictions and tests". Here I go again! Swatching. If you make and test predictions you will maximize understanding. Look at your work, what do you see? What do you already know? What could you do to improve performance? Test out your theory. When knitters started working cables without a cable needle they were challenging the way it was done in the past. I'm sure many found out quickly it works easily on sticky yarns but not on slippery yarns. However, under certain conditions it is a more efficient way to create cables.

10) "Honor your biology". I'm guilty of this one. I get caught up and forget to stop when I get tired, thirsty or hungry. There is some evidence that more than 90 minutes of focused attention becomes counter productive. Repetitive movements can cause injury. I try to do a quick hand stretch every 20 minutes when I'm knitting. There is also some science that shows sleep is especially beneficial for motor skill acquisition. So practice in the evening and consider evening classes. The sooner you sleep after practice the better it is for accelerated learning 

Part 1 is here.

An Interview with ... Andrea Jurgrau, Updated

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. I first interviewed Andrea here in August of 2011. I recently read her latest book New Vintage Lace and wanted to ask her a few more questions. 
 

You can find Andrea here and here on Ravelry. 

All the photos in this post come from the book. You can see all of the other gorgeous designs here.

I've been told publishing a book is a long intense experience. Could you tell us more about how the process works?  
Well, it starts with a concept.  I really flesh it out fully, including designing and knitting some of the pieces before sending it out to a publisher.  Then they review and send feedback, maybe ask for some changes.  Then they decide if they want to publish it!  If you get lucky and they do want it, next comes a contract.  Then discussions about yarn and color.  Then requests for yarn support.  Then write it all, design it all, get the patterns and charts ready, knit the samples...then send it in to the editor and tech editor and wait.  Then get it back for review, send it back and forth a few times, then let go!  The publisher will then do photography, proof reading, more tech editing, layout.  Then off to the press after a final review of a print-ready copy.  The wait for the books!!  It takes about 18 months.

Please tell us about your focus on lace and the process of using vintage patterns to develop your gorgeous designs?  
I just love lace of all sorts, but knitting lace is my favorite.  The vintage patterns can be a real challenge, because they were written at a time when knitters did not expect to be spoon fed.  They are minimal and charted and you have to think.  And you might have to fix the occasional error that slipped in, which is part of the charm.  In the book I talk all about the process, with details that allow today's knitter to modify old patterns into shawl designs themselves.

I know you need a lot of ideas for a book. What’s your process for generating them and how did you choose what went into the book? 
I am a concept designer.  I started with the concept and then the designs flowed from there.  That is how I always work, and it seems to be good for me once I begin in a clear direction I can design way more material than I can fit in one book!

You also have a video workshop version of the book coming out soon, please tell us about what we can expect to learn in the video.   

The video is actually not directly connected to the book.  I do cover techniques required for the projects in the book, but you do not need the book to enjoy the video.  The video actually comes with two unique patterns to practice the techniques I cover in the video.  I cover center starts, a crochet edging, adding beads, and even blocking.

What are your plans for the future, will there be more lace patterns?  

I release new patterns regularly through my Ravlery pattern shop.  I have three designs in the new "Enchanted Knits" magazine from Interweave.  I have a design in the up-coming Downton Abbey Knits from Interweave.  And I am working on a second book, in the first half of the process I mentioned above.  I hope to have more to say about that soon:)