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 Lori here and here on Ravelry.
Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere. I am constantly
influenced
by things in my environment, nature, colour, seasons, emotions,
books, movies, photos. I try to remain open to
possibilities. I know I can't develop all of the creative whims
which come my way, there are not enough hours in a day. However, I
write things down, and if I am still compelled at a later time, I
will roll with it in some format. I've also done a fair amount of
designing for Anne Podlesak's lace clubs over the years, where
Shakespeare has been the source of inspiration.
What is your favourite knitting
technique?
I don't have a favourite on any given
day, but my go-to design/general knitting elements are lace, cables
and colourwork.
Your design focus seems to be on
accessories, could you tell us a little about that?
I have been doing accessories for a
long time because it allowed me to develop more as a dyer and have
pattern support for the yarns I dye which work well for shawls and
socks. Over the next year, however, I will be (finally!) publishing
sweater designs. I have several sweater ideas, some of which I've
already churned out the multi-sizing for in spreadsheets, which I've
been working on here and there for about 10 years. My issue over the
years has been finding the time to actually get them knit up and
tested and fine-tuned. But, I currently have two sitting here
waiting on the final go-through which I just need to set aside the
time to do, aiming to get them published by September.
Do you look at other designers' work or
are you afraid that you will be influenced by their designs?
I roll through the Ravelry patterns
section about once a week. I am not really looking for anything
other than eye-candy a lot of the time. I usually don't take the
time to delve very deeply unless I'm looking for something to knit
for myself but I enjoy looking at pretty knitting, like most knitters
do.
But, in terms of other designers' work
influencing my own? No. I like certain things, I have a few
designers I watch mostly because I enjoy looking at or knitting their
work, or they are friends and I like to see how their latest design
came out. I might think, hey, I like the shape of that shawl, I'd
like to do something in that shape. I think I have a fairly strong
sense of what I tend to lean towards when I'm working so a lot of my
chosen techniques are fairly solidified so I can call on them when I
need them. And I also specifically don't go looking because I do not
want that anxiety about someone else having done what I'm doing
invading what I have going on.
How do you feel about the so called
controversy of "dumbing down" patterns for knitters?
I don't. I actually didn't know there
was really a controversy. I thought it was designer's preference as
far as pattern writing style goes? I try to present my work as
clearly as possible. I personally don't like reading through
long-winded procedures. So when I am explaining what to do I aim for
clearly and concisely. If a knitter has a question, I am available
via email to help. I think I'm doing okay in this respect because I
have had very few enquiries about techniques and how-tos in my
patterns over the years.
Recently, a knitter mentioned, “I’m
in the middle of knitting these for the second time, and it strikes
me just how well-written this pattern is. When I made my first pair,
I was still pretty new to knitting, so I hadn’t encountered
badly-written patterns and just figured this one was the norm. No,
it’s exceptionally well-done and clear. I’ve “stolen” the heel and
gusset combo for several of my other socks that I’ve knit in the
interim because I think it’s just beautiful. But when I wanted to
make my mother a beautiful pair of socks, there was no other
candidate, only Sleepy Hollow. :-)”
What a heartening
compliment, eh?
When I put patterns
together, I try to break everything down into steps and work on the
principle of one thing at a time. I write patterns that way – I
will have a spreadsheet version which I've done the actual design
knitting/numbers/charts with, but when I'm writing the actual pattern
language for publishing, I will start with 'cast on 64 sts, join into
a round being careful to not twist the stitches, PM for beginning of
round', which I will do, then I will write the next step and knit it,
and so on. I tend to skim when I'm reading things and I do not like
the idea of skimming over a copy-pasted pattern and missing something
crucial when publishing. I do not like accidents so I try to keep
them from showing up in my work.
And I think being
hands-on (every time, even though it's a slower process) allows me to
not only think like the knitter who might someday knit the pattern,
but also to write things up clearly. It also makes me more objective
about the pattern, I think. I think patterns are like road-maps.
I don't think we
need to rewrite the basics all the time. There are a ton of books
and YouTube for that and other websites which outline basic
techniques.
How many sample/test knitters do you
have working for you or do you do it all yourself?
I am still the everything knitter. I
knit each pattern myself. Usually twice. That is the cool thing
about designing socks. :)
Did you do a formal business plan?
Not so much in terms of long-term
projections. But I started with a budget to buy yarns and dye of
$1000. I gave myself two years to have it work. At the time I started my
youngest was months old so I was home with him anyway, and later I
was working retail part-time and also still doing a fair
amount of web development work, so I sort of slid into it one skein
at a time. I have a degree in Fine Arts with a Consumer Studies
minor, and I had owned a restaurant previously, so the combination of
creative + business didn't intimidate me too much.
In terms of how things have developed
over the years I decided I wouldn't try every yarn available to dye,
sort of stuck with what I like to work with when designing and built
around that. In terms of future developments, I'm leaning much
farther into weaving than knitting. I have missed that creative
finished 'thing' over the years. A lot of knitting design work is
conceptual. I have sewing skills I can put to work as well. I'm
working on a few styles of hand-woven bags as well as other woven
items using hand-spun. One thing I enjoy especially with weaving is
how quickly things can work up vs knitting.
I do think it's a business where you
need to be flexible. But with limits. No dyer/designer can do
everything with every yarn, you know? But, OTOH, if you're open to
creative opportunities, you can develop those which work for you.
When I started, I was a knitter with an arts background. I crocheted
occasionally. Now I'm a dyer, spinner, weaver, knitting designer.
The weaving happened by accident – my MIL called one day wondering
if we knew anyone who would like a loom which was being unloaded from
a resource centre in Victoria. It was like, boing! I had the loom
for 4 years before it was put together and warped. I read books and
learned as much as possible online and finally have gotten to the
point where I'm a confident weaver. It had moved across the country
with us from BC but life sometimes doesn't allow for everything at
any given moment, so I bided my time picking up bits of weaving
inspiration here and there over the years until the time came to get
on with it if I was ever going to get on with it. And, now I have
two floor looms, and inkle and a mini-inkle. LOL. I still don't
have room for both to be set up at once, but I'm working on that. I
also have an antique sock knitting machine which is a whole other
enjoyable ballgame in addition to everything else.
I have a few online pals and a few
offline pals who I swing things by with, and a few offline, as well.
Although I don't consider them mentors, I have to say Koigu and
Philosopher's and Handmaiden were definitely inspiring way back. I
first encountered Koigu about, oh, 16 years ago? during the local
fall art studio tour here, in there area, and it was a wow moment.
But it was still another nearly 10 years before I dyed my first
skein. But the seeds of potential were planted that day.
Do you have a business model that you
have emulated?
Not particularly. When I got into
dyeing, there were only a handful of indie dyers around (2005)
compared to nowadays. I started doing skeins and then developed for
wholesale, which also helped me to develop repeatable colourways. I
had to give those 'dye on demand' colourways a break over the last
several years because of health issues. But the health is much
better these days so I'm going to be bringing those back very
shortly. I think choosing from a variety of colourways allows folks
more options than a skein which is only going to be around once. I
also like the rhythm of dyeing when you've got familiarity to work
with.
What impact has the Internet had on
your business?
Huge. I wouldn't have made it
otherwise because I didn't have the resources to hire a rep to go
door to door with my yarn to show to shops when I was starting out.
Do you use a tech editor?
Yes. Me. I also tech edit the work of
others (something else I'm going to be outlining better on my website
in the near future), and of course, I edit all the patterns available
on EnneaCollective.com. I also have a few fellow designers who will
review things for me before I hit the official published button.
 |
| Lori's hand dyed Yarn |
How do you maintain your life/work
balance?
Some days, not very well. LOL. It is
getting easier as I go forward. For the last five years I've had
some serious health issues which were very hard to get ironed out.
It's been hard to keep working in a pattern which I felt was
productive and fresh. Also, my youngest has ASD which requires
diligent parenting and awareness. So, I only dye when he's at
school, for example, or if I have childcare available. My husband
works from home a lot of the time as well so we work it out between
us to be sure our son's needs are covered while we're working. A lot
of my designing work happens late at night into the wee hours.
How do you deal with criticism?
I have been lucky to not have to face
negative criticism too often. But I appreciate constructive
criticism. I think, however, in the online world, people tend to be
more blatant about their likes/dislikes than they would face to face,
which can be hard to swallow, especially if you're working alone and
having to motivate yourself on a daily basis to put stuff out there.
I try to take everything I see/read with a grain of salt and know it
might not be quite as extreme as it sounds. If there is something
which crops up between myself and a knitter, with either a pattern or
a yarn issue, I do my best to rectify the situation to a positive
end.
In the end, however, I myself am
probably the most critical about my work, really.
How long did it take for you to be able
to support yourself?
Several years. There was a point where
I could have gone 'bigger' if I'd really pushed to develop the means
to do so. There is a fine balance as an indie designer/dyer, IMO, in
being able to remain hands-on and also be self-sufficient without
getting in over your head. I've hired people on a need by need basis
to help out with shows or skeining, but I don't feel I want to get
into a situation where I have to hire someone to help with actual
dyeing production because I think then you are entering the territory
whereby you're not an indie anymore, you are a company. I don't
think that's for me. So I tend to be a little modest in terms of
what I offer to folks because I don't want to get in over that line.
One year, however, I wound up doing outsourced club dyeing of huge
double-sized custom skeins which turned out to be for 400+ people
when I'd initially agreed to dye for 150. That was a frustrating
time because it took over a lot of everything in my life. I don't
really want to go there again although the financial rewards are
great. I tend to live frugally to avoid being in a constant
rat-race. Sometimes I do dream of having a fun-coloured late model
Mini Cooper to whiz around in. LOL.
There are days when I think, gee, it'd
be so easy to just have a 'regular' job with a pre-ordained paycheque
date, but I know even if I did have that, I would still be designing
and making things with wool. It's kind of compulsive. So, hey,
let's have that compulsion be an income source.
What advice would you give someone who
wants to pursue a career in knitting?
I don't know. It's fun sometimes and
sometimes it's hard. Like most things, I guess. If you enjoy it,
try it. The one thing about doing things professionally nowadays
versus even 10 years ago is the culture online is so developed, the
market is there. OTOH, I find the need for blogging and social
networking these days to be quite overwhelming at times. There is
not a lot of downtime. Because if you're not actually working on
designs or yarn, you are on Facebook or Ravelry or Twitter or Tumblr
or Instagram or LinkedIn or... it can be exhausting. And keeping
your website fresh can also take a lot of time and effort. OTOH, the
social networks are also inspiring and fun. It's all about 'being
there' vs just putting your work out there and talking about it,
these days. There is a lot of interaction involved in the business
these days. There are also organizations where membership can be
helpful, something I haven't yet jumped into, like TNNA. I know I
don't do enough of the social side of it. However, having all of
these things available is so great! If we were all just sitting in
our log cabins designing in isolation like 100 years ago it wouldn't
be the vibrant knitting world it is today. Everything is so
incredibly global now and the opportunities are exceptional. So, my
advice in terms of building a knitting career would be to know it
will involve more than just knitting to be successful. It's also a
very subjective business.
