INTRODUCING.....
Christmas is here but gift knitting isn't over so let me introduce
Actually, yes! My designs are inspired by the landscape of Vermont, where beauty and function are found hand in hand.
How long have you been designing? What got you started?
Where do you draw inspiration from?
I’ve been designing for myself since I started knitting. I learned to knit from a college friend who never followed patterns. And with a background in sewing that didn’t bother me. I just knit things in the shapes I wanted, and added seams as needed. It was probably almost a year into my knitting that I realized there were patterns out there I could be following…
I started knitting in college because I needed something to distract me from my homework, and I finally had a friend who could teach me. None of my relatives were knitters and while I’d wanted to learn as a kid no one could teach me. That’s why I learned to sew instead. I got started designing because I had some friends who wanted to knit the cabled gloves I had made. By the time I’d gone through all the work to write it down someone said “you should submit this to knitty” Those were my Kingdom gloves.
My inspiration comes from all around me. Yes, the actual landscape of Vermont: the texture of a hay field (Glorious Morning) the old boards on a barn wall (Root Cellar, twisting grape vines (Boyden) and the list goes on.
How does designing fit in with the rest of your life? Is it a full time job, part time job, or other? If you do a different job full time, is designing at all related?
Oh, good question - except that I don’t feel like designing is fitting in at all right now. I have a full time job, as a scientist. Knitting is my hobby and designing is my creative outlet - so they’re not at all related. I also have a 15 month old, and ever since I’ve gone back to work I feel like all my hobbies have taken a side line while work and my daughter are the two things I focus on. I still have design ideas, and they’re slowly filling up my brain. There’s no release for them right now! But someday, hopefully soon, I’ll have more time and the designs will come to life.
Who is your favourite designer?
I have so much trouble picking just one! I love cables. For a classic designer no one beats Alice Starmore. For a modern designer with an equally good eye for cables I’ll pick Glenna C.
What do you look for in a pattern?
I don’t know if I can pick one thing. I love cables, and intricate colorwork. But I also love designs that manage to take stockinette, or a simple textured pattern, and make something unique and beautiful.
Which of your designs are you most proud of and why?
If I had to pick just one I’d go with Grand View. That sweater is a combination of classic texture and cables with modern shaping, a fancy picot hem and plain reverse stockinette. It’s knit at a fine gauge and obviously it’s not my most popular design. But I really love it.
What’s next for your design line? Is there anything you want to tell us about?
As I mentioned my design time is limited right now, but I do have a book coming out next year! It will be published through Cooperative Press, and it’s going to be a combination of knitting patterns and cooking recipes all inspired by the local foods, farms, and community of Vermont. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this anywhere outside my own blog yet. But if people want to know more that’s really the best place to keep track of what I’m doing: http://beckyinvt.wordpress.com and there’s a newsletter sign up there too, if they prefer.
BeckyinVT
Becky, like myself, is taking part in the Ravelry Giftalong2014 and I am profiling her work here today. So without further adieu let us commence with the interview :)
Can you describe your design portfolio in one sentence?Actually, yes! My designs are inspired by the landscape of Vermont, where beauty and function are found hand in hand.
How long have you been designing? What got you started?
Where do you draw inspiration from?
I’ve been designing for myself since I started knitting. I learned to knit from a college friend who never followed patterns. And with a background in sewing that didn’t bother me. I just knit things in the shapes I wanted, and added seams as needed. It was probably almost a year into my knitting that I realized there were patterns out there I could be following…
I started knitting in college because I needed something to distract me from my homework, and I finally had a friend who could teach me. None of my relatives were knitters and while I’d wanted to learn as a kid no one could teach me. That’s why I learned to sew instead. I got started designing because I had some friends who wanted to knit the cabled gloves I had made. By the time I’d gone through all the work to write it down someone said “you should submit this to knitty” Those were my Kingdom gloves.
My inspiration comes from all around me. Yes, the actual landscape of Vermont: the texture of a hay field (Glorious Morning) the old boards on a barn wall (Root Cellar, twisting grape vines (Boyden) and the list goes on.
 |
| Boyden - inspired by twisting grapevines |
How does designing fit in with the rest of your life? Is it a full time job, part time job, or other? If you do a different job full time, is designing at all related?
Oh, good question - except that I don’t feel like designing is fitting in at all right now. I have a full time job, as a scientist. Knitting is my hobby and designing is my creative outlet - so they’re not at all related. I also have a 15 month old, and ever since I’ve gone back to work I feel like all my hobbies have taken a side line while work and my daughter are the two things I focus on. I still have design ideas, and they’re slowly filling up my brain. There’s no release for them right now! But someday, hopefully soon, I’ll have more time and the designs will come to life.
Who is your favourite designer?
I have so much trouble picking just one! I love cables. For a classic designer no one beats Alice Starmore. For a modern designer with an equally good eye for cables I’ll pick Glenna C.
 |
| Alice Starmore is a favorite |
What do you look for in a pattern?
I don’t know if I can pick one thing. I love cables, and intricate colorwork. But I also love designs that manage to take stockinette, or a simple textured pattern, and make something unique and beautiful.
Which of your designs are you most proud of and why?
If I had to pick just one I’d go with Grand View. That sweater is a combination of classic texture and cables with modern shaping, a fancy picot hem and plain reverse stockinette. It’s knit at a fine gauge and obviously it’s not my most popular design. But I really love it.
 |
| Grand View |
What’s next for your design line? Is there anything you want to tell us about?
As I mentioned my design time is limited right now, but I do have a book coming out next year! It will be published through Cooperative Press, and it’s going to be a combination of knitting patterns and cooking recipes all inspired by the local foods, farms, and community of Vermont. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this anywhere outside my own blog yet. But if people want to know more that’s really the best place to keep track of what I’m doing: http://beckyinvt.wordpress.com and there’s a newsletter sign up there too, if they prefer.
posted by maylin at 7:20 PM
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