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.

GIFT-A-LONG 2014

It's over 4 years since I last blogged! Where on Earth did the time go?

Well I am here now to promote the annual Gift-a-Long on Ravelry.

What is it? In a nutshell around 200 designers reduce their patterns by 25% for a week between 13th and 20th November. There are huge KALs and CAls with hundreds of prizes running through the holiday season until the end of the year, a nd generally a good time is had by all.

So pick a pattern, join and KAL or GAL and have some fun.

As last year all my patterns are part of this promotion though the Wingspan eBook is only so unofficially as eBooks are not included.

To benefit from the promotion put the pattern(s) in your shopping cart, use the coupon code and voila the reduction happens automatically.

You can find my patterns here

My partner in crime at Tri'Coterie Yarns is also taking part - find her patterns here.

Shipping Rates

It's been a while since I messed with the templates. I'll get round to it but for now here are the shipping rates for any combination of things.

Within France (colissimo)
upto 500g $9.00
upto 1Kg $11.40
upto 2Kg $13.00

European Union
upto 200g $6.30
upto 400g $10.00
upto 800g $12.70
upto 1200g $16.70

Worldwide
upto 200g $8.70
upto 400g $11.60
upto 800g $16.40
upto 1200g $19.90

Contact me by email on

or you can message me on Ravelry, I'm maylin there.

Bluefaced Leicester Roving

Time to start my clearout. Because I seriously need the room at the moment I have nearly halved my usual prices. All the roving in this post is $9 /100g. I will post shipping costs and my email in the sidebar. If you want something email me with the details and your email address and I will send you a Paypal invoice. Starting with superwash BFL roving. This is soft and oh so silky. A dream to spin. Not suitable for felting though. Packed in 100g bags.

Learning to Fly - turquoise blue and brown - 1 pack remaining.

Twilight - purples with a touch of black - ~~3 bags~~ 1 bag remaining.

Rusty - oranges, browns and a hint of grey - ~~1 bag remaining~~ sorry all gone.

Hydraulic Level 5 - blues and bluey greens - 2 bags remaining.

Dawn in the Forest - peachy pinks, grey and green - 2 bags remaining.

I also have a large quantity of non superwash bfl (so suitable for spinning and felting) that has been dyed with natural dyes. I have 2 colours - Old Rose, dyed with cochineal and Peach Rose, dyed with catecu (cutch). Just let me know how much you would like.

It's Been a While

Lots of reasons why.

This year has been difficult and will probably remain so for a while. Emotional stuff for the most part. My mother was very ill and died in March.

It was always going to be traumatic but as these things go it was probably the best it was going to be. She died peacefully, without pain having received the Last Rites which seemed to reassure her. This is a favorite picture of mine from her younger days.

One positive thing to come out of it was the opportunity to reconnect more than superficially with my 3 brothers.

They say you never really become an adult until both your parents are dead. It has certainly been a time of re-evaluation for me.

One consequence of that is the decision to put more effort into the yarn dyeing. I want to think it out more thoroughly though before launching forth, so the Etsy Shop is on a bit of hiatus just ticking over with a few things in it. I have lots of other stock that I will be clearing through the blog and through Ravelry, ready for a fresh beginning in the autumn.

Now I just need to get to grips with this camera....

Wonderwool Wales 2010

I'm moping. I have just received the booking forms for Wonderwool Wales 2010. I had a great time there the last 2 years and was really looking forward to going again. However there is now a requirement to provide Public Liability Insurance which I can see is going to be a problem.

To get insurance in the UK I would need to be registered at a UK address. Getting insurance in France requires me to be trading in France which I don't do (and have no desire to - the bureaucracy is unbelievable - and expensive). Sigh.

I wish the event would just organise some insurance for everyone and charge us accordingly. Or that is was possible to get insurance just for a one off event.

I'm at a loss. Any ideas?