Knitwear Designer

Just had to share....

More Truth Then Fiction

When I grow Up...

When I grow up. . .

[caption id="attachment_982" align="aligncenter" width="351" caption="Anne Hanson of Knitspot"][/caption]

 

. . . I want to be Anne Hanson of Knitspot! That is all.

Thanks Mom!

Yesterday, August 21st, was my mom's birthday! We celebrated with ice cream cake and lots of laughs.

I want to thank my mom for all she has done- giving birth to me, raising me, restraining herself from trying to kill me when I was a rebellious teenager- you know, mom stuff.

I'm really thankful for her introducing me to knitting. An advocate for all things crafty, my mom bought me a book on learning to knit along with needles and Red Heart yarn when I was about twelve. No one in my family knew how to knit. My grandmother and her sister knew how to crochet, but both of them had passed away a long time ago. So, we relied on this simple book to teach me  what my mom had hoped would be a good crafting skill. I did mange to make a crude looking sunglass case which I gave to my step-mother.

It would be almost ten years before I picked up the needles again, but I still remember that first book and the seed it planted which would one day blossom into me becoming a knitwear designer. Thanks Mom!

[caption id="attachment_986" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="The Knitting Book That Started It All"][/caption]

Boy Toy's Failed Attempt at Design

Well, I am happy to say that another one of my designs have been accepted by a yarn company!

I've just mailed off the completed garments from the other yarn company and working on swatches for a few more submission deadlines coming up.

It feels good to have some work to do and get paid for doing it. Like my Theatre teacher often told me- "The only real difference between a professional and an amature is a paycheck".

The interesting part about all this is trying to get my Boy Toy to  understand the whole process of me being paid to play with yarn.

Boy Toy: So, let me get this straight. You draw some shit on paper, turn it in to some company and they pay you for it?

Liver Chick: Well, that's part of it.

Boy Toy: So, I could get paid for drawing shit?

Liver Chick: It's not shit. I draw pretty pictures.

Boy Toy: Okay, so lets say I draw some pretty shit on paper and send it in,....

Liver Chick: Stop calling it shit! Call it 'stuff' or something.

Boy Toy: Alright. So I draw some pretty shitty stuff on paper and turn it in. Then they pay me for it?

Liver Chick: Say that five times fast.

Boy Toy: Pretty shitty stuff, pretty shitty stuff, pretty shitty....

Liver Chick: No. You actually have to 'make' what you draw and give instructions on how you made it so other people can make it too.

Boy Toy: Well, that's easy. I'll just give it to you to make.

Liver Chick: Oh, how nice of you, honey. Make me do all the work while you get all the money? I don't think so. If I do the work, then I get the money.

Boy Toy: No, that's not how it works. Remember, we're married. What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine.

Liver Chick: Um, I think that's my line, honey.

Boy Toy: No, I remember specifically in our vows that you are to honor and obey me and give me all your money.

Liver Chick: Maybe those were the vows you heard when you got drunk and married that hooker in Vegas, but that is not how it goes in this house. If you get a design accepted by a yarn company then you're gonna have to pick up your knitting loom and knit it yourself.

Boy Toy: But honey, you love me. And you suppose to do nice things for the people you love. So, if I get a design accepted, you'll do it for me, right?

Liver Chick: Only if you agree to clean the toilets for a month.

Boy Toy: Never mind.

The Pleasure of the Process

I was looking through my sketch books this morning and was blown away at the amount of ideas I have sketched and collected in just a year. I find the very process of coming up with ideas to be just as exciting as seeing the final results knitted up.

This got me to thinking about the notebooks of other designers and after a search on Flickr, I was very pleased to find some designers willing to give us a peek into their sketch books and design process. May you be inspired to pick up your pen and pad and create something new.

[caption id="attachment_891" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="photo by litlnemophoto by: have you any wool?photo by jessfir"][/caption]

 

photo by MaryJaneM

 

[caption id="attachment_894" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="photo by The Bacanes"][/caption]

 

 

Oogaling Olgajazzy

I was on the Deep South Fibers website looking at patterns and just fell in love with the designs by Olgajazzy, aka, Olga Buraya-Kefelian. Her pieces are just wonderful to look at and many of her techniques remind me of couture fashion techniques. Well constructed and beautifully presented, her patterns are the ones you've been saving that special yarn for.

You can find more of Olgajazzy's designs on Deep South Fibers, Ravelry and on her blog.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Design By Olgajazzy"][/caption]

 

Knitwear As Art

If you love couture fashions and enjoy seeing someone push the limits on what knitting and crochet can do, then you need to know Sandra Backlund. Go to her sight and bookmark it. Trust me, you'll come back to her sight often.

[caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="The Work of Sandra Backlund"][/caption]