Interview with Designer Tanja Luescher

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Linda Marveng

Tanja Luescher is one of the 335 designers taking part in the Indie Designer Gift-A-Long on Ravelry so she asked me if I would agree to an interview, or maybe even a swap? Great idea, I thought. Tanja, aka Wusel1811 on Ravelry, and I took part in a mystery knit along years back, I have since discovered that she lives in Switzerland with her husband and two cats. She started to knit more than ten years ago, and soon began to design her own patterns in order to get something that fits her. In 2013 she published her first pattern, and her own Ravelry group called Knitted in Switzerland, just as her blog. Another fascinating revelation is that Tanja speaks Norwegian, after attending a course before she and her husband visited Oslo in 2014. I am very impressed! The questions are the ones designer Janelle Martin asked me, which I thought were brilliant, and wanted to make a small series of interviews myself. Janelle’s interview of me will be posted on her blog on the 25. November. eclecticcloset.ca. But here is the interview with Tanja:

Who taught you to knit/How did you learn to knit? My mother taught me how to knit and purl at an early age, but I only made a scarf or sweater for a doll and stopped for years. When I met my husband we were living 600 km apart from each other and every Sunday we were standing at the train station, either in Germany or in Switzerland, saying goodbye. I was crying, and he was freezing. So I decided to finally learn to knit and bought a book. The sad part of the story is that hubby doesn’t wear anything I make him, unless it’s a pair of socks.

How did you get started designing? I started modifying and designing sweaters for me not too long after I had started knitting. I’m very small, so the measurements in the patterns didn’t fit me. In 2012 I took a course on lace shawl design by Renee Leverington and I haven’t looked back. 🙂

What inspires your designs?

Most of the time, it’s a stitch pattern. I love stitch dictionaries, I might have a small library of them, and whenever I look through them I find something new that begs me to knit it. As soon as I’ve said “yes”, I’ll hear a skein of yarn shouting my name because it wants to become this stitch pattern. Sometimes they change their mind when they’ve met each other, but quite often it works. 🙂

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?

Lace, lace, then maybe lace. And after that a touch of lace. 🙂 No, really, it’s important for me that my designs are interesting to knit, I love trying new stitches like Japanese or Estonian ones. They are so creative and give stunning results!

What is your favourite type of item to design?

Definitely shawls, but I also like small accessories like hats or cowls.

Tell me about designs like “Marion’s Cowl” (top photo) and “Thunder and Lightning” (photo above), with your intricate lace work.

They both came to life just the way I’ve described above. Both feature very old German stitch patterns from that I fell in love with the minute I saw it and just had to turn into a design. Marion’s Cowl was designed with my father’s cousin in mind. I met her and her husband after many, many years at my father’s funeral in March. She was wearing a gorgeous scarf and I immediately thought that I should make her something nice as a thank you for the holidays I spent at her house as a kid.

Do you have an aspirational knit – a complicated/challenging design that you want to knit “some day” when you feel ready?

Yes, I want to make something by Herbert Niebling, and I want to be brave enough to use cobweb yarn one day. 🙂 Another dream that I haven’t pursued yet is Double Knitting. I have Alasdair Post-Quinn’s Extreme Double Knitting but have yet to knit something from it.

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?

Oh, a lot 🙂 I recently found a really unique stitch pattern with lots of yarn overs and dropped stitches that I’ve used for a set of a cowl and a hat. After that there will be more shawls. I’m madly in love with Caterpillargreenyarns’ Shawl Stripes yarn. It’s dyed for making top-down triangular shawls where all the stripes have the same width, and I want to explore what happens when it is used for other shawl shapes. Up to now, the experiments have been very promising. The very next project to be released is a scarf in a heavenly soft merino yarn with picot welts.

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)

Garnstudio Drops Lace, I love that yarn! Let’s hope it’s a sunny and warm island so I won’t miss sweaters 🙂

Which is your most under-appreciated design? (See photo of Soraya’s Faroese shawl above)

I’d say it’s Soraya’s Faroese shawl. I love the pattern very much, but it hasn’t gathered much interest.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?

It’s only knitting. Dive right in, try things, experiment. If it doesn’t work, you can always frog it. It always makes me sad when people have knit for years but don’t dare trying something more complicated than garter or stockinette stitch scarves because they think it’s too hard.

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?

Working from stash and finishing what I start. But we know how that goes… 😉

If you could have dinner with one knitting designer (living or dead) who would it be and why?

Elizabeth Zimmermann! I love her attitude, her approach to knitting. I have all her books and many of her DVDs and she’s definitely the woman who has taught me the most about knitting.

Thank you so much, Tanja! Tusen takk!

To take part in the GAL and all the fun, join the Indie Design Gift-A-Long Group on Ravelry as well as one or more of the Knit/Crochet A-longs and possibly win some of the amazing prizes.

Interview with Designer Hanna Maciejewska

Posted on November 25, 2015 by Linda Marveng

Photo by Daniel Maciejewska

I was so lucky to meet the fantastic designer Hanna Maciejewska, aka hada131 on Ravelry, at the Wollness Weekend in the beautiful hills of the Pielach Valley, 1.5 hour outside of Vienna in Austria. Even before we met we exchanged experiences and became good friends. Hanna is taking part in the GAL 2015 and not for the first time, hence I had to ask her more about it. Then she asked to interview me, and I was delighted that she agreed to be interviewed by me too. The following questions are the brilliant ones I first received by designer Janelle Martin, and you can read my responses on her blog. Here is the interview with Hanna:

Who taught you to knit/How did you learn to knit? It was my grandmother who taught me how to knit. I don’t remember exactly when it was, but probably when I was 10 or so. In High School, I knit sweaters all the time and most of them were my own creations, but only a few years ago I realized that designing knitwear is truly my biggest passion!

GAL 2015 – photos by Daniel Maciejewska

How did you get started designing?

I have loved knitting since I was a child! And, I have always been knitting – mostly from my own imagination because I always wanted to have something unique and… I didn’t have too many knitting books 🙂 So I guess, it has always been a little bit of designing…

When I joined Ravelry a few years ago, at first, I posted projects just for fun. After a dear friend, who is a talented hand dyer, created a special yarn for me, I designed “Colors of Kauai” and felt encouraged to publish it. It was so well received that I decided to write down more of my designs – this is how it all started. I was hooked on designing from that point on!

What inspires your designs?

Everything! Most people who create things say this, don’t they? It is all true! The world is full of colors and shapes.

The place I live in influences me a lot, though it is not that obvious when you look at my designs. The serene place in the countryside near Toruń, where I live, my big garden (I am a huge fan of gardening, and whenever the weather permits, I love to sit on the porch and knit) and the forest nearby are quiet places to think about new designs and life in general and to look for sources of inspiration and get new ideas. I also like to walk around the Old Town of Toruń, feeling history and watching people.

The yarn stimulates me a lot, too. Its texture, colour, the possibilities it can bring etc. always amaze me. If a yarn doesn’t “talk” to me, I tend not to work with it.

A huge part of my inspiration originates from online sources. I can spend hours browsing Pinterest, Tumblr and similar sites, checking out current fashion trends and allowing myself to get inspired. It’s easy to get carried away when there is such a multitude of inspirational sources to explore, but there’s a downside to this too! I’m not alone watching these sites; everybody is seeing the same pictures, and however beautiful and inspiring they are, truth is if several people see the same pictures, then those several people might end up getting the same ideas!

A Floral Affair – photo by Daniel Maciejewska

Which comes first – the yarn or the inspiration?

It could be either. I’ve had it work both ways but most of the time it is the design idea that comes to me first. Then, I try to figure out what yarn would be the best for it and almost always discover that I don’t have it in my stash! LOL

On the other hand, several of my designs – such as Maisie, Aiolos or Fino – have been strictly inspired by the yarn that captured my attention.

What characteristics do you try to incorporate in your designs?

I always try to make them interesting to knit! And of course seamless 🙂

Since I am not the biggest enthusiast of seaming, I prefer to construct my garments and accessories as seamlessly as possible and move on to the next idea.

Also, the fit is very important to me. We all have uniquely shaped bodies, don’t we? Not all women have model-like measurements; therefore, we may want to custom tailor different areas of our knitwear to assure the best possible fit.

I have been quite generously equipped by the bust fairy and as you know, this can be both a blessing and a curse because it requires extra shaping in that section.

I keep this in mind and try to design garments that slim out the top of women’s bodies and balance them with the bottom half. I love open cardigans, deep neck openings and intriguing waist shaping – in short, everything that flatters!

What is your favourite type of item to design?

I am definitely a sweater designer. I like knitting and designing accessories (mostly hats and shawls) but sweaters I love the most.

There are so many different constructions you can play with! So many ways to do the shaping! Possibilities are endless.

Wien – photo by Daniel Maciejewska

Tell me about designs like “A Floral Affair” and ”Wien”.

Both garments have been designed for a special purpose (if I may say that) and knit with Malabrigo Yarn.

“A Floral Affair” was originally published by “Knit Now” Magazine, while “Wien” was created especially for the Wollness Weekend we had a pleasure to attend in September.

“A Floral Affair” is an elegant, fitted vest (or a top tank, if you wish) with a center flower motif and very deep, flattering neckline. This is something you would wear to work but also on a date.

“Wien”, on the other hand, is the traditional, classic winter sweater, with lots of texture, cables, garter stitch and extra cushy half-cardigan stitch sections. For a modern spin, waist shaping is achieved by the way the pattern on the back is arranged.

What is coming next? What’s in your release queue?

As most of the knitters, I always have a few projects on the needles at the same time.

At the moment, I am all about knitting hats and other winter accessories 🙂

However, I am also working on a collection for one of the great yarn companies and hope to have it ready in January. More exciting collaborations are coming next year! In the meantime, I hope to publish a few designs under my own name, too!

Your desert island yarn? (if you could only knit with one yarn from now on which would it be?)

This is such a tough question. I don’t think I can pick one yarn. I love them all! I want them all!!! 🙂

Wink – photo by Daniel Maciejewska

Which is your most under-appreciated design?

Oh, there are a few of them actually. However, I’m very self-critical, and I always find something that I could have done better.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with other knitters?

Keep knitting! Have fun! Look out for opportunities, and never ever let others put you down!

Any knitting/designing New Year’s resolutions?

Stick to my design schedule as much as possible. Be more organized and focused.

Pompanos Hat - photo by Daniel Maciejewska

Pomponious Hat – photo by Daniel Maciejewska

Thank you so much, Hanna! You can read more about Hanna here: hadaknits.com/blog and find all her lovely patterns here: ravelry.com/designers/hanna-maciejewska.

What is Indie Design Gift-A-Long; GAL?

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Linda Marveng

That is the question I asked myself, last year, as I watched all the commotion, not only in the dedicated Indie Design-Gift-A-Long group on Ravelry but also in other groups. Why are you not taking part as a Designer? One of my group members asked, but I was snowed in with other work, and realized that I needed to find out more about the technicalities of it. This year I had no choice but to join since Merryn, aka greatminds on Ravelry, had sent me all the links to the GAL planning group and how-to pages, in addition to the deadlines. I am pleased to say that I am in! Not without the help of Merryn and also designer Hanna Maciejewska, aka hada131, who also told me that I had to join. So “What is Gift-A-Long? It’s a multi-designer promotion to help you kick your holiday gift-making into high gear! The Indie Design-Gift-A-Long is a 6 week long KAL/CAL of holiday gifts made from patterns designed by a rather extensive list of independent designers. From Thursday, November 19th at 8:00 pm US EST – Friday, November 27, 2015 at 11:59 pm US EST tons of indie designers will be discounting between 5 – 20 of their patterns 25% for this event. Use coupon code: giftalong2015.” There are 2 300 electronic pattern prizes to be won as well as physical prizes, for taking part in the KAL/CAL and the Designer Hunt Game. Take a look at the interesting stats above.

So I had my husband make a collage of some of my discounted patterns, signed on in the dedicated time-space, made a bundle with the 18 discounted patterns I had chosen – thinking that I could add 2 more later, since there was a new release thread in the group but not realizing all the organizing that goes on behind by numerous volunteers – and set up the two different promotions (one set of individual codes for prizes and one for the coupon code for the whole period). You can see my Gift-A-Long bundle here: ravelry.com/designers/linda-marveng. It has been a steep learning curve, but now the fun has started with interview requests and links to my selected designs in the chat & planning thread in the group. Do not miss out, come and join us!

Wollness Weekend Photographed by Dominik Matyas

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Linda Marveng

All the brilliant photos Dominik Matyas, bydominik.com, took at the Wollness Weekend, at Hotel Steinschalerhof, 1.5 hour outside of Vienna, are ready. He has captured the fun we had so well. Above are the organizers; the Austrian Yarn Club founders and some of us workshops holders together with the two husbands present: From the right: Uschi – Ursula Koll, aka Grinsekatz on Ravelry; Irene Brenner aka Irenevienna; Teresa Schinwald, aka RedUrchin second from left and behind her Kathi Fritz, aka dewthing. Lovely and talented designer Hanna Maciejewska, aka hada131, in the center who held workshops in English just a me standing next to her with my husband Michael at the back and in the corner Hanna’s husband Daniel. In the opposite corner, far left, is Betta Pierantoni who held a workshop on Estonian colorwork in German.

Here we are photographing Isabella doing the hippo dance, on the order of Dominik to make us all laugh, you can see my photo of it here: vienna-calling. Guess who acted like a paparazzi?

Above is the portrait Dominik took during my Finishing workshop, and below a collage of some of the photos he took. Dominik was so surprised by everybody’s delightful reaction to my announcement that buttons and buttonholes were next on the agenda. He added it into his workshop in photography, to my delight.

Below is a collage of Hanna’s workshop: Top-Down Set-in Sleeve. You can read more about her impressions of the weekend on her blog here: hadaknits.com/wollness-weekend.

Last but certainly not least is Dominik’s collage from the Wool market, open on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. There were lot of temptations but the selection was a bit overwhelming for some of us. You can find even more photos and info on the Austrian Yarn Club website here: yarnclub.at.

It was a thrill being there during the Wollness Weekend, and meeting so many brilliant knitters, test knitters in person, designer Hanna & Daniel and photographer Dominik. Thank you all!

Familien Julens Småstrikk with 3 of My Designs

Posted on November 14, 2015 by Linda Marveng

On Monday the special issue, Familien Julens Småstrikk/Christmas Small Knits is published with my designs; Hertha, Nuala and Syndra, to my utter delight. The shawl Hertha with loose sleeves, stunningly worn by Anne Dorthe/Team Models with hair and make up by Sissel Fylling, jewelry by Kaja Gjedebo, fringe skirt by Judith Bech, and brilliantly captured by Eivind Røhne at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, is on the cover in the bottom corner – see above – but much larger both on the contents page but also inside – see below.

Here you can see Hertha’s traditional lace pattern with shadow triangels in half stocking stitch and half garter stitch, tucks, shawl collar as well as magnificent jewelry by Kaja Gjedebo up close. The shawl and the loose sleeves are knitted in the divine Jaggerspun Zephyr Lace held double using 3 mm/US 2.5 and 3.5 mm/US 4, and is available in sizes: S/M (L/XL, 2XL).

“Gorgeous details. Beautiful garments in lace knitting designed by Linda Marveng, says the introduction”. Hertha in old Norse means a powerful woman, ideal for this modern shawl with a shawl collar, that can be worn in different ways. The loose sleeves have elastic inserted into the top hem to keep them in place. They are knitted in the round unlike the shawl. The collar on the shawl is shaped by short rows, and ends in an i-cord bind off. The hem and tucks are all knitted with 2 circular needles held parallel.

“The shawl with a shawl collar can be worn as a scarf around the neck, a shawl around the shoulders, or as a top; if worn upside down and pinned together with a shoulder pin. Anne Dorthe from Team Models is photographed at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter with Poplar Necklace and Magnolia earrings by Kaja Gjedebo.” see kgd.no.

“An intricate woven lacy stitch pattern with dropped stitches is highlighted with the cable structured Softknit Cotton by Rowan in this reversible rectangular shawl that can be buttoned into a shrug.” The Nuala shawl and cowl are both knitted flat using 4.5 mm/US 7. You can easily adjust the width of the shawl and the circumference of the cowl by removing or adding pattern repeats of 9-sts. The first 4 buttonholes are worked on the RS, while the last 4 buttonholes are worked on the WS. Both are made using the same one-row method.

“A cowl to warm you shoulders and matching loose sleeves. Both are knitted in the round using a beautiful reversible stitch pattern called Reverse Fern Stitch with a lush texture and I-cord bands. Make your own perfect yarn by combining a lace weight yarn like the luscious Dreamline Soul from Du Store Alpakka with a fingering yarn like Merino Tweed from Pickles.” The set is named after Syndra with her immense magical potential and knitted with both yarns held together to create a DK/8 ply yarn, using a 4 mm/US 6. Familien Julens Småstrikk will be available in all newsagents and selected supermarkets in Norway, as well as digitally here: www.klikk.no. All the patterns will be published in English on Ravelry after test knitting; Syndra is ongoing while Hertha and Nuala will be test knitted in March.

Strikkehelgen/Knitting Weekend in Stavanger

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Linda Marveng

Yes, I have had yet another superb weekend in Stavanger, in south west Norway. I have spent most of the time teaching two workshops; Japanese Patterns and Lace Knitting at the Stavanger Bibliotek/library – the very heart of the city. I flew in on Friday afternoon and was met by my knitting friend and host Anja Præsttun Smith – yes, her husband is English too – at the airport. After a quick sushi dinner we ran to take part in the Stasjonsstrikk/Station Knit event at the library, where seven of us taught a knitting technique to seven moving groups of four knitters. I explained and taught tucks, while Anja taught the magic loop method, designer Charlotte Kaae taught Intarsia and Tone Cecilie Nystrøm taught I-cord bind off – wearing my design the Lyre Bolero – just to mention a few. The 10 minutes at each station went quickly and left us with sweaty hands and hot knitting needles. Afterwards there were talks and I was keen to meet as well as to hear Kari-Helene Rane talk about her design background and co-ownership of Purl Alpaca Designs in the UK, where she lives. Above you see her explaining about the alpaca hairs. Next on the program was Read & Knit with author Eskil Aasmul, then the knit café where a new hat was made for the real estate developer Olav Thon well known for his orange knitted hat. Here is a link to the full program: strikkehelgstavanger.

You can see Anja knitting, third from the right, and be impressed by her speed if watch the brief video interview with her and Gunnhild Marie Hagen, who taught the entrelac method of knitting. See their grinning faces – so characteristic of them both – below, and watch the video here: aftenbladet.no.

@ Anders Minge/Stavanger Aftenblad

Saturday night there was a knitting party at the Røde Sjøhus/Red Seahouse. I was so happy to be seated next to the Danish designers: Charlotte Kaae, Lene Holme Samsøe, (wearing a traditional kofte), Bente Geil and the Swedish designer Anita Grahn (wearing a pink shawl). Bente has her own yarn company, Geilsk, and know a lot about our desperate need for more yarn, she revealed and gave us new ideas for how to bring it into our already well stocked yarn stash: Leave it in the car for a day, then it becomes old yarn and can easily be moved into the house. You can see her talking below. We had tapas but chatted, laughed, and knitted more than we ate. A band played while we knitted – some where even smart enough to bring their headlamps so that they could see properly! The winners of the lottery was drawn, and they were all very happy knitters indeed.

My lace knitting workshop, the day after, was held in the Glasshuset/Glasshouse which was more like a glass cage, since there were only 4 signed on and we could just squeeze in. The Strikk & Drikk/Knit & Drink organizer Monica Haga selected us as one the television crew from Tv Vest could film, so below you can see the top of my head in the front.

@ Tv Vest

Even if you do not understand Norwegian the video from Tv Vest gives you a good impression of the event itself: tvvest.no/eldorado-for-strikkere. If you know my designs well, you might have spotted that Bodhild Peerstøe (in white) is wearing the Jacket in Cross from my book. Instead of using the original Valley Yarns Tencel she choose a thin crochet cotton yarn and sewed on a button at the end of the tie to close it at the back instead of tying it at the front. See the photo I took of her below. I was thrilled to see it and how well it suited Bodhild! Thank you!

With little time not knitting nor teaching, I had a magnificent time in Stavanger just as I did last year! Thank you to all the organizers and to Anja for letting me stay with her and her lovely family again!

Aine Knitted by Designer Shireen Nadir

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Linda Marveng

TheBlueBrick/www.thebluebrick.ca

My jaw dropped when I saw all the divine photos designer Shireen Nadir posted on her blog, TheBlueBrick of my design Aine photographed not only in Rome with a magnificent backdrop but also on the cruise ship going there. Aine is part of the SweetGeorgia Yarns Fall Collection and so is Siesta – a clever cowl with a triangular shape at the front – designed by Shireen. Above a photo of Shireen taken at the Ponte Sant’Angelo with the Castel Sant’Angelo in the background. I was gobsmacked to read that: “On our honeymoon, Aine was with me every evening on the ship 🙂 I am completely in love with this cowl, the texture is out of this world! Linda Marveng, the designer, is a genius”.

TheBlueBrick/www.thebluebrick.ca

Shireen’s Honeymoon Aine is made in “Sweet Georgia’s Merino Silk Aran (discontinued) in the colour way ‘Goldmine’. I’ve been hoarding it forever and this was just the perfect project for such a luxury yarn”. Let it be mentioned that while Shireen was knitting her husband was sketching, so they were both engrossed in their hobbies in the evenings. Yes, one of the knitters did comment upon it. Do join my Ravelry group unless you have done so already, we do have a lot of laughs, and we all do knit a lot, see www.ravelry.com/groups/linda-marveng.

TheBlueBrick/www.bluebrick.ca

Here is another of Shireen’s photos I could not stop admiring. I love how she has captured the texture so well! Thank you so much, Shireen!

Interweave Knits Winter 2016 with my Inverness Sweater

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Linda Marveng

I am so proud to have been selected to have a design in the Classics Issue – Interweave Knits Winter 2016. My design is the Inverness Sweater – which introduces the A light in winter chapter – a classic Aran, has a becoming A-line shape. Twisted rib stitching introduces twisted long cables that are divided by ray-of-honey and moss-stitch side panels. I am delighted with the large selection of photos Harper Point Photography has taken of it, and want to show them all. Above is the cover of the magazine, now available digitally and in a few weeks time in print. My design was also chosen by editor (and a designer herself) Meghan Babin as her favorite project to my astonishment and utter delight, see the Knitting Daily newsletter here: cable-month-kick-off-interweave-knits-winter-2016.