Designer Spotlight: Teresa Gregorio

Today's designer spotlight designer is Teresa Gregorio. Teresa is a knitwear designer from Ontario, Canada. Her love of fashion, art, and history combine in her designs, which are feminine, young, and wearable. She focuses mainly on garments and accessories for women. You can find her work published in the online publications Knotions and Holla Knits, the book Brave New Knits, Knit Picks, Knitscene, and a number of self-published patterns and collections.

KP: How long have you been knitting, and how did you get started designing? 
TG: I’ve been knitting for about ten years now. I taught myself from the first Stitch n’ Bitch and immediately glommed on to the online knitting community. I was always so inspired by the work people created, many of them without a pattern. Since I’ve always loved to make things, and push the boundaries of my making, jumping to design was really rather quick. A bit too quick, maybe.

Paridae by Teresa Gregorio

KP: Where do you get inspiration? Can you tell us about your design process? 
TG: Fashion, art, and history are my main sources of inspiration. I’ve always been a sucker for costume dramas, window shopping, and style that’s overtly baroque and luscious. My design process starts with a bunch of sketching, a bit of research (I like to test out fun and sometimes challenging techniques) and a generous amount of flipping through stitch dictionaries. I always ask myself if I could see myself wearing the piece; sometimes if I’m feeling really on top of things I’ll fantasize about the romance text, which sort of helps to clarify my ideas.

KP: Of all your designs, which is your favorite? 
TG: Right now it’s Paridae. And I think that’s in large part due to the beautiful Zen Yarn Garden in Serenity Worsted that I was able to use for the sample. It just shines! It makes the waist decreases at the small of the back look lovely and give the voluminous hood some weight and dramatic flair. Plus, I love me some seed stitch.

Teresa's workspace

That one is followed closely by Lucania, which I’m quite pleased with because I think I was able to conquer the bobble-monster and create a design that uses them successfully.

KP: Do you have any knitting horror stories/mishaps? 
TG: My first and worst was also my inaugural design. I wanted a sweater, and didn’t really realize that I had almost no business trying to design a sweater. Especially seeing as I’d never even knit one from a pattern before. It turned out too snug, particularly around the arms. I don’t know where it is now; I likely hurled it halfway around the globe, powered by disappointment, shame, and the realization that I spent so much lovely yarn, time, and effort on this one failed piece.

You can learn more about Teresa on her website, find her designs on Ravelry, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

You can see more of our designer spotlight posts here.

Giveaway Winner

Congrats to Mountain Woman! You're our lucky Karbonz Interchangeable Needle Starter Set! We'll be in touch to arrange delivery of your prize. Thanks to everyone who participated. 

Designer Spotlight: Bristol Ivy

Today we have another post in our Designer Spotlight series. Bristol Ivy is a knitting designer and fiber artist from

Portland, Maine. Her work focuses on the intersection between classic tailoring and innovative technique, and includes publications with Brooklyn Tweed, Quince & Co., Twist Collective, Knitty, Interweave Knits, Knitscene, and knit.wear. You can follow her adventures at her blog, on Ravelry, Twitter, and Instagram, and in her Ravelry group, Bristol Ivy Designs.

KP: How long have you been knitting, and how did you get started designing?

BI: I've been knitting since I was six, so around 22 years.  I wasn't into fiber arts until I was about 16, despite the fact that I grew up with it; my mom was a quilter, knitter, and threadwork whiz all through my childhood.  But just before I headed off to college, it felt like a little switch flipped, and the obsession became full-blown!

I started designing about five years ago.  I've always been someone who likes trying their hand at the creative side of their obsessions, if that makes sense: if I read, I wrote; if I danced, I choreographed; if I knit, I designed.  I sent in my first submission in 2010 while I was traveling around New Zealand, working on sheep and fiber farms, and published my first pattern a few months after I got back home.  It's been a whirlwind since then!

KP: You work within the knitting industry for your day job and design

Kit Camisole by Bristol Ivy from Quince & Co.

on the side. Do you ever get sick of talking about knitting, fiber, and yarn? 

BI: Haha, never! Knitting and the knitting industry satisfy so many different parts of my brain; creative, analytical, logical, social.  I don't think I'll ever be sick of it--though sometimes I do like not having to think about what I'm knitting so I can just zone out in the evenings!

KP: When you're not knitting (or sleeping) what do you like to do? 

BI: I love cooking and baking, and the impromptu kitchen dance parties that go along with it.  I also love other fiber arts--spinning, weaving, dyeing, felting--and am working on my sewing skills.  I also go running when I can, which is a great way to shake loose any stuck ideas!

KP: Of all your designs, which is your favorite?

Oh, that's a hard one! There are a couple that just came together better than I could have ever envisioned--the perfect combination of yarn, styling, and photography doing more for my original idea than I thought possible! The Kit Camisole with Quince & Co., in their fingering weight linen Sparrow, is one of these, and Winnowing in Wool People 2, in Brooklyn Tweed's Loft, is another.  It's always a good day when you see the pattern proofs and the photos for the first time and you get shivers of excitement!

Winnowing by Bristol Ivy from Wool People 2

KP: Do you have any knitting horror stories or mishaps? 

BI: Oh my gosh, so many.  Most involve fingering weight, late nights, and tight deadlines! My most recent project just wouldn't die: fingering weight, lots of stitches, unusual shaping and construction--I was so ready to be done! I finally got everything seamed at around midnight and went to go take a look in the mirror, and I was SWIMMING in it.  We're talking 16" of positive ease at the hips.  Luckily, with the construction I was able to rip back a few inches and snug things up, but that cascaded into other problems, and then I re-seamed it twisted THREE times... needless to say I wanted to throw it in the corner for a while! But I'm really happy I stuck with it and I know I'll wear it a lot.

Bristol's workspace

Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Rachel Laughlin, you're our lucky winner! You've won a Karbonz Interchangeable Starter Set! 

Special Post + Giveaway: Knit and Crochet Now!

On today's post, we have a special interview with Ellen Gormley, renowned crochet designer and resident expert on the Knit and Crochet Now! show. There is also an opportunity for one of our lucky readers to win Season 4 of the Knit and Crochet Now! series on DVD and a set of Knitter's Pride Waves crochet hooks - read on for more information! 

What inspired you to try crochet? Do you do any other crafts? 

Crafting and crochet in particular was part of the culture of my family. My mom dabbled in many crafts but crochet was perhaps most dominant. My Great-Aunt lived next door and was an avid thread crocheter. I have practiced sewing, knitting, embroidery, quilting, latch-hooking but have found to crochet to be the most portable and compelling. I currently have a few knit projects in progress as well as crochet.

What are your 3 essential tools for your preferred craft? 

My three preferred tools (besides hook and scissors) are my digital camera, for taking process photos and visual note-taking, a blunt tip tapestry needle, and locking stitch markers. I wish locking stitch markers were sold by the hundred and included at least 5 colors. 

Have you ever had a project go horribly wrong? When disaster strikes, do you try to make the best of it, or do you prefer to frog and start over again? 

Yes! I have had many projects go horribly wrong!  I learned a real lesson in gauge early on when I crocheted a sweater that was probably 6 sizes too big...why didn't I try it on as I went?  I try to "harvest" the yarn and frog out projects that didn't work to re-use the yarn. Sometimes when I have a horrible project, I put it in the back of the closet until I can get enough time and space to deal with it later.

What is one tip you learned way too late in your crafting career? 

Something I wish I had learned earlier in my crafting life would be that it is ok to break the rules. Generally there are accepted ways of joining yarn, beginning a row, or joining a round, but just because the pattern describes the traditional methods, the crafter can switch to her preferred method. As a designer, I'm allowed to change it as long as I can adequately describe how it was completed.

What do you see as the next big trend in crochet?

The next big trend in crochet might be simple lace paired with DK weight yarns. I think crocheters yearn to make showstopping wearable accessories that are worthy of quality yarn.

Giveaway

One lucky reader will be randomly selected to win a DVD copy of Knit and Crochet Now Season 4 and a Waves Crochet Set! To be eligible, simply leave a comment on this post telling us what Knitter's Pride products are on your wish list this year. Be sure to also include a Ravelry ID or email address so that we can contact you if you win! 

We'll randomly select one lucky winner to announce on our next blog post on December 27. Good luck! 

Many thanks to Ellen Gormley and the folks at Annie's Publishing for making this interview and DVD giveaway possible.