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! 

Designer Spotlight: Ruth Garcia-Alcantud

Today we're kicking off a new series here on the Knitter's Pride blog called the Designer Spotlight. In this series, we'll interview independent knitting and crochet designers, and today we're thrilled to bring you an interview with well-known knitwear designer and technical editor Ruth Garcia-Alcantud  (you may also know her as Rock + Purl). 

Ruth was born in Spain, then lived in the UK for over a decade, and recently moved to sunny California. Her father worked in the fashion industry, and her mother was a computer programmer, so it's no surprise she combined the two to become a hand-knit pattern designer!


KP: How long have you been knitting, and how did you get started designing? 
RGA: I started knitting when I was very young - I believe I was 6 or 7 years old. And, actually, I started crocheting first! I also tried ALL the crafts: clay modelling, figurine painting, cross-stitch, sewing... and made tons of clothes for my dolls. Of course when I was a teenager I didn't even touch the needles, but as I was into my mid-20s I started again and now there's no stopping me.
I always modified all the patterns I was knitting, mostly because I have really long arms but a short torso, so changing those aspects to fit my figure was key. Making the move from there to my own designs was quite easy and natural.
KP: You're also a tech editor, and for those who don't know, can you tell us what a tech editor does? How does it differ from designing?

Echoes of Winter

RGA: A technical editor (TE for short) is hired by designers and publishers to check the accuracy of patterns before they are released. We check charts, mathematics, sizing, wording, grammar, spelling, and, if necessary, we also change the style of the pattern to match the rest of the designer's portfolio, or the style sheet of the publisher. 

All designers should arm themselves with a good TE - for a start, as designers we have "tunnel vision" on our own work and find it hard to find mistakes and errors. A TE is far enough from the piece to be able to pick at it. Also, it provides you with a professional product, which is crucial if you want knitters to pay for your pattern.

Lichen Mists

KP: When you're not knitting (or sleeping) what do you like to do? 
RGA: I've recently relocated from the south of the UK to the East Bay in California - currently all my spare time is spent investigating new areas, new streets, finding new cafes, restaurants... and yarn shops!!!


KP: Of all your designs, which is your favorite? 
RGA: I have a very soft spot for 2 particular ones: Chambourcin, which is a very flattering lace hoodie. And Echoes of Winter: I'm very proud of it, the shaping is beautiful and it flatters women of all sizes.
If we are not talking about garments... Lichen Mists and Libelula are my favorite shawls!


KP: Do you have any knitting horror stories or mishaps? 
RGA: Uh... Yes. A very silly one? When I started knitting again in my 20s I made a garment from this pattern. The pattern said to use "Cotton DK and 4mm needles" and I used "bamboo sportweight and US4 needles". YIKES. It was horribly saggy, the gauge was off, and it died a horrible death: I took it apart and frogged it entirely!

Follow Ruth and get to know her better: 
Twitter: @rockandpurl
Facebook: Rock+Purl
Instagram: @rockandpurl
Flickr: Rock+Purl
Ravelry: Ruth Garcia-Alcantud

Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Margo Watkins and Gwenn, you will both be receiving a Waves Crochet hook to try! We'll be in touch to arrange delivery of your prize.

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