Interview with Neesha Hunter

Knitbot got a facelift - tada! Neesha Hunter designed my new logo and the header at the top of this blog.

She joins us for a little Q & A:

Have you always had an interest in illustration? For as long as I can remember I loved to draw.  I never knew illustration existed until I was in high school.  I remember asking a friend when I was about 12 if there was a job where I could draw and paint the things I liked but get paid for it.  She said it didn't exist.  I was really excited when I realized it did.

nh1.jpg Where did you go to College? Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL.  They had a great illustration program and a lot of influential teachers.  However, after four years in Florida I got pretty sick of palm trees. Where do you draw inspiration from? Other artists for sure.  Kim Minji is my new favorite.  I also love James Jean, Lisbeth Zwerger, Gris Grimly, Adam Rex, Oliver Jeffers, Jon Foster...the list goes on.  I basically scour the internet and bookstores for new artists to check out.  The children's book section at the bookstore has given me an overwhelming amount of artists to look at and study.  Otherwise, I love people watching.  You can get some good ideas for characters from sitting down in a bookstore or on a bench and drawing the people you see.  It's also a great way to learn gesture and anatomy.

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What sort of projects are you currently working on? I am doing quite a bit of graphic design work right now.  Logos, graphics, etc.  Those pay the bills.  However, my passion is for children's book illustration.  I'm writing a picture book called "The Rainbow Colored Snow Fox" and hoping to have that ready to send to some publishers in a couple months.

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Where can people find more of your work? For now, here.  I'm hoping to have a website up soonish.

Thanks Neesha - I love my new look.

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Oh, and thank you Abe for working the illustrations into my blog for me :)

Interview with Stefanie Japel

japel3_sm.jpg 1.  Who were you pre-knitwear designer?

Hm.  Undergraduate student in geosciences (at SUNY StonyBrook.)

2. Can you give us some history on your brand - how did Glampyre come about?

The name Glampyre started out as a joke.  A friend saw all of my knits and insisted that I needed a website.  She used my eBay name as the domain name, because at first I didn't want anyone to be able to figure out that it was me.  I'm not really very goth, but she is!  So...she made this purple website with glam vampires on it and stars.  It was really pretty. Now, I'm so known as Glampyre that it's hard to switch the company name to something else.

3. How did you end up writing your first book, Fitted Knits?

I was contacted by Shannon Okey (editor of Yarn Forward magazine) whose friend Tricia Waddell (who is now at Interweave) was working at F&W at the time.  She (Shannon) told me that I *needed* to do a book.  And then things progressed from there. I didn't set out to do a book at all, things just very organically happened for me.

4. Fitted Knits has been a huge success.  Are there certain things you took away from this experience that helped you as you worked on Glam Knits? I really tried to listen to the reviews that I read about Fitted Knits.  People like the top-down style, but also want a few others to try out as well.  I also wanted to play more with texture, and to use yarns from a wider selection of manufacturers and a wider range of weights and content.

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5.  Glam Knits features some of the most beautiful sweater designs I have ever seen.  What are some of your favorites?

Thank you! I think my favorite is the tweed jacket, but I also really like the trapeze sweater.  These were both sweaters that I made for myself and then decided later to add to the book.

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6. Many of your designs are knit from the top down, raglan style.  What do you love about these type of garments?

I love  the ease of construction and the straightforward methodology of the patterns.  I also really like that they're so customizable in terms of both fit and design.

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7. What other projects are you working on right now?

I'm working on a book about how to design your own top down raglan sweater, and a few magazine patterns as well.  I'm also the Knitting Pattern Coordinator for Mission Falls Yarns.

8.  Anything else you would like us to know about Glam Knits? The pattern on page 41 is misprinted.  You can download the pattern for the Lace Panel Tunic here.