How long have you been a knitter?

I’ve been knitting about 6 years.  In the beginning, I taught myself and knit from a dummies book.  Then I knit through the back of the stitch for about a year before I was corrected.  Much easier to knit correctly. I’ve been spinning and dyeing for about 3 years.

When did you start recycling wool from sweaters?

I started recycling wool from sweaters when I was dirt poor in graduate school.  I stumbled across two tutorials on-line and I was hooked.  It was not only a way to keep knitting with natural animal fibers without having to pay a lot of money, but I also love thrift store shopping.  The shoe seems to fit.

When did you start designing?

I first wrote down my patterns and considered it designing after I got the book deal.  Before that, I was just being creative and playing with color and texture.  Who knew you could get paid for that?

Did you ever imagine you would have your own book?

I hadn’t ever written down a pattern, so no.  Not even slightly on the horizon.  When I got the offer, I had no idea what to do with it.  I was busy with graduate school and other things, but my friend Alissa told me that I had to do it, so I did.

What are some of your favorite projects from Knit One, Embellish Too?

This is an interesting question because I think of projects as suggestions for more projects   rather than as individual patterns.  I love the ‘patterns’ for shapes that I use over and over and never get sick of.  But alas, they would not let me write the book that way.

If I had to choose the particular projects that I like today they would be:
The All Things Grow Hat, Twirly Girl Bonnet, Night Sky Wristers and The Lake Reflects Trees Hat.  The last one mostly because my husband wears it every day and it never fails to make me smile.  Realize that depending on the day, this list will change dramatically.

What is on your needles right now?

I just cast off two hats that are samples for a colorwork class I’m teaching.  So that leaves socks for my dad.  I send my Christmas gifts mid January to avoid stressing during my busy season for craft fairs.  There will be hat for my brother soon… as well as a design for an on-line magazine.

What can we expect next from you?

Not sure.  Fiber arts, for me at least, is a bit unpredictable.  I’m full time designing, spinning, recycling, knitting, and dyeing, so I suppose we’ll just see where it takes me.  I’ve done some knitting for a movie, just started doing really big indie craft fairs, and I just finished an article for a knitting magazine.  I never quite know what’s coming my way next

Right now I’m working towards having a booth of handspun yarn at the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival mid February.

You can check out more of what Cosy is up to here.

When I was 19 years old I was a lifeguard at my neighborhood pool. Every hour we would be on duty for 45 minutes and then we would get a 15 minute break. That summer I was determined to learn to knit and I didn’t know a single soul who knitted. I bought a how-to-knit pamphlet and some horrible white acrylic yarn at a fabric shop. During my 15 minute breaks I taught myself to knit by looking at the pamphlet. I made this awful white tank top that was knit incredibly tight. It was the worst. I was still proud of my first knitted creation. I gave it to my sister, never to be seen again. It’s just as well. That summer my love affair with knitting began and I have never been without many projects at my side since.

When did you start designing?

I was a middle school teacher for many years and when I was expecting my third child I decided to give the teaching a rest. This is about the time I started designing. I’d say it was about 12 years ago or so. My designing really began when I started making up my own knitted hat designs to donate to my kids’ nursery school’s silent auction. I got such a great response to my little hat designs that it spurred me on to keep designing.

A few years later, I started selling my baby hats in a children’s boutique in town. The hats sold really well. That led to getting a contract to design baby hats for a local manufacturing company for about a year. This job snowballed into me working in a yarn shop and selling my patterns and knitted hats there. I did this for about a year and a half.  When the shop I worked at ended up closing I sent in a knitted hat sample and pattern to Artisan, my publishing company, asking if they wanted to do a book with me. Well, they took me up on it and published my first book, Itty-Bitty Hats.

Where do you get inspiration for your designs?

My kids, literature, looking at a beautiful babies, nature, life in general. I also like to take practical items and take a knitted twist on them. I want to say food inspires me, but that sounds a little weird. Oh well, so be it. Food, mainly fruits and vegetables. Flowers, lots of flowers.

I read a ton of books, magazines, knitting books, knitting magazines, online stuff. I really study knitting all of the time. I like to keep up on trends and what is current in the knitting world. There is always inspiration and excitement to be found everywhere you look when you are thinking about knitting.

What are a few of your favorite designs from Itty Bitty Nursery?

My favorite design is the Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton Stroller Blanket, Circles Hoodie and the Chubby Bunny. I love that set so much.

I also love the Cupcake Set, hat, mittens and scarf. The pacifier clips are really fun, the flower, frog and elephant. I adore the Manos Cotton Stria Flower Cardigan and Hat. Those are so simple and sweet.

You know the other favorite of mine is the Ruffle Blanket in the layette set. It is a simple white cotton basket weave blanket with a sweet ruffled edge. The yarn is Rowan Handknit Cotton and it has the loveliest, purest feeling when knitted up in that blanket. Love that one.

What is on your needles right now?

Oh my, what to say? There are so many things that I shouldn’t even admit it. Work-wise, I have a baby sweater and hat set for a yarn company that’s due in a few weeks. On the personal side, I have several sweaters, several pairs of socks, a couple of scarves, a pair of mittens, a pair of gloves, a checkerboard…….the list goes on and on. It’s a little embarrassing, the number. I do always finish everything eventually. A couple of weeks ago I was desperately trying to finish up several last projects for my latest book project. I have recently designed and knitted over 30 toys for this new book. I have loved every minute of it. It has been a busy knitting season for sure.

What can we expect next from you?

I have a new book, Itty-Bitty Toys, coming out in the fall of 2009. I am frantically trying to get my manuscript done over the next couple of weeks for that. Yikes.

I hope you will see a couple of designs I did for a yarn company pop up soon.

Then, who knows? I think I may need a little vacation.

You may be familiar with some of their designs, as they are very popular on Ravelry.

Let’s find out more about these two:

What is the history behind Kelbourne Woolens?

Courtney and I worked together at Rosie’s — she returned as manager after a brief hiatus in August of 2006 and I was hired in October of 2006.

Fast forward about a year and a half, I was seriously re-considering my educational and professional options and Courtney was wrangling a 4 month old and co-managing the store.  Courtney caught wind that the Fibre Company was looking for a new distributor and called Daphne for more info to see if this really was the case.  For various reasons, it seemed like a great opportunity for she and I to join as partners — we knew we worked well together and brought different things to the table in terms of our experiences and backgrounds.  I still remember when she called me to ask if I wanted to be co-distributor with her — I thought she was playing a practical joke as it seemed too good to be true!  We spent the summer working with Daphne, figuring out some educational and familial logistics, absorbing as much information as humanly possible and putting it all in place.

During the process we kept going back to the name of the company.  Because the Fibre Company is a separate entity, we knew we needed a different name.  One of the things that we are both attracted to in the industry is the rich textile history in this country, especially in Philadelphia where we both live.  We wanted a name that payed subtle homage to this history that was also easily identifiable as yarn related.  “Kelbourne” is a  merging of Courtney’s last name and my soon-to-be married name, Osborn (and Kelgag and Gagley didn’t quite have the same ring)!

How did you two meet?

Pure Kismet!  One of the other students in my grad program heard that Rosie’s had a PT job opening.  She didn’t have time to do it, so asked if I was interested.  On a whim, I emailed Courtney, she told me to come on down to the shop.  And, as they say, the rest is history!

What is your relationship with The Fibre Co?

We are the sole North American distributors of the Fibre Company yarns.  We are in charge of marketing, new pattern support, working with the retailers and shipping.  The Fibre Company is still owned by Daphne and Iain, the original owners and founders.  They still have creative and developmental control but we all work closely together on the process.  Because the Fibre Company yarns are so unique, it was (and continues to be) very important for us to stay true to the unique and artisan quality of the yarns.

Can you tell us about the four current lines of The Fibre Co?

Currently, The Fibre Company has four lines: Terra, Road to China, Canopy and Organik.

Terra is probably the most well known of the yarns. It is a 40-40-20 Alpaca, Merino and Silk singles and has a slightly rustic (think nubby silk) look and incredibly soft hand.  The dye process that is so unique to Fibre Company yarns is really apparent in Terra — they are all “solids”, yet have multiple colors within the yarn.  Not quite heathered, not variegated, they are layered in a way that adds really interesting depth and sheen.  Because it has been around for a few years and was always individually hand dyed in small batches, it very quickly had quite a few colors that were sometimes available in only small amounts.  We wanted to streamline and focus the line to showcase the best and brightest of the bunch and also ones that stayed true to the original vision, which is why there are currently 20 colors in the line.

Road to China is a 3-ply 65-15-10-10 Aplaca, Silk, Camel, Cashmere blend and is quite luxurious.  The spin and ply of Road to China creates a much more refined look and the fiber content makes it beyond soft.  (And Warm!)  It is perfect for luxurious small items.  This Fall, we are really excited to be offering “Road to China Light” — a finer gauge version of the original offered in the same 15 colors for those interested in a different application.

Canopy is the newest Fibre Company yarn and debuted at the January 2008 TNNA.  It is a plied 50-30-20 Alpaca Merino and Bamboo blend.  The bamboo adds strength, sheen and drape unique to the Canopy.  Canopy comes in two weights, a Worsted and Fingering (The Fingering was previously labeled as a Sport — there is still some out and about with this label, so don’t be confused!  They are the same yarn).  This fall, we are also excited to offer the Canopy Fingering in 10 new shades and see it as a great candidate for those interested in Fair Isle projects with a luxurious hand.

Organik is a Fibre Company yarn that has been around for a few years also, but in 2007 it had a slight facelift and is now a 70 -15- 15 organic merino, alpaca and silk blend that is amazingly soft.  Originally, Daphne wanted to bring in an organic yarn and found a mill in New Zealand that is one of the oldest organically certified mill in the world, from what I understand.  They fiber content was the same, but in place of the 70% organic merino it was 70% organic New Zealand wool.  The mill in New Zealand also dyed the original Organik using low impact natural dyes.  Daphne got a lot of feedback that the yarn was not as soft as people are accustomed to Fibre Company yarns being and that the dyes were not the bright, complex tones that they loved.  She began working on developing this ‘new’ Organik with the customer’s input and launched it in it’s current formula in December of 2007.  In contrast to its cousin, Terra, Organik has a smooth hand and really great stitch definition.

What kind of pattern support can we look forward to?

From our experience working in yarn stores, Courtney and I really wanted to find a way to market the yarns and subsequent pattern support to make it really easy and exciting for retailers and knitters.  As a result, we are currently offering free patterns on our website.  We really want to showcase the individual qualities of the different yarns that make the Fibre Company so unique and also make it easy for people to not only see the possibilities, but also what result as little as one or two skeins can do.  We will be constantly adding new things; there’s a cardigan that Kate designed and a new (shocking, I know) beret that we’ll put up before the month is out.  The trend seems to be forecasting more towards smaller projects and accessories, but if there is anything knitters want, by all means, send us a pattern request!

How can shops and designers get in touch with you?

We have made ourselves incredibly available!  Our email address is info@kelbournewoolens.com, all the current color cards are on our website, we are on ravelry as ‘kelbournewoolens’ and individually as patternfactory (courtney) and zeitgeistyarns (kate).  Our office phone is actually a Blackberry so we answer it anytime, anywhere.  I have fielded calls from the grocery store after hours even!  We have a physical address–all of which can be obtained from our website.  But here:

Kelbourne Woolens
915 N. 28th St. 2nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19130
fax 215-701-5901
phone 215-687-5534

Thank you to Kate and Courtney for sharing.  We wish you, along with Daphne and Iain, all the best as you take The Fibre Company in this exciting direction!

Here are some of Jordana’s products:

I love this top Jordana designed.  It is called Charlie, and the pattern is available for purchase here.

Starsky is a free pattern available from the archives of knitty.

The Knitter’s Satchel

Bella Bag (my favorite!)

The Knitter’s Messanger Bag

Thank you, Jordana, for spending some time with us!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

I met Ellie at the Nashoba Valley Knitting Guild this past spring.  She was kind enough to allow me to interview her…enjoy!

Hi Ellen!  Can you tell us a little bit about Ellie’s Reclaimed Cashmere?  How did you get started?

One day I got it in my head that I wanted to knit a cashmere sweater. Mmmmmm, cashmere.  Upon researching it I concluded a hand knit cashmere sweater was not in my price range.  Then I read an article about how people in former generation always reused yarn from items that were no longer wearable.  I had a couple of cashmere sweaters, that for a variety of reasons I wasn’t wearing, and I set about taking them apart.  I was immediately addicted and started seeking out sweaters at consignment shops and thrift stores.  By the time I had completed my 3rd sweater I had so much yarn it was a little embarrassing (unless you are a knitter, and then I trust you will find it completely rational and understandable).

 I feel pretty strongly about using what is already out there so recycling my yarn just seemed a natural fit.  The number often repeated is that it takes the fiber from 4 goats to make one sweater.  That just seems like a lot of work for all the beings involved!  And there is wonderful cashmere already out there just waiting to be “upcycled” from its current condition.

We have friends who own an ecofriendly store and they suggested I might want to try selling my yarn there.  That was 4 years ago.  Some days I am amazed that a personal quest to knit with cashmere has turned into a full time business, but I love that it has!

Can you tell us a little bit about your process, from sweater to skein of beautiful yarn?

Once I have bought them the first thing  that happens is that they get a good bath!!  Everything is washed in eco friendly soap before the process starts.  I take the sweaters apart and then unravel the individual pieces and wind them into balls. 

Once taken apart, each sweater goes into a bag until I get ready to use it.  I spend a lot of time knitting up different color combinations until I find a swatch I like. 

 I usually work with 3 or 4 different colors at a time.  I ply the yarns from those 3 or 4 sweaters together.  Then I wind them into skeins and wash them again.  This insures that the yarn is completely clean and also relaxes the kinks in the strands.

 Are you a knitter?

I am.  My mother taught me when I was 8.  I didn’t do much knitting in college (in Louisiana, too hot)  but since then it has been a constant in my life. In today’s world, with everything so technical, knitting is my connection to what I believe is the human need to create things by hand.  It keeps me grounded.

I usually don’t leave the house without something to knit with me.  You never know when you’ll get stuck in traffic, or have to wait somewhere unexpected, or end up at a gathering where others brought their knitting too.  I brought my knitting to vote on Tuesday and was a little disappointed that the line wasn’t long enough for me to even take it out!

What sort of things do you like to knit?

I am a sweater person.  I wear them all winter long, and living in New England winter is long. There is something very cool about being able to create an  everyday article of clothing from scratch.   And scarves.  They make great gifts, are always the right size and don’t require any sewing up!    And swatches!  Since I knit up tester color combinations before plying them, I am constantly knitting swatches.  One day maybe I’ll make a blanket with them.

Are you part of any other fiber or knitting related projects?

 I am a member of a wonderful knitting guild.  It is such a source of inspiriation to see all the different projects and yarns…. different stitches and techniques, ways to create that I never thought of.

 I also participate in a few fiber shows a year.  I always take a break to walk around and see what everyone else is showing.

 And I have a dream of having a fiber studio some day where people can come and create.  But that is a long way off and I really love what I am doing right now.