Interview and givaway with Christina Loman aka redraveler

Christina blogs at feelgoodknitting

What is your design process?
Most of the time I get an idea I love and then I get impatient and start in on it right away! Sometimes I’ll shop it around a bit to companies first, or wait until I get a submissions call for the perfect yarn. I generally get the “big picture” in my mind first, then swatch. Once I decide it’s actually feasible I’ll write up the pattern, then knit it, tweaking as I go if I decide the pattern needs it. Photos and tech editing usually happen about the same time after the sample is done, and sometimes I’ll do a test-knit too.

Were you skeptical of the “abundance” ideas, or did they seem just right?
I wasn’t so much skeptical as clueless. It wasn’t a concept I’d heard of before, but I love the idea. The momentum and enthusiasm involved in having a huge group work toward the same mutually beneficial goal seems like such an obvious thing in retrospect.

What have you learned from the Knitalong promotion?
It is absolutely amazing what enough people can pull together in a short amount of time! I also now know about all sorts of amazing designers I never knew were out there.

Any repetitive motion disorders due to knitting or crochet? How do you deal with them?
I do have a touch of carpal tunnel, although with the day job I generally don’t have enough knitting hours each day for it to be a problem often. If I go on a major knitting or crochet marathon, regular stretch/rest breaks definitely help. Switching needle sizes or between knit and crochet also seems to help.

Did your husband give you a lot of input on the designs in your Operation Gratitude e-book?
He did! I was constantly peppering him with questions about what he was allowed to wear and when he would actually wear it while he was in Afghanistan. I also asked for lots of input on what he thought servicemen would actually want to wear. He even named the Commando Watch Cap and Scarf. He got way into it!

I admire your romance text on your patterns, you put a lot of information in one paragraph that is terse and friendly – how much editing does it take to write like that?
My day job involves teaching English to non-native speakers, so getting the important information across quickly and simply is actually a pretty critical skill for me. That part doesn’t tend to take long anymore. It’s “selling” it that I struggle with – I always feel a bit silly and braggy, and wind up rewriting those parts a dozen times before I settle on something. I still never quite feel happy with it, but there comes a point where you just have to move on!

Would you like a copy of Christina’s pattern “lovely“? Tell me in the comments which of her other patterns you most appreciate. I’ll put the comment numbers in a hat next Saturday and announce the winner then.