Jessica may be found on Ravelry as omarsyarn and on her Ravelry Discussion Group GooseBear Knits
What is your design process?
My design process generally starts with an idea, a ball of yarn and some
needles. I typically let the design evolve organically from there.
When I designed my Lakewood shawl, my idea was “a top-down, triangular
shawl with cables”. I took this idea, a ball of yarn, some needles on the
plane with me during a business trip. The resulting items was a shawl, but
the top-down, triangular and cables got thrown out along the way. Some day
a top-down, triangular shawl with cables might turn up in my pattern
store.
What influences your style?
My style is influenced by the things and people around me…nature,
architecture, shapes, and people.
This year for gift knitting, I asked my family members to tell me what
type of item they wanted, along with a few desirable attributes. It’s
been a fun way to get them involved in my design process. This is how is
my Drexmore hat pattern came to life.
What about designing and producing patterns are you most adept at, what
parts are you most fond of, and what parts are challenging? (Pattern
Grading, the last week of editing, coming up with a name for a project,
self promotion?)
My favorite part of the process is when a new design evolves. It gives me
a sense of accomplishment that can be hard to come by in my day job. I
also really enjoy working with test knitters. I run tests in my Ravelry
group (GooseBear Knits) and am really lucky to work with some fabulous
testers. They do a good job of keeping me in line.
Coming up with names and photography are the two aspects I find the most
challenging. I know we can’t all be Jared Flood, but I wish it was a
little bit easier 🙂
You as a Giftalong designer:
Where you surprised at how big the giftalong became?
Yes and no.
Yes, I was surprised by how we went from cool idea to big huge Ravelry event
in a mere week. The organizing crew was incredible and accomplished way
more than i was expecting: fun games, advertising graphics, ginormous
pile of prizes, unbelievable pinterest boards…
I’m not surprised by the number and enthusiasm of the participants.
KAL/CALs are very popular and who doesn’t need a little help getting their
holiday knitting list under control!? The big sale didn’t hurt either 😉
Where you skeptical of the “abundance” ideas, or did they seem just right?
For me, they seemed just right. The veteran designers in this group have
always been incredibly willing to help out newer designers in their field.
It felt right to join forces with them and my fellow newbie designers.
What have you learned from the promotion?
The indie designers I’ve joined forces with are incredible people as well
as talented designers and supportive mentors. I just can’t say enough about
all of them. I can honestly say that this group of people has restored my
faith in humanity’s ability to work together for the common good.
Some less profound things I’ve learned:
Pinterest can be used for marketing, how to use twitter, Pixlr is
fantastic, who to ask for graphics help, who to ask when I have questions
about all things cotton, I need to learn how to use google docs, Google
forms?! – need to learn those too, there are crocheted designs out there I
want to make — something else to learn how to do.
You as someone who likes to make things questions:
What is your usual process on a fiber project, for instance, do you start
with a yarn, a cute pattern, a need you’ve noticed, something exciting you
saw in a movie you want to copy, or a technique you want to learn – then
what do you do next and then what?
Every project is a little different…there’s no shortage of
excuses/reasons to start a new project! New yarn, old yarn jumping off the
shelf at me, new technique, old technique that needs perfecting, new design
idea in my head, new twist on and old design idea in my head that wasn’t
quite right the first time, a new baby is on the way, my grandma’s birthday
is around the corner…you get the idea 🙂
Does anything intimidate you in knitting or crochet?
Steeking! Need I say more?
When you want to learn something, do you look it up in a book, on U-tube,
or seek a real person to teach you?
I’m impatient, when I want to learn, I want to learn it now. Google is my
best friend.
Any repetitive motion disorders due to knitting or crochet? How do you deal
with them?
My repetitive motion issues are due to computer use at work. Giving up my
paycheck doesn’t seem like a practical solution… My cats go ballistic
when they see the bottom of the food bowl. One of them even pushes the food
all to the sides until the bottom of the bowl is visible, then comes
crying to mommy because he’s starving! Any belt tightening at our house
would not be without serious consequences.
Once I was doing so much computer work, I had to put my knitting aside for
4 months. I took up pottery as a substitute. I really enjoyed it, but
something about wet hunks of clay and a bulky potter’s wheel made it a bit
less portable that a lace shawl project.
Do you frequent a particular yarn store?
YES! River Colors Studio in Lakewood, Ohio. It’s practically my second
home. When life cooperates, I can be found there three days a week.
That’s only because we haven’t convinced the shop owner to stay open late
more than one weeknight. That’s OK though because she is extremely
supportive of me as a local designer.
People are always welcome to sit an knit at one of the project tables any
time. I like to sit there and enable customers into buying more yarn than
they had planned..hee hee.
The yarn selection is fabulous…there’s even a Malabrigo room! Yes – a
whole room for Malabrigo, but when a new shipment comes in, the room is
usually too small.
Hmm, I seem to have been side-tracked by Malabrigo…that shouldn’t
surprise anyone who knows me.
Do you usually finish things? If not, does it bother you?
I usually finish things…it may take a few years. Sweaters are probably
my biggest downfall. It’s those stinkin’ sleeves. I think vests are my
new favorite garment!
If I stumble across a UFO and can’t remember why I was originally excited
by it, then I probably didn’t do a good job of listening to the yarn when
it told me what it wanted to be. I frog and promise the yarn I’ll listen
better the next time. Sometimes the yarn has to smack me in the head a few
times before I really do listen though.
Do you get to do any “selfish knitting?”
I self-publish my designs, which gives me the flexibility to design around
my day job. It also allows me to knit what I want to knit. Most of the
time, that means stuff for me and sometimes it means a gift for my
knit-worthy friends and family.
When I wanted to make myself a skirt with some sort of cable around the
bottom, I was surprised that I couldn’t find any patterns in the
Ravelry database. My Rosendale pattern filled that hole and I got a
fabulous new skirt 🙂
Is knitting a seasonal activity for you?
Only if “every waking moment of free time” can be called a season 😉 On
the rare occasion when life gets in the way of my knitting, my husband
resorts to an intervention by day three. It’s not pretty!
What makes you buy a pattern (lovely photo, the story of the project, it
looks do-able, it looks slightly challenging…)
I’m an engineer, so the way I interact with the world is by looking at
things and asking “How does that work?”. The patterns I’m most likely to
buy are the ones that have me asking that question and not finding an
answer.
What gives you the feeling that you got your money’s worth out of a pattern?
If a pattern allows me to make something I couldn’t figure out how to do on
my own, it’s worth it. Sometimes I’ll buy just to get a feel for how other
designers write patterns. In this case, I’ve learned something, so I got my
money’s worth, even if I never get around to knitting the item.
What do you most enjoy about knitting or crochet?
It keeps me sane…we’ll, if you don’t count my yarn obsession.