We're trying something a bit new here. My first ever guest post interview. I've loved being a member of Knitspot's Fall in Full Color Club the past few years that I asked the
Knitspot team if I could do an interview about the club (since you all aren't at my knit nite where I go on and on about how amazing it is!). So grab a cup of tea, sit back and read a bit...I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and some other fun things at the end of the post too!
Hi Knitspot Team! Thank you so much for stopping by the blog to tell us
more about your upcoming Fall in Full Color Club. Let's start with an
easy question for those readers who haven't yet heard about the Fall in
Full Color Club. Can you tell us a little about what this club is all
about?
thank you carrie for asking your readers what they wanted to know about
FIFC. my name is erica and i am anne hanson's majordomo. for those of
you not familiar with the term, it's a person that speaks, makes
arrangements and handles a lot of daily tasks on behalf of another
person. majordomos were common in europe and responsible for the
management of a large household. so, in short, i perform a lot of tasks
for anne and work very closely with her on many projects. one of which
is Fall in Full Color! i get to plan every bit of it with anne and it is
one of my favorite parts of my job.
2013 will
be our 3rd Fall in Full Color club! we have some really amazing fibers
and colors in store for this year. i think this is my favorite club.
haha i think i say that for EVERY club. but really, this one is
fantastic! the club runs from August until January and is 6 months of
exclusive hand dyed yarn from amazing dyers paired with club-only
accessory patterns from knitspot. the patterns come in the form of an
ebook chapter that is delivered on the 17th of each month. the chapter
includes beautiful photos of color inspiration, design notes and lots of
pattern photos. the yarns vary in weight and intriguing fibers. more
details on the club (
http://www.knitspot.com/clubs/fifc2013/index.php), along with signup info (
http://www.knitspot.com/clubs/fifc2013/fifc2013-yarn-club-join.php)
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| **the above collaboration is all the yarns and projects from 2012** | | | | | |
All photos courtesy of Knitspot and used with permission
One
of our readers, LesleyBadger, wanted to know where Anne gets her
inspiration for her designs. What is the inspiration for this club's
designs?
anne is constantly inspired, a lot from her observances in nature
while walking or running. she also is inspired by art and architecture.
anne first decides on a palette of six colors for the club. she spends a
lot of time deliberating on what colors speak to her for the season and
what she thinks will inspire the club members. then she approaches dyers
with her ideas of colors, sometimes sending them a color board of
digital pictures or even tactile objects. often in just a conversation
with a dyer about color, he/she nails the color on the head without even
getting a physical image from anne. it's amazing to see a dyer birth a
color from just an idea to sample skeins to the final order of hundreds
of skeins for clubbies.
and it's even more fun
to keep each color a surprise until every member gets their coveted
skein in the mailbox each month. we love when everyone starts chatting
about them in the spoiler and non-spolier threads in the ravelry group.
we love all the mailman stories too!
anne has a
pretty good idea of what color and fiber will become a certain
accessory. anne has an amazing eye for style from her previous life in
the fashion industry and loves to create beautiful, classic, timeless
designs that people will treasure and wear for many seasons. this year
she has a couple surprises under her hat that i am truly excited about.
wish i could share! but you'll just have to see...
I know this club features yarn by some of our favorite indie dyers. I
know you can't tell us who the dyers are for this upcoming club, but can
you tell us about some of the dyers that were featured in previous
years? Is there a chance some might be appearing again??
well aren't you inquisitive carrie! it's a great question. i'll
list previous years below, but i have been sworn to secrecy on 2013
dyers.
2011 - Spirit Trail Fiberworks, Shalimar Yarns, Briar Rose Fibers, String Theory Hand Dyed Yarn,
MinkYarn.com, New Hue Handspuns
2012 - Knitting Notions, Hazel Knits, Studio June Yarn, Fleur de Fiber, Spirit Trail Fiberworks, Miss Babs
Knitters have many options to choose from when it comes to clubs. What
do you think makes this club different from others that are out there?
How does it stand apart?
I think the ebook really makes this club stand apart. I've been in MANY
yarn clubs and anne's in-depth chapters she produces each month just
blow me away. by the time you get to the end of the chapter, your
fingers are itching to cast on. i also like that there are a variety of
accessory projects to keep a knitter's interest. i also like the timing
of the club, because many people use FIFC to schedule their Christmas
gift knitting. plus, there is a "double dip" option in the club where
members can initially sign up for a second serving of yarn. this way,
many knitters knit a project as a gift and use the second skein to knit
another for themselves. or, anne often includes multiple project ideas
or additional sizes in the ebook chapters so the double dippers (or as
clubbies have nicknamed themselves "DD") have options. unlike other
clubs that have six designs to go with the six yarns, knitspot clubs
often end up with 11-14 designs in six months.
I've knit a few of Anne's sock patterns and I'm working on my Hazeline
shawlette from the first FiFC club and love how straightforward Anne's
patterns are. One of my readers noted that she has a few Knitspot shawl
patterns but hasn't knit them yet because they were "gorgeous but
oh-so-scary" in regards to how intricate they look. First, how do you help
knitters get past that "it looks too hard for me to knit" stage?
Second, what range of difficulty are the patterns in the FiFC club?
anne prides herself on very straightforward both written and
charted patterns. she loves intricate looking designs that are easily
memorized and flow off the needles in a fast, fluid and delightful
manner. anne always says to me, "i like to design patterns that i would
knit myself. i like to knit designs that have stitch patterns that i can
memorize in just a couple repeats. but i also love the look of
intricate designs, so i strive to the best of both worlds in my designs.
i want people to finish one of my designs and feel proud of what
they've knit." and over and over and over again, people write to us to
say they were at first intimidated by knitspot designs and we're waiting
until they were more skilled of a knitter to try them. but alas, they
should not have waited because as a beginner they could have easily
finished the designs with ease. we also get lots of emails from people
that they tried lace or socks for the first time because of knitspot
clubs. if it weren't for being in the clubs, they would have never
tackled that type of project. due to anne's great pattern writing they
feel brave to tackle new types of projects and stitch work.
FIFC 2013 is a series of intermediate fall and winter accessory projects. but as many clubbies can attest in the ravelry group, they could easily work up the pattern even as a beginner. the fellow clubbies in the ravelry clubhouse are an amazing support group giving out tips, too.
What has been your favorite design from the prior Fall in Full Color clubs?
my favorite is Kiltie. i LOVED the name of the pieces because the flirty kick pleats do
remind me of a kilt. but the BEST part of that december shipment was
the surprise goodie - coordinating handmade glass buttons from Moving
Mud that complimented the delicious blue yarn. like the club yarns and
patterns aren't special enough, anne occasionally throws in a special
treat! how cool is that!?
i asked anne what her favorite design was. she said Hazeline
because she loved that month's yarn and she loved all the textures in the design.
If my readers are thinking about signing up, where can they get more information?
see links above.
Anything else you'd like to tell us about the club?
memberships are limited and we will be closing signups very soon. we
would love to see some IGK fans join the club. we know carrie is a HUGE
fan of anne's ebooks and clubs and she would probably get a kick out of
some of her fans joining her in the knitspot club fun.
Thank you for stopping by the blog and letting my readers hear a bit
more about this exciting club you have to offer. Before you go, when
can we expect the pattern for baby Knitspot's christening sweater?? You know we are all fans of baby Knitspot around here and he was just too cute in that sweater!
right now there isn't a release date in the near future for padraig's
sweater. it is a super cute design! it's a design i truly treasure as an
heirloom piece. i am honored to own it and that it was worn for such a
special event in my child's life. anne is a gem and a dear, dear friend.
Okay, I can't believe the cute baby above has grown so much! Look at him last month!
That is Erica, baby Padraig, Anne, and Sarah! Thank you so much Knitspot team for making the blog more interesting today :)
Tomorrow afternoon I'm off for a few days to enjoy
this. I can't wait! I'll be bringing my Hazeline for selfish knitting in between two secret projects.
A few quick things before I go....
- The Knitted Home book review and contest will run til I'm back, so you still have time to enter to win a copy.
- Want to win your very own Hexipuff Blanket (I mean the Beekeeper's Quilt)? For just $5 you can enter to win, all while supporting a good cause and cheering on my BFF Discoknits! Check out her progress....that is going to be one gorgeous STR blanket!!!
- Come join our IGK KAL! Well, at least find out about the coupon code (20% off all IGK patterns with it through the end of the month). More details here.
- Congrats to LesleyBadger and Jocelyn (Jhocy) for winning a Knitspot pattern of your choice (up to $8.00 value)! Please message me on ravelry or email me at irishgirlieknits AT gmail DOT com with your pattern choice and I'll send it to you when I'm back from vacation next week :) Thank you for your helpful questions!
There isn't much wifi access at the cabin, but I'll do my best to get some pretty photos up while I'm gone! I hope you guys have a great week.
Thank you again to the awesome Knitspot team!!
Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits
I needed something a bit lighter.
when we stopped at Maisie Blue on the way home from vacation. I just love that shop.....yarn, cookbooks, books, stationary....and it is right next to a cupcake shop! Anyways, the Sweet Life is just what I needed! I'm halfway through it and loving it!
