5 minutes with...Hollyberry Designs

Today I have 5 minutes with Holly Stevens of Hollyberry Designs aka Biddybelle on Ravelry.

º Designs by Holly Stevens

What is the thing you enjoy most about being a designer?
The creativity and feeling of accomplishment when something I have drawn on paper comes to life! (and the fact that if it doesn’t turn out quite how I expected no one knows except for me…)

Where does your inspiration come from?
Lots of things, alot of the time I will see or think of a stitch pattern I love and think “wow that has to be a hat!” or when I am searching for a pattern and can’t find exactly what Im looking for I can start working on it myself. Sometimes I even see an item of clothing in a shop and think about how it would translate into knitwear.

What is the one thing you wish you had known when you started out designing?
I wish I have known about Stitchmastery a lot earlier! It’s made designing so so much easier and I would fully recommend it.

º Bobbie Hoodie by Holly Stevens

Which is your favourite design and why?
I often go through phases of loving something above all else, for a me-knit I absolutely love my Lilybelle hat, the lace is just so intricate but super duper easy to knit. I equally love my Bobbie hoody, I can hear my Nana’s voice echoing in my ear as she pulled my jerseys down lower saying “keep your kidneys warm.” In Southern New Zealand its rather chilly for most of the year so it gets a lot of use - now I just need to make one for my 4 other children!

If you could invite 3 designers to dinner, who would you choose?
Wow - that is a tricky question! I would love to meet up and pick the brains of Justyna Lorkowska and Georgie Hallam about kids knits. Oh definitely Andi Satterlund as I love all things vintage inspired and would love to chat to her about adults garments as one day I would love to try my hand at that - but I just don’t feel confident enough quite yet!

Instagram ID: hollyberrydesigns
Facebook:HollyBerry Designs 

5 minutes with...Sweet Paprika Designs

As part of the Indie Design Giftalong 2015 I am featuring short interviews with a few designers I have come across during the event. Today we have Elizabeth Sullivan aka Sweetpaprika on Ravelry



What is the thing you enjoy most about being a designer?
I love the creative process and trying to transform ideas from my head into actuality. Sometimes more successfully than others, but that’s all part of the process. I also love seeing people make and enjoy my designs.

©Sweet Paprika Designs

Where does your inspiration come from?
Everywhere! Often a yarn or a stitch pattern inspires me, but when I’m actively searching for ideas I start looking at everything around me: colour combinations of my son’s toys, sewer grates while out for a walk, embroidery motifs, vintage clothing shaping, street fashion… It’s kind of like my brain starts buzzing and everything becomes a possible starting point for a new design.

What is the one thing you wish you had known when you started out designing?
I started trying to design stuff for myself as a teenager, long before I ever thought of publishing a pattern. I wish I’d known a bit more about garment construction back then. I think it would have saved me a lot of half-finished sweaters! Socks and hats were my most successful early design attempts.

Which is your favourite design and why?
That’s such a tough question! One of my designs that I’m most proud of is Leif the Lucky because it was kind of an accidental design. I had three colours of yarn leftover that I wanted to make into a hat for my brother as a Christmas present. I wanted it to be really warm so decided to work it in double knitting, threw in some Latvian braid and once I knew I had enough yarn left added earflaps. I love the way it turned out and I probably wouldn’t have chosen the construction method I did if I’d had unlimited yarn of each colour, but it really worked for this design. Plus my brother loved it too and it’s always satisfying to know that a knitted gift is well appreciated!

If you could invite 3 designers to dinner, who would you choose?
I’ve met and worked with so many people online that I’ve never met in real life and it would be so great to sit down and have dinner with them all. Maybe not all at once though – that would be a big dinner!
If I had to choose only 3: Barbara Walker (my knitting hero), Jennifer Wood (who I’ve been working with for several years now), and Julia Trice (I’ve long admired both her designs and her articulate and supportive Ravelry posts).


Instagram ID: sweetpaprikadesigns

Indie Designer Giftalong 2015

Aaand..they're off

The 3rd annual Indie Design Giftalong has now started over on Ravelry.

335 designers from 30 countries have combined to offer a fabulous 25% discount on selected patterns. Use code giftalong2015 at checkout from Thursday, November 19th at 8:00 pm US EST - Friday, November 27, 2015 at 11:59 pm US ES.

Louise Tilbrook Designs: GAL Patterns

As well as the sale and the chance to find some new-to-you designers there are KALs, competitions and general chatter happening over on the Indie Design Giftalong group.


 As you might expect I'll be hanging out in the thread related to sock and other foot/leg patterns but I can never resist checking out all the other amazing patterns - and I do need a new hat for winter....