I got to interview Rachel Gibbs, EnzoTheRhino on Ravelry, for the GAL.
You as a designer questions:
What is your design process?
Designing tends to start for me when I have an idea for a geometric pattern formed from lines. Then I attempt to create a chart for the image in my head using cables which will make the design stand out from the background (although sometimes cables won’t always do what I want them to).
Once I have a chart I’m happy with I’ll make a swatch and this will give me the measurements I need to apply the cable design to a sock structure.
I love to knit socks. They’re small and portable, but can be almost infinitely complex. Rather than being limiting, I find the need for socks to fit a complex part of the anatomy gives creative constraints which help me make design decisions.
I tend to knit the first sock of my sample and write the pattern in parallel. I try to think about grading early in the process because otherwise, you can back yourself into a corner.
Once I’ve let the design rest for a while, (so I can forget what I mean to say and instead follow what I actually said in the pattern) I knit the second sock, as an initial test to find any problems.
Naming a design usually comes late in the process, and is based on what the motif reminds me of.
What influences your style?
I trained as an Electronic Engineer and a lot of my patterns are named after scientific, or technical concepts. I had to sit through a lot of lectures on signal processing, and now cables tend to remind me of sine waves!
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?)
Thanks to my engineering background I really enjoy problem-solving. That might be how to adapt a complicated cable for different sizes, or how to make patterns as easy to understand as possible, which might mean including construction diagrams or using colour coding. Tech editors and test knittings are really helpful at raising issues, although we don’t always agree on the best way to fix them.
It’s important to me that the different sections of a pattern flow elegantly into one another – For example at the join between the leg and heel flap, my patterns often have transition charts to finish off the motif tidily, and/or a modified heel flap pattern (although one that will still stand up to the high levels of wear that heels have to withstand). You can see how the cables flow out of the ribbing at the top and continue into the heel flap on Regency Socks.
The parts I find most difficult are the photography, as I’m usually acting as both model and photographer and the marketing side. While I’m happy to talk about technical things, romance text is not my strong point at all!
I’ve been taking a bit of a sabbatical from designing this year because my brain just hasn’t been up to it. Hopefully next year I’ll get back on track.
What do you find most important in photography?
Getting the stitch pattern to show up, although I’m still working on this. The right kind of light is very important, but not always easy to find this time of year.
You as a Giftalong designer:
What have you learned from the promotion?
This is only my second year taking part in the giftalong, but it’s been great to see so many designers and knitters working together.
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?
I try to have a selection of projects on the go at once – ones that are more portable, ones that require different levels of brain power depending on how tired I am. So the pattern tends to come first for me – my ravelry queue is getting ridiculously long! I buy yarn with only the vaguest of plans for it, but if I need a single skein of sock yarn I have plenty of that in my stash.
Does anything intimidate you in knitting or crochet?
I’ve been seriously knitting for over ten years, so I’ve tried most things in knitting by now – I don’t particularly like all of them, but if it’s right for the project then I will usually do it anyway. The knitted dalek I made at uni comes to mind – I was heartily sick of bobbles by the end of the project and didn’t knit another one for about five years, until my friend had a baby and I decided to knit another dalek…
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 have quite a few reference books, the more technical the better. Sometimes I use YouTube, but when the relevant part of the video is only 10 seconds out of a 5-minute video it can be very frustrating to sit through the parts you already know.
Any repetitive motion disorders due to knitting or crochet? How do you deal with them?
I get wrist problems a lot, so I’ve found that knitting with wooden or carbon fibre needles is better than metal. I learnt to knit continental which doesn’t require as much movement, so is better for my wrists. I still always wear a wrist support while knitting too.
What makes you buy a pattern (lovely photo, the story of the project, it looks do-able, it looks slightly challenging…)
I like challenging, particularly if cables are involved. I have a bad habit of getting bored halfway through projects if there’s not a lot going on and they end up languishing. I only tend to buy patterns when I’m ready to cast on, so it has to fit what I’m in the mood for.