There is no better feeling than seeing a family member succeed in their dreams. Okay, Vickie Howell isn’t exactly a blood relative of mine, but she is my cousin in craftiness! From her eight seasons as host of the DIY Network’s Knitty Gritty, six books, dozens of magazine columns – consider her yours too.
This week, this mom of three launches her new yarn line, Stitch.Rock.Love. Sheep(ish) with Caron Yarns. Seriously. You can walk into any JoAnn store in the country and find her display. For craftypreneurs – that’s HUGE!
The color story has a retro spirit, yet works for contemporary designs and patterns. Well, here, I’ll let Vickie explain.
Here is a mini-interview with Vickie!
This is a question all craftypreneurs want to know – what does it take to have your own product line?
Tenacity, really. Once you’ve made a name for yourself, either a company will approach you or you can go out and pitch yourself (I done it both ways). Then, if your name & face are going to be on something, it’s important to work with a company that will allow you to be 100% participatory in the product’s conception and execution. Most important though, is that you jump right in when it comes to promoting the product. It’s true what they say, things don’t just sell themselves!
How did you attack the color selection process – did you have mountains of yarn to choose from?
Choosing 21 colors was actually harder than I’d anticipated, since I also wanted them all to work well together. I knew that I wanted really rich looking browns and grays–since those seem hard to find at craft stores–as well as a bunch of saturated, retro-inspired colors. I ended up going through my fabric bins and coming up with several scraps–some vintage, some new–that had most of the colors that I’m drawn to. I picked individual colors from those scraps to color match and room there, I filled in the holes.
3. We all know you can knit loopdee loops around anyone at any time – but what is your Achilles Heel when it comes to working with yarn? And how do you compensate?
Ugh, the math when it comes to sizing and shaping. I have a ton of reference books with tutorials and formulas that I reference every time I’m designing something more complex than a simple shape.
Hmmm, good question. In theory, a complex lace shawl with all kinds of pattern changes. In actuality though, I don’t have that kind of patience and usually have at least 1 (if not 3) children hanging off of me, which doesn’t lend itself well to detailed charts and large amounts of lace-wight yarn.
Drinking? I joke! I kid. Honestly, probably shoe shopping.
Corn.
Gaga
C’mon, I’m a professional crafter. Scissorhands, of course!
Doggies or kitties?
Meow.
Just wanted to let you know that I featured this Q&A at Craft Buds today 🙂 http://www.craftbuds.com/fresh-picks-for-wednesday-6-1-11/