Designer Interview: Jen Lucas

As part of the 2014 Gift-A-Long we received random assignments to promote other fellow designers on social media. I was lucky enough to get the fabulous designer, Jen Lucas. And to my surprise she's local to me here in the Chicagoland area. I can see us doing coffee sometime soon to talk shop;)

What amazes me is that Jen has been in my Ravelry Friends list for a while now and I'm just now getting the connection between her long list of awesome designs and the same person who is in my list!! Have you see her collection of designs? WOW, her extensive collection makes my mind dizzy! It must have been a challenge for her to choose just 20 to run in the GAL bundle.

Go HERE to see her discounted GAL bundle. Remember coupon code: giftalong2014

Without further adieu, here is our interview:

How long have you been knitting? Who taught you?

 

I taught myself to knit about 10 years ago. My friend and I decided that we wanted to learn to knit. She bought me some needles and yarn for my birthday and I bought one of those “Learn to Knit” booklets at the craft store and the rest is history! Once I knew what I was doing I taught that friend how to knit, but it didn’t stick with her like it did with me.
 

What got you started designing?

 

From the beginning I was doing my own thing with knitting, never really following a pattern. In 2009 or so, Stefanie Japel offered an online course on her website called “Design Your Own Shawl.” I signed up and was completely hooked on shawl designing. Shawls are definitely my favorite thing to knit and design.

Where do you get your inspiration?

 

I’m so jealous of designers who can look at a flower and decide they are going to make a shawl that looks like that flower. I don’t really work that way. Typically I know the shawl shape or type of accessory I want to knit/design and then I hit up my stitch dictionaries until inspiration strikes. I love taking patterns from stitch dictionaries and changing them up a bit.

 

What design or moment are you most proud of?

 

I am definitely most proud of my first book, Sock-Yarn Shawls. I had this crazy idea in my head that I wanted to have an actual published knitting book and the fact that I achieved that goal is still sort of mind-blowing to me. I will never ever forget the moment when the advanced copy of the book arrived at my front door. There was an embarrassing amount of screaming, jumping up and down and happy tears.  

 

What is your favorite yarn?

Tough question – because it’s always changing. I’m a total sucker for the fingering weight yarns that have cashmere or silk in them. I love Hazel Knits Divine and Twisted Fiber Art Muse. Those are my current favorites.

 

What is your go-to knitting viewing? (TV or Movie, current or all-time fave)

 

I will re-watch The Office (the U.S. version) over and over again while knitting. This time of year I will also watch just about every Hallmark Channel made-for-TV Christmas movie.

What is your opinion on dangly stitch markers?

 

Love to buy them, hate to use them. It’s actually pretty rare that I use stitch markers, but when I do, it’s usually the plastic safety pin kind.

 

Best knitting needles ever?

 

Like the favorite yarn, that’s always changing too. Right now I am obsessed with the Knitter’s Pride Karbonz needles. 

Continental or thrower? Cable needle or let your cable stitches fly free?

 

I’m a thrower. When I crochet, I have the working yarn in my left hand, but I just can’t seem to get that down when knitting needles are involved! I’ve recently been cabling without a cable needle and I love it. I avoided cables for a long time because it was just too fiddly for me with the cable needle. Now that I have gotten the no cable needle thing down, I’ve become cable obsessed.

What do you do on a stormy day when you have nowhere to be and no must-dos?

 

I am probably crocheting while watching The Office or listening to an audiobook. 

If you're interested in keeping up with Jenn, then please go follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! Don’t forget you can use any of her paid patterns to enter the knit-a-longs for chances at super prizes!

Gift-Along 2014

The 2nd Annual Indie Gift-along is in full swing. The GAL involves 293 designers from 21 countries. There is an awesome sale on the 3,822 patterns available at 25% off until November 21st.

I have 20 patterns up for grabs with a discount code: giftalong2014  Check out all the patterns HERE!

The Gift-along goes from Thursday, November 13th at 8pm and runs until New Years. We've all banned together to create a knit & crochet along of massive proportions! Go join the group HERE. There are games and prizes from now until the end of the year. Join the fun today and get a jump on any gift knitting you have planned for family and friends…and even maybe something for yourself!!

Enchanted Garden

Over the past months I've been giving you a few insider shots into the design process of my newest patterns. Talk about a huge weight off my shoulders, because at long last it is time to show off the Enchanted Garden.

The ebook contains 6 patterns that are all inspired by an Irish garden with a Gaelic theme. This enchanted garden entices you to enter where soft clovers dapple the diamond-shaped walkway. An elaborately curled wrought iron gate is left exposed by the climbing ivy that ascends an ancient stone wall. Time-honored memories seem to resonate here among the flowers.

Cosan is the Gaelic word for path. The diamond clover stranded colorwork pattern evokes a feeling of walking through a garden path surrounded by wild flowers..

Trean is the Gaelic word for strong. The wrought iron gate stranded colorwork pattern gives a sense of majestic strength and yet has a classic beauty all it’s own.

Dreap is the Gaelic word for climb. The ivy trellis stranded colorwork pattern is fun and playful. As the ivy climbs along one side, the trellis climbs the other.

And if your interested, but don't want to splurge for the whole ebook? You can buy each pattern separately. I would pay special attention to the pattern notes that talks about yardage, because if you want to make the matching piece you might not need to buy more of the secondary colors.