It's Friday! Get Inspired!!

For the last day of our knitting week, we asked Erin Mapes to talk to us about what inspires her to create the beautiful pieces in her shop, Designs by Erin. This is what she had to say:

As crafters, we all end up with leftover materials. A few yards of yarn, single beads with no matches, small scraps of fabric…and they usually just sit around, in bins, in boxes, not serving any purpose, not sparking any new ideas. Sometimes they sit there for months, or years even, before getting used, if they are used at all. Lonely and unloved leftovers.

Part of what I call my “environmentally conscious” philosophy, along with careful selection of natural materials and sustainable business practices, is a policy of producing as little waste as possible. So whenever I have a bit of yarn leftover after a project, I put it in a special bin for leftovers, which I use for everything from packaging my sold products to actually creating new products.

Recently, I’ve been working on a new line of products based on one of my favorite items, the leaf lariat. It has been pretty well received, so I decided to expand on the idea. I have a bunch of leftover organic cotton yarn from the washcloths I make, which had just been building up, but now those leftovers are being made into organic cotton versions of the leaf lariat! And, even more exciting for me, I’ve also been making knitted leaf earrings! There are two different designs that I’m getting ready to roll out, one that matches the lariats, and one that is slightly more elegant, with a bit of a lace pattern. There’s a third design that incorporates jewelry wire and laceweight handspun leftovers in luxury fibers like tussah silk and mohair, but knitting with wire is quite different from fiber, and I need some more practice before showing those to the public.

Working on this new line has been really inspiring to me. Nature has always played a big role in my work, from providing me with the materials I use to inspiring the names of the finished products, but now nature is working its way into the designs themselves. I think the idea of knitted jewelry is pretty awesome, and it’s been fun to work on a smaller scale than I’m used to. I also get to use materials that knitters don’t usually work with, like sterling silver. And I love that I’m using up my leftovers! I am such a nerd when it comes to things like that. I don’t know how to explain it, but whenever I can find a use for something that was previously sitting around and collecting metaphorical dust, I get really excited.

So I propose the following to all of you reading this article: Go and find your leftovers, whatever they may be, and turn them into something! Play around with a new idea. Experiment with new combinations of materials. Who knows, maybe you’ll hit on something really unique and original. And if not, at least you are putting those things to use.

Now go make something! Have a great weekend!

Sales, Giveaways & Features

Happy Thursday everyone!

To help celebrate our focus on knitting this week, Erin's Designs is offering 20% off any item in the winter scarves or shawls sections! Erin's products are hand knit using natural, organic, recycled, and sustainable materials. To get the discount just mention the EtsyCREST blog.

Meet Tina of TLK Knit n Sew!!

Welcome to Knitting Week!

All this week we will be focusing on CREST knitters. To kick things off, today we bring you an interview with inspiring CREST member, Tina Kudlick. Please check out Tina's beautiful creations at her Etsy site, TLK Knit n Sew, and if you have questions or comments for her, please leave them in the comments section.

Q: When did you start knitting?

A: I started out knitting when I was a little girl and have been interested in knitting since then.

Q: What inspires you?

A: Inspiration comes from various colors combinations, various knit stitch patterns and researching knitting designs. I will then bring forth my ideas by knitting a piece from what I have in mind and create the design free style or I will draw a design and calculate my stitches in order to bring forth various designs that are in need of calculating my stitches to produce my product.

Q: What was your first creation?

A: I remember creating a small handbag for my Barbie dolls. The bag was pink and yellow with a knitted handle.

Q: What is your favorite thing to make?

A: I enjoy creating knitted clothing and cable accessories. I have loved designing and creating designs since I was young and pursued my education for fashion design in college. My major was knitwear.

Q: Is this your full time job? If not, how do you balance a full time job with your Etsy Shop?

A: Currently I create and handknit and post my knitted products on etsy. I work mainly on handknitting various pieces such as scarves, hats, fingerless gloves, cable accessories and clothing as time permits. I am a mom of one and currently am unemployed therefore I try to balance my tasks accordingly and make a list of tasks that need to be completed as I go along. Being organized and picking up my knitting throughout the day helps get that particular piece completed in a timely fashion. I hand knit all my designs with two knitting needles therefore the time it takes to create certain pieces require commitment to complete a product.

Q: What are you doing to challenge yourself and get to that next level?

A: I am in the process of challenging myself with my fashion design skills and I have been working on my flat pattern blocks to create my clothing line. I also challenge myself with my knitting skills and try out various stitch patterns to create my products.

Q: Do you have any advice for other knitters?

A: Just keep knitting and designing. If you are passionate about what you are doing the rest will come to you.

To learn more about Tina and see some of her beautiful creations, you can follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/tinateee

or at her blog at www.tinteee.blogspot.com