I’m In Love… An Interview With Lisa Mutch of Northbound Knitting

I don’t review things I don’t like and lie to my readers, pretending I like things I really don’t. And I don’t go on and on about people/things/yarns/patterns that I don’t absolutely fucking adore. Case in point – I absolutely adore Lisa Mutch of Northbound Knitting. Her designs are amazing, her yarns are exquisite, and she is an absolute joy to know. So when I found out she had two new designs coming out, I really felt like it was time to re-interview her and see what was going on with one of my favorite people in the Knitting World.

Everlong Legwarmers by Lisa Mutch

Miss Vicious Knits: Where is your yarn being sold?
Lisa Mutch: As of right now, besides the nbk Etsy shop, nbk yarns are being sold at Lettuce Knit in Toronto, Canada, Jules Wollshop in Bielefeld, Germany, Yarnaholic  in Chiba-ken, Japan, Meadow Yarn in Suffolk, UK, and in the US at In The Loop in Norfolk, MA and Do Ewe Knit in Hoboken, NJ.

MVK: What are some description words for these new patterns?
LM: uhm…descriptive words for my designs are always kinda the same. Simple, geometric, bold…..that sounds like such a shit answer though.

MVK: Any new color ways coming out?
LM: Yes, always new colourways coming out! Every month I release a new colourway for the nbk yarn club but also try to add new colourways to the updates when I can.

MVK: How do you keep coming up with these patterns? What inspires you?
LM: I have so many design ideas, I just can’t seem to knit them fast enough!  I don’t know exactly where they come from but usually stem from an idea for something I would want to wear. I’m very particular with my clothing and shawls and often will look at patterns but can never find exactly what I have in mind. So I just create it myself.

MVK: How do you manage your time? You’re ridiculously busy but still manage to design, dye, take care of two kids, and knit for yourself!
LM: How do I manage my time? Good question! I am slightly obsessive with list making and being very organized. Every day I follow my to-do list and try to be as time-effective as I possibly can be, while still spending quality time with my children and saving a little bit of time for myself every day. Usually in the evening, after the kids are in bed is my quiet, alone time. And chances are you can find me knitting, having a glass of wine then.

MVK: Who are designers/dyers that you look up to?
LM:  There are lots of dyers and designers that I like but honestly, I try not to pay too much attention to what everyone else is doing. And that makes me sound like a snob, which I’m not. [MVK NOTE: It’s true, she’s not!]

Nazar by Lisa Mutch

MVK: What do you have on  the needles right now?
LM: Right now I’m working on a few new designs. A merino/silk dk cowl, an alpaca/silk/cashmere shawl and a few other ideas I’m swatching for.

MVK: We’re halfway through 2013. Did you have a knitting goal for the year? Have you achieved it?
LM: I don’t really set out knitting goals for myself, I just knit.

Nectar, Oleander, Medusa, Sapphire, and Nocturne

MVK: What should we be looking for from you over the next six months?
LM:  I don’t have anything exciting coming up soooo……yarn fiber and knitting patterns?

Gelato socks by Chrissy Gardiner using Nocturne by Lisa Mutch

MVK: Every knitter has a “DUH” moment with a knitting project. Tell us bout one of your funniest knitting adventures.
LM:  I have been thinking hard about this one, but can’t come up with anything! I’m so boring.

MVK: You’re becoming rather larger (and, you know, a “big deal”) How does that make you feel?
LM: Haha, I don’t know about a ‘big deal’ but you’re right, things are steadily getting busier and busier over at chez nbk and to be honest, it’s so flattering for me. To think that so many people all around the world are knitting designs I’ve created or knitting with yarn I’ve dyed, is amazing. I feel very lucky, grateful and proud of all the recognition and positive feedback I’ve received from so many people.

Gelato socks by Chrissy Gardiner using Nocturne by Lisa Mutch

 

Lisa’s newest designs are a comfy pair of legwarmers called Everlong and a beautiful shawl named Nazar and they’re coming out soon!

In the next week or so I plan on posting interviews with the amazing Ruth Garcia-Alcantud of Rock and Purl and Miss Andi Satterlund of Untangling Knots. There are many designers and dyers of the knitting world that I think my readers should be exposed to. And these are just two out of many! If you could ask any designer/dyer any question, who would you ask and what would it be?

FINE. YOU CAN HAVE WHAT YOU WANT.

For fuck’s sake. OK. YOU WANT PICTURES? YOU CAN HAVE PICTURES!

A tub full of commissioned socks for men. 100% alpaca wool.

And I hated knitting them. I really like the person I knitted  them FOR. Just not the yarn I was asked to use.

Plain Jane sock

Plain Jane sock using Northbound Knitting Fingering in Nautical.

Plain Jane socks using Knit Picks in Minty.

Socks for KristiLynn using Knit Picks.

Yarn for cup cozies!

The grey yarn was dyed by Lisa of Northbound Knitting and the orange was dyed by Knitted Wit.

These three are examples of cup cozies that I’m knitting as wedding favors for my wedding!

More plain jane socks from a local yarn dyer whose name I can’t remember and if I recall, can’t be found online anyway.

A work in progress pic of Drizzle by Meghan Jackson using Berry Colorful Yarnings in Cheshire Cat.

LAST ONE.

This was a last minute Mother’s Day gift for my momma. She’s allergic to wool and most other things so I knit her this Storm Fir shawl by Fiddle Knits in Sprout (100% Organic Cotton) by Classic Elite Yarns. The colorway is Steel Blue which you really can’t tell from this picture but I swear, it is.

 

There Are No Pictures in This Post

[No seriously. There are no pictures.]

It’s been nearly three weeks since I last posted. And that’s not to say that I had nothing to say. I just didn’t know how to say it. And I still don’t.

I’ve had so many things going on. I’ve been doing a decent amount of test knitting for Butterfly Knits (who is one of the newest sponsors of MVK!) and I just finished knitting my very first commissioned piece.

It’s really exciting and SUPER gratifying when people in the knitting and yarn community come to you and would like to do something with you or have you knit something for them. And I was so completely thrilled that Berry Colorful Yarnings came to me and asked me to knit a shawl with her yarn for a sample piece. I mean, really, it’s an amazingly awesome feeling.

To me it feels like (and maybe I’m just thinking very highly of myself) my talents are finally getting noticed. I’m a quick and skilled knitter. I knit Sugar Mountain by Butterfly Knits (aka Meghan Jackson) for Berry Colorful Yarnings in less than three days. Three days and I finished an entire shawl. That’s amazing to me! (Next post, I swear, I’ll talk about the pattern and the yarn. I just don’t think I’ve got it in me today. Plus, I don’t have any pictures!)

I guess the other reason I’d been delaying on posting is that I felt like the blog wasn’t really mine. That I was focusing more on my readers and what they wanted than what I wanted.

I absolutely adore my readers, and I’d love for you guys to stick around, but I think I’m going to focus more on what I’d like to be writing about with my knitting. Not what I think you all want to hear. Because really, it would make me fake if I were just to write what I thought people wanted to hear.

So, let me say something that I’ve wanted to say for awhile and just haven’t found the time to say.

Lisa Mutch, of Northbound Knitting. I really didn’t want to like her when I first started talking to her. No, I mean, I REALLY didn’t want to like her. For no reason in particular other than I’m just a misanthrope. But how the fuck can you NOT like someone who is willing to bend over backwards to help you out when you have problems with their pattern due to your own stupidity?

Lisa is an amazing friend, a talented yarn & fiber dyer, and a superb designer. If you’re lucky to get your paws on one of her awesome skeins of yarn, make sure you use it for something AMAZING. I am lucky enough to have my very own colorway because of her.

[Ok, so maybe I lied. There’s ONE picture in this post.]

I’ve come into contact with some amazing dyers and designers over the past few months. And I’m seriously hoping I continue to!

Also, now that the ball has kinda started rolling, I’m available for test knitting (for free!) and sample/commissioned knitting (for a fee of yarnz or money.) Send me an email at brittvicious@gmail.com if you’re interested.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST! Those knitters participating in Project: Knit for Erron NEED to get in contact with me! I’ve gotta get these wonderful knits on their way to Erron. So send me an email, or leave a comment.

Project: Knit For Erron

Beloved all over the Twitterland, Our own darling Erron announced today she was pregnant with a He. Little boy No Name!

So I have come up with Project: Knit For Erron! Wanna participate? I’m gathering up hand knits for Erron to send to her. Baby stuff, kid stuff, stuff for her or her hubs. I’ll also be gathering trinkets and nice pampering things for Erron.

There is no one more deserving of hand knits than Erron. She’s the kindest, most sweetest, mom & blogger and I kid you not, everyone loves her. And even if you don’t know her, you should still participate! There is nothing more awesome than giving a handknit to someone you know will truly appreciate your hard work!

Little/few guidelines/info:
– Erron LOVES bright colors.
– Little Baby No Name is a boy.
– Erron already has two boys and two girls. Their sizes are: Elijah (age 6.5) wears size 7, Petra (age 6.5) wears size 6, Natalia (age 4) wears size 4, Micah (age 2) wears 20 months
– Erron says her foot size is: 7 – 7.5 US Womens
– Wishlist for baybay includes hats, vests, baby legs, soakers, and cardigans. Erron says vests are good because of the weather.
– Erron says she expects the baby in September so I’d like to have everything collected by the latest, August.

If you want to participate, either shoot me an email at brittvicious@gmail.com or leave a comment and I’ll email YOU!

Thanks in advance to EVERYONE who is going to participate. There is nothing more wonderful than sharing love and kindness and awesomeness with your handknits!

And The Winner Is… PLUS an Interview with Lisa Mutch of Northbound Knitting!

The Winner

Congrats to Deborah! I’ll try emailing you but please send me an email at brittvicious@gmail.com just in case!

We had a great bunch of people comment on the giveaway post to win a copy of Lisa Mutch’s Nightlock shawl (which I will email the winner) and to receive two skeins of Lisa’s yarn. Thank you to EVERYONE that entered, retweeted, and commented. Your appreciation made Lisa and I smile tons!

The Interview

Over the past couple of weeks I have had the joy and the pleasure of getting to chat with Lisa. She’s a dear sweetheart. Not gonna lie. I’d get all sappy about how awesome she is but I have a feeling that that would just bore everyone to tears. Or, I’d run out of nice things to say about her. In my time getting to know her, I was dying to ask her questions about her process and how she comes up with the things she does. Lisa was kind enough to answer some of my questions.

1. How did you first get into knitting?

I always loved the look of hand knit scarves and sweaters, so about 10 years ago when I quit smoking, I decided knitting would be the perfect hobby to keep my hands busy. I went to the local craft store, bought a Debbie Bliss ‘how to knit’ book, some needles, yarn and taught myself how to knit.

2. What was your first design and how did you come up with it?

Hmmm, my first design…..I started making up my own patterns very soon after learning to knit. I could never seem to get the recommended gauge or didn’t have the right weight yarn so I would improvise or just make it up as I went along. Before I figured out how to knit in the round, I would knit a flat rectangle, seam the long edges together, leaving a 3″ hole and voila, wrist warmers.

3. What inspires your knit wear?

My designs are always a result of something I want to wear. Either I see a shape that would make a cool sweater, or really need a light weight spring scarf. But all of my designs come from the selfish girl in me who needs 27 cardigans and a different shawl to wear every day of the week.

4. From start to finish, how long does it take to come up with designs?

From start to finish, the publication of a pattern can take several months. First there is sketching and swatching. A lot of sketching. And a lot of swatching. Then I knit the sample, write the pattern, edit the pdf, have it tech edited and test knit. Doesn’t sound like much, but it can be a several month long process.

5. When did you start dyeing?

I started dyeing about a year or so after knitting. Once again, being the annoyingly fussy person that I am, I could never find the exact colour I was looking for. Then as soon as I discovered spinning, the dyeing became an obsession. Not only could I dye my own yarn, but I could dye my own spinning fiber and that’s when all the fiber started piling up.

6. What do you use for dyes? What does your process include

I use professional grade acid dyes on my yarn and fiber but I did a lot of dabbling with kool-aid when I first started which was soooo much fun, and smelled delicious.

7. What inspires your color ways?

Oh, colourway inspiration is everywhere. A lot of my colourways are based on food and nature but really, I see potential colourways in everything, my children’s toys, hair colours, nail polish, everything.

8. What can we expect to see from you in the upcoming months?

The next few months are looking pretty busy. I have a few new yarn bases, fiber breeds and colourways to try out. And of course, I always have too many design ideas floating around in my head, distracting me.

9. Where do you do all your creating? Do you have a special space?

I have a knitting spot, with a little table where I keep my ‘Project’ binder. This is where I sit at night, when the kids have gone to bed and I can write down ideas, do some sketching or swatching.

10. How did you first come about selling your awesome yarns and designs?

A knitting friend of mine had a booth at our local farmer’s market where she sold wool and craft supplies and asked if I wanted to give her a few things to sell. I wrote up a few of my wrist warmer patterns, along with some hand dyed fiber and yarn and over the next few months, my stuff sold really well. From there, I opened my Etsy shop and published a few patterns on Ravelry, and well, that’s it.

11. I wanna know is designing and dyeing your job? Or do you have a job job? Other than your family of course.

Well, yeah. I’m a stay at home mom but gradually, my dyeing and designing has grown from a hobby into a business and my part time job. Hopefully with the way things are going, it’ll be my full time job very soon.

12.What is the most exciting part of your “job” to you?

Hmmmm, that’s a good one. So much of it is exciting to me. I get pretty excited about trying new colourways. Oh, and seeing people’s reactions to a new design. I also get waaaay too excited about yarn and fiber photoshoots and posting spoiler pics.

13.I like to imagine my faves put on a tv show or certain music while dyeing or designing, do you do that? If so, what’s the playlist?

Oh yeah, I always listen to music when dyeing. It’s very inspirational and usually influences what colourways I end up dyeing that day. I listen to everything, and it really depends on my mood. One day it’ll be The Cure, next could be Adele or Weezer or Radiohead. You never know. I don’t listen to music when designing though. There’s too many numbers and math. I need quiet, and sometimes chocolate.

Remember, you can purchase Lisa’s wonderful patterns on Ravelry or in her Etsy Shop.

This Is An Update

There have been a ton of exciting things that I’ve wanted to knit. Mittens? Hell yes! Sweaters? Most definitely! Socks? Well, maybe not so much.

But with Christmas inching closer and closer, I keep getting last minute requests. And I’m feeling a little burnt out on knitting. I know, I know, I can’t believe it myself. Burnt out on knitting? Me? That’s unheard of! But I don’t even want to look at yarn, let alone think about the projects I’ve got stacked up that must get done before the Evil Holiday.

I keep having to do multiples of the same boring project. Plain hats, simple stockinette scarves and shawls, or shawls that aren’t challenging. I’m just waiting for all of the “boring”/mindless knitting to be finished so I can do something more exciting.

I’m a bored knitter. I’ve been carrying around the same scarf for the past couple of days and actually sighing at it. Who sighs at a scarf? Well, apparently I do.

Sighable scarf

The scarf is simple and mindless and it’s just knit stitch after knit stitch after knit stitch. Blah blah blah.  And of course, knitting at home is just a test in patience because I’ve got a six month old kitten who wants to be all up in my business. Zzyzx, the kitten, is the most adorable baby ever. But he has learned that Mama’s yarn is fun to play with. And that it really bothers Mama when she’s working to have to pull her working yarn out of baby’s mouth.

The Baby Zzyzx

Well this has been a rambling post, huh? I think I mainly just wanted to bitch about my wanting to knit something more exciting and share a picture of my cat.

I’m a crazy-cat-knitter-lady, aren’t I? How is YOUR Christmas knitting going? Do you have any four-legged-fur-babies that like to get in your face while you’re knitting?

BOOYAH BITCHES! aka The Knitter Christmas Post

Did I mention that I’ve almost finished all of my Christmas knitting? That’s right. I have. And it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. Hooray for starting early! All I have left to do is to finish knitting my dad a scarf (and it’s so boring I may just die) and knit a boyfriend a beard for his beard hat. And  then BOOYAH! I’m DONE!

Since I last blogged, I finished off the following:

1 Traveling Woman Shawl

2 Holden Shawlettes

2 Boneyard Shawls

3 Cabled Hats

AND 2 Regular Guy Beanies

That’s ten projects in the past month. I’m flying through these Christmas knits but honestly, I can’t wait until the Christmas knitting is over and I can get to, what I like to call, the” Knitter Christmas.”

I’m sure you knitters know what I mean. The Knitter Christmas is when you have finished knitting all of those Christmas presents for friends and family and you finally have time to knit things for yourself and/or your knitter friends who have all been knitting things for their loved ones too. I have a ton of things I’d love to knit.

Here’s My Knitter Christmas Knit List:

For Myself – A Certain Shade of Green Shawl by Fiddle Knits

For Miss Kristi – A Kindle Pocket and a Tattered Shawl by Sachiko Burgin

For Miss Kim – A Pair of Mittens (My first ever mittens!)

and For Miss Jillian – a shawl (which I haven’t quite decided on the pattern )

And of course there are a million things I want to knit once I don’t feel so obligated to knit everyone EVERYTHING before Christmas. And I must admit, knitting last-minute hats are a great way to stash bust. And yeah, ok, I feel really accomplished knowing I only have a couple of things left to knit for Christmas. But the Knitter Christmas is what I’m REALLY looking forward to this holiday season.

What about you? What have you been knitting? Do you also celebrate the Knitter Christmas?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Am Miss Vicious

Sometimes I get into this funk where in the knitting community, I feel like a little fish in a big, BIG pond. Here I am, swimming around, barely making a ripple. Whereas the big fish, like Stephen West, make tidal waves as they go through their days swimming.

But Miss Kim reminded me of something. She said to me tonight “are not! [Referring to me calling myself a small fish] Yous Miss Vicious for fucks sake! You are immense in yarnballs and attitude :-)”

And she’s right. I AM Miss Vicious. I might not make huge waves in the knitting community but I do some kick ass work and have made some awesome knitting friends. I can power out shawls like you cannot believe and even though I might get frustrated with a project, I never give up. I have conquered sweaters and lace shawls and have even attempted to design a thing or two.

One day, yes, it’d be nice to be a big fish (Oh-hello-Stephen-West-fame), but maybe for now, I can settle for being a kick ass small fish.

With that being said, What the Fuck has my problem been lately? Every morning on my commute into work I’ve thought to myself “I need to write a blog post today” and instead, I’ve been procrastinating. Because I felt like I’d already written some awesome posts and that I had plateaued. How disappointed have you all been, knowing that I haven’t written a sassy new post for you to read? I know you’ve been dying to hear about my finished projects.

Using custom dyed AtKnitsEnd yarn for my mom's Christmas shawl

Since the last time I posted, I finished the From Dawn Till Dusk Shawlette by Tetiana Otruta, created a wrap based off of a cowl called A Cowl with a Little Twist by Linda Frydl, finished a Zig Zag Shawl by Marion Bulin, finished New Moon Shawl by Anita Grahn, and started two christmas projects. BOOYAH. I have been a busy bee for the past couple of weeks. Not to mention that on Monday I plan on participating in the At Knits End Knit-A-Long featuring the Holden Shawlette by Mindy Wilkes.

How have you darlings been? Working your fingers to the bone? Knitting up a storm? Lusting for a new Miss Vicious Knits blog post? Tell me all the juicy gossip!

I’m In A Bit Of A Funk…

With the Christmas knits looming over me, I feel like I’m in a bit of a knitting funk. I feel like I’m stuck knitting what other people want me to knit and not what I want to knit. For months now, I’ve been knitting shawls and they’ve been flying off the needles. But I’ve been knitting the same shawlette/scarf for my bestie for a week now and I feel like I haven’t made any progress. (Which probably couldn’t be farther from the truth but because it’s not done, I’m very blah about it.)

This Project... Oh My...

And I can’t help but feel like I am stuck. I almost don’t even want to knit anything! How horrible is that? I am a knitter! I am known for my knitting! I’m known for being sassy and quick and getting shit done! But this project? It sits on the needles still. And those other projects? They just sound like doom.

Darlings, what do you do to get yourselves out of the dreaded knitting funk? I need some help!

Motivation Monday

At the end of last week I was a bad blogger and, well, didn’t blog. I feel like if I update this every single day that no one will want to read it. But I also feel that if I don’t constantly update, that I’m letting myself down. And I found that even though I didn’t update Friday through Sunday, you all still kept coming by and reading. And that makes me smile. Not gonna lie.

I kept pictures of the finished Live Oak Shawlette to myself until Friday and then posted them on Twitter. But you can see them here now too!

Blocking Live Oak

And here’s another close-up of the detail…

Close Up

And now we come to the motivation portion of Motivation Monday…

In a little over 13 weeks, it’ll be Christmas. Did you realize that? I’ve never been one of those people who freaks out about that up until this year. This year I’ve got 12 projects to complete before Christmas. I’m starting to think I didn’t think this through. All summer I randomly gifted my finished shawls instead of planning a little bit better. And now it’s hit me that every single day up until Christmas I’ve got to knit my little fingers to the bone.

I have 9 shawls, 1 hat, 1 cowl, and 1 scarf to complete. So for the next couple of weeks I’ll be blogging about those projects. Sneak Peaks? Nope. You shall get none until Wednesday! Or if you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably already seen them. Cheeky monkeys.

What’s keeping you motivated to keep knitting this Monday? Are you stressing about Christmas Knits like I am? Or were you a smart bunny and knitted those gifts throughout the summer? How many gift knits do you need to do?

Keep knitting, my darlings. We’re gonna make it through this holiday season if it kills us!