10 years of work in progress

Ten years ago I have started this blog with a help from my friend. 

Here is a link to that first blog post: Welcome to Stana's Critters Etc Blog. 

The image from the first blog post is a whole bunch of knitted teddy bears and a pink polka dot dog and a yellow striped cat. All of these toys were given away either to my kid, my friend's children, my kid's friends, or variety of charitable organizations. 

When I started this blog I really didn't know what to expect and what would happen. Somehow my love for knitting has evolved into a small side business and in the process I have managed to write and publish almost three hundred knitting patterns. As of today, officially, there are 295 published knitting patterns in my Ravelry store, and my patterns were published in seventeen different knitting books, as well as variety of websites and magazines.  To have my work accepted and published by a variety of third parties I have learned the different ways to submit my ideas and inevitably also understand that the rejections happen more than the acceptance, and usually it has nothing to do with the idea itself but rather with how the different ideas from so many other talented creators fit together. 

I do not know what the future holds, but I know for sure that I will continue to knit one stitch at time.  That way I am sure that I will manage to finish this Bernie Sanders doll, my current work in progress since January 2021. 

Thank you for visiting and reading. 

Brunelli Wrap

 

These two photographs may seem irrelevant to the title of this blog post, but in a strange sense it represents part of the knitwear designer process. When I looked at the sky I saw these heart shaped clouds, and I had a camera in hand and was able to take a photo. In a way it was a luck that I looked at the sky at that exact moment and had a camera and was able to capture the clouds shape before it disappeared and changed its shape. If I looked at any other moment the heart shaped clouds would be gone and I wouldn't have these two photos. It seems that the same goes for submitting to a third party submission call. 

My ideas are few of hundreds submissions that the editors look through for each submissions call and sometimes it needs a bit of luck and the right moment for an idea to click and be accepted.

Brunelli Wrap is a perfect example. It was rejected so many times that it felt like it's not worth it. Yet I kept returning to the sketch and swatch, and decided to knit a sample anyway. It was at that moment the pattern was accepted for a publication. Here is the post I wrote about the Brunelli Wrap after it was published in October Issue of Knotions Magazine. The rights to the pattern has returned back to me and I can offer the pattern to purchase on my Ravelry Designer Page,  Payhip, Lovecraft website and you can also buy it by clicking on this button, which takes you to Ravelry:

Picture bellow is by Kellie Nuss for Knotions Magazine.

Thank you for visiting and reading. 

Brunelli Wrap

 

Photo by Kelli Nuss for Knotions Magazine

Brunelli Wrap is my latest published pattern by a third party. This beautiful Wrap is part of the October Issue of Knotions Magazine. The theme for this issue was fire. All of the patterns in this particular issue are gorgeous. Here is a link to the pattern:

Brunelli Wrap on Ravelry

I started to work on this idea about two years ago, when I made a small swatch in two colors. Grey and blue-green. You can see the swatch on the left side of this picture. I really liked the idea of two colored cable, with some bramble stitch and more cables to unify the look. 

I sent a submission to a third party submission call. The idea was rejected for that particular collection. And here is the thing. It was rejected not because the idea was bad, but simply because it did not fit to the whole collection together with the other ideas that were picked. I continued to send out the submission whenever I though it might be a fit for the collection. In total I sent out the idea to ten submission calls, and the idea was rejected nine times. Finally the submission was accepted and I was able to bring the idea to full size wrap. 

I was working on the sample last winter. It seems like an eternity ago. It was a time when life was normal. We were unaware of the upcoming pandemic, that changed lives for all. When I finished the sample, we had a cozy afternoon by fire, with our dog napping in the warm spot. Before I washed and blocked the wrap and sent it away for a real photoshoot  I took few pictures of my dog with the wrap.

I look at the picture now wondering what the future has in store for us and the future generation of our children. I truly hope that there is a bright future for all and not some bleak dystopian future where people hate each other based on the differences between them.  

Thank you for reading and visiting.

The tools of a Knitwear Designer and #Why I Make

 

As a knitwear designer published by third parties I have to promote my designs on the social media I have a presence. I try to do that but sometimes Instagram gets left behind. In the past month or so I had several knitting patterns published and I was thinking about how to mention all of the knitting patterns without feeling like it's a promotion or an advertising. 

Yesterday, I took this picture and posted it on Instagram. I did not know what I will write at first, and then it started to be a list of tools a knitwear designer uses.

The list:

Yarn 

Knitting Needles 

Sketch Book and notebook 

Ideas 

Swatches 

Knitted Samples 

Computer Work (pattern writing, grading, editing) 

Photography 

Patience

Responding to Submission calls 

Acceptance 

Persistence 

Luck

Social Media visibility 

If and when patterns are accepted more of the above 

When patterns are published add pattern support

It's a lot to do for one person.

Even though it is a lot to do I continue to do that. Simply because I love what I do, knitting and creating.

Last week I have received an email from @Lovecrafts about another competition for Blogger of the Year 2020.

I have tried last year, and even though I did not win, my entry was interesting enough to be mentioned on their blog. I see that as a huge success. Links to the two are here:

My last year entry

Article on Lovecrafts

I was thinking about what I would like to write for this year entry. I had so many ideas and I kept returning to the idea of dreams of our childhood and how we either pursue them or abandoned them. 

I had plenty of childhood dreams that I wanted to achieve. I would like to mention one particularly. Growing up behind the Iron curtain was very restrictive and we were not allowed to travel outside the Eastern Block. As a child I read a lot and I dreamed a lot about traveling all over the world. Under the circumstances it seemed impossible. We were not allowed to do so. Yet the Velvet Revolution in 1989 gave us the freedom to travel all over the world. I studied and become a tour guide, a profession that allowed me to pursue my childhood dream of traveling. At one point as a tour guide traveling with a group of tourists we were in the Monument Valley and my group of tourists went for a tour with a local  Navajo guide and I was left behind to wait for their return. At that moment I was approached by the owner of the company, a Navajo man and asked if I want to go for a horse ride while my group of tourists are exploring the beauty of the land. I went and it was magical. Unknown to him, he allowed me to fulfill my childhood dream of riding a horse with a Native American through their land. I cherished that memory and I have a picture of me on the horse in the Monument Valley to remind me that sometimes when we don't expect it our dreams can come true. 

 In the photo above you can see the image of me on a horse at the Monument Valley. You can also see a paw of my dog. Having a dog was another childhood dreams of mine, and I had to wait for it to happen for many years. 

Another of my childhood dreams was to become a writer. I earned BA  in Creative Writing, something I never expected to do when I was a child. I earned that degree in a non native language. I see that as an achievement  on its own. During my talks with my school advisor I mentioned that I have been creating knitting patterns and that some of them were published in a book collections, or on websites or in magazines. My adviser told me that this is what being a writer is. Have your work published. I guess I have in an unexpected ways achieved another childhood dream. 

 

Stana's Critters Etc is my personal adventure one stitch at the time. 

So if you have a dream, a passion, keep on dreaming, keep on being passionate about it, you never know when the dream comes true. 

Thank you for reading and visiting.

This is my entry into the Lovecrafts competition for The Blogger of the Year 2020. This is also my answer to the question Why I make. 

I love to create and share my creativity and passion with others so they can learn, create, craft and enjoy the process one stitch at time.

#WhyIMake 

 

Deadline work and such

I love knitting. It is my to go craft. I find it relaxing and refreshing, with added benefit of having an actual finished item. Every once in a while I try some other crafts and hobbies, but ultimately I always return to knitting.
Somehow this hobby of mine has turned into a sort of side business as I create new knitted items, and write the knitting patterns that allows other people to recreate my ideas and knitted creations. Some of my knitting patterns are self-published, and some are actually published by a third party in books, magazines, websites, and online. It always amazes me when I receive an acceptance of my submission ideas. Of course there are rejections as well, but that never stop me from trying again. At the end of June I have received an email with acceptance of my knitting ideas. It was wonderful news, and I was very happy. Then I realized that I will have to knit samples for all the accepted patterns and ship them to the magazine for a photoshoot. I emailed Cascade Yarn company for a yarn support and waited for the yarn to arrive. When the box filled with squishy and soft yarn arrived I calculated that I have 15 days to knit in order to send the samples on time.
I calculated that I needed to knit over 68000 sts in those 15 days. It averaged about 4500 sts each day. I have set everything else aside and concentrated on these samples, one stitch at time. 
As always my dog kept me company, and for a brief moment it even looked like he might try to help.

But that didn't last long. There were other more important things to accomplish from his point of view. A little rest after a long day of being a dog....

Yesterday I have finished the edits to the patterns, and packed the washed and blocked samples. The email with the patterns, charts, and schematics was sent out and today I mailed the samples as well.
This picture of my dog is the perfect expression of how I felt after these two weeks. Happy, exhausted, and already thinking about my next knitting project.

Also, in the meantime I actually had two sales in my Etsy store, which has been rather inactive all those years since I created it in 2012. I might revisit the idea of adding some patterns and perhaps even some knitted items to the store.
I also tried a new (at least to me) platform for selling my knitting patterns.

It is called Payhip and the link to the store is here:

StanasCrittersEtc

Thank you for visiting.

Knitting and life

Earth

I hope that the world will be a better place once the dust settles in, the virus runs its course and peaceful protest achieve the changes that should have been in place for many years. Growing up behind the Iron curtains, participating in Velvet Revolution and watching the world evolve into something else than we hoped for is heartbreaking. This is not the world I wish our children would inherit from us, the adults.
My wish is for peace to the world.

In these turbulent times I have received some unexpected news from knitting world.
One of my patterns that was previously published in I Like Knitting online magazine, has been nominated for Indie Designer pattern of the month - June.

link here

Watermelon Pouch

It is a second time this year that one of my patterns have been nominated.  

Previously it was my Calypso Cowl, and coincidently both of these patterns were part of Top 50 patterns on I Like Knitting.

Blog post here

Thank you for visiting.

#WhyIMake

Huggalufs

Last week I have received an email from LoveCraft about creating a blog post answering the question to "Why Do You Make?" By creating this blog post I am entering their competition for Blog Personality of the Year, 2019.

I do not expect to win anything. I know my blog is not one of those famous and fabulous, whose daily readers are in thousands or more, but still the question about why do I continue to create has been on my mind lately.

I am not a well known designer who's patterns are "hot right now" and knitted by many people, but I have been creating all my life. I realize each and every time I think about why do I continue to create that it is for the pure joy knitting brings me.  The minute I take those knitting needles and a skein of yarn I let go of other things, and concentrate on creating one stitch at the time.

I wish I could show what I have achieved to my grandmother. She was the person who taught me how to crochet and knit when I was a little child. At first I preferred to crochet, and embroider, but then when I was about thirteen or fourteen I picked up the knitting needles and started my first sweater. Here is an old photograph of me proudly wearing that first sweater.

My first sweater

 After I finished that first sweater I continued to create many more.
Growing up behind the Iron Curtains gave me the opportunity to be a designer without actually realizing it. We did not have access to many knitting magazines or fashion journals. The limited access to everything encouraged us to make our own clothes instead of going to a store and buy them. My mom and grandmother were really talented seamstresses and created most of my clothes throughout my childhood and teenage years. I tried to sew as well, but I was much better with the knitting needles then with the sewing machine, so I continued to knit sweaters, and other accessories without using knitting patterns. I would draw a picture of what I wanted the sweater to look like and then I would start to play with yarn. I would make a small swatch, calculate the numbers, and then I would knit.

After the Velvet Revolution, and the fall of the Berlin Wall world started to open up. Would you believe that it is thirty years since that wonderful autumn?! I wish I could be back in Europe for the festivities and attend the various celebrations of this anniversary.

Falling in love is a wonderful time. It can make you move across the world. Even though I left my country to live on another continent I took with me my knitting needles and I continued to created. For many years I knitted for joy, and when my child was born I started to knit toys. I knitted various toys, creating them based on my child drawings, other kid's drawings, or simply based on their requests.

Loopy, a monster based on drawing by my child

In March 2011 a friend of mine helped me to start this blog. The link bellow will take you to the very first blog post.
Welcome...

It was about the same time another friend of mine asked me to read and explain to her a knitting pattern she was working from. About the same time I was asked if I could write up patterns for some of my creations. I tried and somehow it made sense to other knitters and they could follow my directions.
It has been an interesting journey ever since.
I created a children's book using my knitted toys and my photography.
See the Monster Al book. I also used Monster Al and his friends for my Thesis project to earn BA in Creative Writing.

Monster Al and his friends

I also managed to collaborate and work with various yarn companies. I have had many of my knitting patterns published in knitting books, and on various websites. As of today there are more than 250 knitting patterns available. Not bad for someone who loves to create with yarn.
I continue to create one stitch at the time, enjoying the knitting process more than writing the knitting patterns.

Scraptastic Scarf and Cowl

Thank you for visiting and reading.

Cool wool....

Monster Al and his Friends

Somehow I have stumbled upon an article named "How wool got cool" by Rosie Ifould and the readers were encouraged to contribute to The Guardian by submitting their knitted or crocheted projects to Weird and wonderful knitting for a chance to have their work published. My two submitted pieces Diamondback Rattlesnake and Monster Al and his Friends were both accepted and are published on their website:
Link here



Diamondback Rattlesnake

About the same time I have stumbled upon The Crafty award where you can submit your do-it-yourself creations and once again I have submitted the Diamondback Rattlesnake and my submission was published as well.

Thank you for visiting.

Rejection Letters

Leaf

Part of my world is filled with submissions. I think of something, create an idea, spend hours writing, rewriting, sketching, etc. Once I feel the idea I want to submit is ready I send it out. It may be a response to a Call for Submission, or perhaps I think that my idea is a fit for a particular place. After, I am left with anticipation waiting for the response.

The happy moment arrives, when my submission is accepted.

Sometimes, a not so happy moment arrives with a rejection.

Rejection letters are a strange phenomenon, they can evoke various feelings in the receiver.

I would divide the rejection letters into three categories.

The first category is basically a version of "We don't care about your submission." Letters and notes like these hurt the most.

The second category is a version of "We don't have space/money/time...(fill in the blank) for your submission, but thanks for sending it." these types of rejections are unpleasant, but acceptable.

And then there is the third category of rejection letters. They usually say something like "Thank you for sending your work to us. It was a pleasure to review it. Unfortunately...." Even though it is a rejection letter, it makes me feel appreciated. Someone actually values my work, effort, time and has the decency to make me feel valuable as an artist, writer, and designer. This feeling makes a huge difference. After receiving this kind of rejection letter, I actually feel a great surge of inspiration to be better the next time, whereas after receiving the first category of rejection letters make me feel like my work is worthless, and therefore even I as a person have a lesser value.

In reality they are all rejection letters, therefore my work was not accepted, however the difference in the way the letters are perceived is huge, at least for me personally.

In the end, it makes me think more about where I will send my submissions next time. Would it be the place where they value the work and the artist, writer, designer, or to a place where they don't really care?

Thank you for visiting.