...He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Eph. 3:20
Quote Me
"I certainly don't regret my experiences because without them, I couldn't imagine who or where I would be today. Life is an amazing gift to those who have overcome great obstacles, and attitude is everything!" - Sasha Azevedo
I
learned very young, from my mother who is a knitter and an avid
quilter. I begged for an i-cord maker at the age of 5 or 6 and I think
there's a 20 foot acrylic i-cord somewhere in my parents' attic still.
I didn't start seriously knitting until about 6 years ago - my friend
was making acrylic scarves and I had the compulsion to make one. After
the scarf I wanted to knit a sweater, so I did. The rest is history
Who taught you to knit?
Technially my mom, when I was a child. But I am mostly self taught, beyond knitting and purling.
How does it feel being such a popular male knitter?
Well
- the idea that knitters can be 'popular' still totally weirds me out.
The internet community is great, but really kind of bizarre if you
think about it. A very funny thing. I've met so many wonderful people
in the last two years through my site and made some dear friends. I'm
very grateful for that.
Do you normally knit alone or in groups?
I usually knit alone in the evenings. I have a few local friends who are knitters, but we don't knit together regularly.
Do you knit with any other male knitters?
Unfortunately no. I've gotten to meet a whole bunch of male knitters in the online community though, which is always nice.
All
of your work is AWESOME. If you had to pick THREE all time favorite
knitted items, what would you pick and why?
Ooh that's a tough question. The Adult Tomten
is one of my favorite sweaters - its big, cozy and satisfies my urge to
wear EZ sweaters at all times. Funnily enough, after a sweater is
complete, the charm is largely gone for me. I enjoy the process of
knitting much more than the final project (don't get me wrong thought,
I'm definitely a sweater freak still by the standard definitiong) I
usually end up wearing the simpler projects. Jarrett
is probably my most consistently worn sweater, along with my very first
top-down raglan which was knit in the pre-blog days. You can't beat a
simple, well-fitting pullover!
Your photography ROCKS, what kind of equipment do you use?
I
shoot the photography on my blog with a Nikon D50. I've only been
shooting digitally for about 2 years. It's super convenient and offers
a lot of possibilities, but I really miss the darkroom and developing
film. Most of my knitting stuff is shot with a standard 50mm 1.4 lens
and natural light.
Do you have any tips for other knitters who would like to take better photos of their work?
Don't use flash! The first tip I give
everyone is to shoot with window light if at all possible. Cameras love
natural light. Keep the image simple - the texture and color of
knitting speaks for itself (when it's lit well). These are two
important things, I think, for people who shoot their knitting.
I
am new to knitting and I'm not sure how many times you have had your
work published. Can you share with us how many projects and what
magazines you have been published in?
I
just started publishing patterns this year. I have I think 4 coming out
this Fall/Winter. Most recently my Cobblestone sweater in the Fall IK,
as well as a cabled hat in the IK Holiday Gifts Issue (just released
this week). I also have a sweater in Debbie Stoller's new book and
Yahaira Ferreira's "Sensual Knits." The pattern in Sensual Knits is my
first woman's sweater - it was quite a different design experience, but
I was happy with the result. I hope to publish some patterns this year
through my site and try that as an outlet too. I have a few free
patterns available at BrooklynTweed - the RedLighSpecial hat as well as
some modified existing patterns like the Hemlock Ring Throw.
What is your all time hands down favorite yarn to work with?
I really love working with Beaverslide McTaggart tweed - the
people at Beaverslide are wonderful and I like supporting local
agriculture in a great stat like Montana. Classic Elite Skye Tweed is
great, but recently discontinued to my dismay. I've recently been
harvesting an appetite or handspun wools also!
Your color choices are wonderful. How do you go about picking which color you will use for a particular project?
Color choices are pretty intuitive for me
- I have a weakness for earthtones and autumnal wools. I am trying to
branch out from Greens and Browns, believe it or not! Every once in a
while I'll see a color on the street and it won't leave my head until I
make a garment with it. But mostly, I just respond to whatever colors
are available in a given yarn and use what I find to be he most
interesting or beautiful.
Are you working on any of your own designs right now?
I
always have a few things going on behind the curtain. I'm working up a
few sweater designs and some colorwork patterns. I never know where or
how they'll end up, but I seem to always need an original pattern to be
able to test out whatever knitting idea I'm currently possessed with.
How did you develop your skills for designing patterns and re-interpreting other designs to fit your style?
My biggest influence was/is Elizabeth
Zimmermann - I know this is true for many knitters. She has a knack for
liberating knitters from patterns and rules, which I am a big supporter
of. I am largely self taught, just from being curious, measuring and
studying existing garments and wanting to make things that work for me.
I think this curiosity might come more naturally to male knitters,
since we don't have a huge array of beautiful sweater patterns coming
at us every season. There are advantages and disadvantage to that.
What knitting needles do you find yourself working with often?
I'm an addi turbo addict, although I do have a considerable number
of KnitPIcks Options needles that I also enjoy, especially for lace
patterns and cabling without a cable needle. I use bamboo and birch
from time-to-time, for certain projects.
Which type of needle do you like better.... bamboo, plastic or metal. Why?
Polished metal, like addi's and KP Options - I prefer
the smoothness. They work best for me since I do a lot of plain
stockinette in the round.
How much time do you spend a week knitting?
I'm
a full-time graduate student now, so my knitting time fluctuates
greatly. I usually try to save a day on the weekend for a decent amount
of knitting time, and almost always knit at least an hour or two in the
evenings. Usually while watching Netflix
Other than knitting, do you have any other hobbies?
Food! I love food and we cook a lot at
home. I also live in a great neighborhood in Brooklyn with all sorts of
ethnic foods in walking distance.
Traveling is also a big part of my life, I try to get out and travel as much as my life (or wallet) allows!
And there you have it! I don't know about you but I am very smitten with this man! LOL I hope you guys have a great day!
Toodles!
Comments
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Hey Adrienne:
Just wanted to say that I enjoyed your video blog and the interview with Jared. I saw his cobblestone sweater in the fall issue of Interweave Knit and loved it, and really love his cable knit hat on his blog. I went to the yarn store today to get cable needles and the owner told me that rather spending 2 or 3 bucks on cable needles, I can use my double pointed needle (which makes sense) as I can just take that money towards the purchase of more yarn. Talk to you later.
What a treat!! I'm a HUGE fan of Jared's too and I think his "celebrity" is well-deserved. You did a really good job with those questions too, all interesting stuff!
wow!! i loved this interview!! i learned soo much about picture takind and knitting in general! thanks so much adrienne!! please continue to do these interviews! love the blog!
I really like your video editions. Thanks for the interesting interview and the links for the knitting items. I will have to check out that book-it sounds very good. Have a great day!
Awesome interview!! Great questions!! (esp. about how he takes his pictures!!)
And thanks for sliding mine in there (:op - it was worded so much better than what I said! Haha!)
Mmmh I am SO interested in that book, but I am sure it has already been snagged!
Love your video intro!! Fancy smancy! But I can barely hear you! :o( I had to turn up all my volumes and was still straining, but then got blasted out at the end b/c I forgot I had everything turned up! Haha!
Wow love the interview!!I will be getting me some knitting needles and a tape to learn how to knit!!I just love all his work.And to find out that he is self taught.That make me want to just dive in and try it!!!
I think I like your video interviews the best. It's fun to see you and hear you. The interview with Jared is really cool too. I love his hats. Really cool.
Adrienne what a great interview! Jared is really nice and it was wonderful getting to know him through you! I will watch your video when I get home (video stream is blocked where I work)! Until then, have a great day! (now I will explore the weblinks you provided)
Great post! I love the interview. You asked some great questions. These will be very helpful to me as I am a new knitter! I love your video posts. You are too silly. Just like you are when you are with me. Great job! Keep at it!
Great interview girl! Also loved that embroiderred thingy you bought. I so want Life Artist, gotta get it today. Tell me how you like the reaping!!!! DAna
Me too!!! He is the first blogger I added to my sidebar, and delurked and sent an e-mail to. I was surprised and thrilled when he answered my e-mail right away. I have been a fan ever since. Thanks for the great interview Adrienne.
love the video blog! jarett is off the chain! have you watched the reaping yet? i've got plans for that tomorrow night. gotta watch the finale of celebrity rap superstar tonight!!! :-D planet terror was good!!!
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Hey Adrienne:
Just wanted to say that I enjoyed your video blog and the interview with Jared. I saw his cobblestone sweater in the fall issue of Interweave Knit and loved it, and really love his cable knit hat on his blog. I went to the yarn store today to get cable needles and the owner told me that rather spending 2 or 3 bucks on cable needles, I can use my double pointed needle (which makes sense) as I can just take that money towards the purchase of more yarn. Talk to you later.
Posted by: Sheri | October 16, 2007 at 08:24 PM
I have to wait till later to watch your video cast (the Indians game is on afterall) but I loved your interview! Awesome!
Posted by: Michelle | October 16, 2007 at 08:27 PM
Great video and very cool interview! I 'heart' his knitting and his photography!
Posted by: erica b. | October 16, 2007 at 08:36 PM
What a treat!! I'm a HUGE fan of Jared's too and I think his "celebrity" is well-deserved. You did a really good job with those questions too, all interesting stuff!
Posted by: Marce | October 16, 2007 at 09:07 PM
wow!! i loved this interview!! i learned soo much about picture takind and knitting in general! thanks so much adrienne!! please continue to do these interviews! love the blog!
Posted by: eve | October 16, 2007 at 09:31 PM
I really like your video editions. Thanks for the interesting interview and the links for the knitting items. I will have to check out that book-it sounds very good. Have a great day!
Posted by: Julie | October 16, 2007 at 09:48 PM
Awesome interview once again and great video!
Posted by: yaiAnn | October 17, 2007 at 12:24 AM
Awesome interview!! Great questions!! (esp. about how he takes his pictures!!)
And thanks for sliding mine in there (:op - it was worded so much better than what I said! Haha!)
Mmmh I am SO interested in that book, but I am sure it has already been snagged!
Love your video intro!! Fancy smancy! But I can barely hear you! :o( I had to turn up all my volumes and was still straining, but then got blasted out at the end b/c I forgot I had everything turned up! Haha!
Posted by: Stacey_CrimsonPurl | October 17, 2007 at 06:17 AM
See! You did it again! Love the blog spotlight! :op
Posted by: Stacey_CrimsonPurl | October 17, 2007 at 06:21 AM
Wow love the interview!!I will be getting me some knitting needles and a tape to learn how to knit!!I just love all his work.And to find out that he is self taught.That make me want to just dive in and try it!!!
Posted by: gold | October 17, 2007 at 06:32 AM
I think I like your video interviews the best. It's fun to see you and hear you. The interview with Jared is really cool too. I love his hats. Really cool.
Keep up the good work with the blog. It rocks!
Posted by: Cassandra | October 17, 2007 at 07:37 AM
Adrienne what a great interview! Jared is really nice and it was wonderful getting to know him through you! I will watch your video when I get home (video stream is blocked where I work)! Until then, have a great day! (now I will explore the weblinks you provided)
Posted by: Tany | October 17, 2007 at 08:39 AM
I know I can try to knit!! lol Thanks for the interview, so inspired!! I am the little engine who could, in training! lol
Posted by: Christina | October 17, 2007 at 08:52 AM
Great interview A!!!
Thanks so much for this! I love Jared too. Unabashedly.
Posted by: Melanie | October 17, 2007 at 09:05 AM
I'mmmmmm baaaaaack!
I so need to learn how to knit...that would have given me something to do on my plane ride!
Posted by: rhonda | October 17, 2007 at 10:57 AM
her hats are amazing!!! Thanks so much for spotlighting her!
Posted by: Melanie | October 17, 2007 at 12:02 PM
Great interview! Glad you asked him about the photography.
I don't have good audio on my borrowed laptop. I'll watch it later!
Posted by: Ava | October 17, 2007 at 01:35 PM
Great post! I love the interview. You asked some great questions. These will be very helpful to me as I am a new knitter! I love your video posts. You are too silly. Just like you are when you are with me. Great job! Keep at it!
Posted by: Zanete | October 17, 2007 at 01:39 PM
Great interview girl! Also loved that embroiderred thingy you bought. I so want Life Artist, gotta get it today. Tell me how you like the reaping!!!! DAna
Posted by: dana | October 17, 2007 at 03:14 PM
one of my absoloute favorite knitters!!! I love love love his patterns and can not wait to make the hat from Ik. You rock adrienne.
Posted by: stephaniestephanie | October 17, 2007 at 04:33 PM
Thanks for the link to the Noni the laptop bag. we just got a laptop and this is PERFECT pattern for us! Now, for a gender neutral scheme...
Posted by: dana | October 17, 2007 at 06:01 PM
Jared is an incredible knitter. Thanks for sharing his skills with the rest of us.
Posted by: Tracey | October 17, 2007 at 09:40 PM
GREAT interview! What a fabulous idea of you to do that.
Posted by: del | October 18, 2007 at 04:42 AM
Me too!!! He is the first blogger I added to my sidebar, and delurked and sent an e-mail to. I was surprised and thrilled when he answered my e-mail right away. I have been a fan ever since. Thanks for the great interview Adrienne.
Posted by: Beverly Love | October 18, 2007 at 12:24 PM
love the video blog! jarett is off the chain! have you watched the reaping yet? i've got plans for that tomorrow night. gotta watch the finale of celebrity rap superstar tonight!!! :-D planet terror was good!!!
love the christmas knitting suggestion list!
Posted by: anna | October 18, 2007 at 08:40 PM
Great interview! It so nice to find out more about the knitters we love and admire. He has such talent!
Posted by: Lara | October 19, 2007 at 11:20 AM
Enjoyed the Brooklyntweed interview - and great tips about photographing a project.
Posted by: sheila | October 19, 2007 at 01:38 PM
Loved the interview with Jared! That's great! Thank you for it. I really adore his knitting and photography skillz.
Posted by: Wanda | October 23, 2007 at 01:58 PM