Julia is one of my favorite designers, and not only because she creates lovely patterns. I can't count how many times I have been encouraged by her posts on Ravelry. She always has such a positive spirit, and it shines through!
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| Missowski Slouchy and The Great Missowski. I love chevrons, like crazy love, so I had to add these two. There's a matching cowl as well! |
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| Brennan Cardi |
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| Loden Slouchy |
All pictures © Mind of Winter
Hi! I’m Julia Trice, also known as mind of winter, which is the name of my design line. I’ve been knitting since the age of six (so 37 years!) and crocheting since 2006. I design knitting patterns for the most part, but I have also dabbled in crochet design lately.
How would you describe your style?
Organic, classic, natural. I like to play with texture and proportion. Almost everything I design can be dressed up, but it is a pre-requisite that it can be worn with jeans.
What inspires you?
Yarn and stitch patterns are where I draw my design inspiration. I work predominantly with independent yarn producers who create beautiful, unique yarns in wonderful colors. My first goal is always to determine how to best showcase my materials. I also love stitch dictionaries and I swatch constantly. If the yarn I swatch with doesn’t make the stitch pattern shine, I file it away to try again later with another yarn.
What is your favorite item to design?
Sweaters.
What is your favorite aspect of designing?
Seeing it all come together. It generally occurs at midnight or later. I love the knitting, photography and layout the best when it comes to ranking specific tasks. Spreadsheets and schematics are lower on the list.
Is there a design of yours that you are particularly proud of?
Only one, huh? Well, I have a lot of favorites, but I think the thing I am most proud of this year is going out on a limb and publishing Etheria, a crochet infinity cowl. I made it for fun, literally auditioning stitches as I went. I had never published a crochet pattern before, and I had serious reservations about doing so. Charting for crochet is difficult and has a steep learning curve, and the market for crochet is more limited. Plus, my customers are knitters. But I loved how the pattern turned out so I took a chance and published it anyway. It has ended up being the most popular of my patterns this year.
What is your favorite part of the GAL?
The people. Hands down.
Were there any specific patterns that did really well in the GAL that you didn’t expect?
My Chalice Cowl sold very well last year, so I didn’t think it would sell as well this time around, but it definitely has.
Any new projects you would like to share with us?
I just released the Loden Slouchy, and will soon release coordinating mittens, which you can find on my project page.
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