Contest Winner and Answers Vol. I

It was so cool reading everyone's contest entries! Thanks for reading and playing everyone. Now onto what we really want to know- the winner! I told the Random Integer Generator to give me a number between 1 and 90 and here's what it handed to me.

Commenter #50- which is Bex of Subversive Lesbian Anarchic Knitter! Congrats Bex! I've sent an email for your mailing address to get these goodies out to you.

And hooo boy did I get myself into something with all these questions, lol. For the sake of my sanity and post length I'll be breaking up the responses into different posts. So- now onto More Than You Could Possibly Want to Know About PieKnits!

We'll start with our winner's query - Bex asks "Mmm, I know you like Weezer (the band) - what other music do you like? Oh, and whats your favourite yarn to knit with?" I like so much stuff- but mostly heavy/hard rock and pieces with haunting melodies. I definitely have a penchant for female singers too. :) System of a Down, A Perfect circle, NIN, Rasputina, The Distillers, Kidneythieves, Korn, The Gossip, L7, Manson, Portishead, Tool, 7 year bitch, Crisis, Type O Negative, Voltaire, Weezer, White (and Rob) Zombie, and my latest love is probably Emilie Autumn. As for favorite yarn I think I answer that farther down in the post. :)

Monica asks "What's your day job?"
My job title is "Multimedia Developer." The company I work for makes eLearning and computer based training for corporations and their customers. I program, develop and do design on the courses which are mostly Flash based. And jezzabell asks "Is your day time job connected with this what you like to do?" I've found thinking geared toward instruction and learning has helped a lot with pattern writing! That and I'm doing less web design work-wise so this site is my fun side project.

Joanna Kostrzewa asks "What is your favorite Indian sweet?" Ooh that's a tough one! I have to admit the first thing that comes to mind in Mango Ice Cream that some of the Indian restaurants have because I love all things mango. And Indian ice cream is amazing- my FIL brought home a tub of ice cream every day while we were in India and we ate it all and it was awesome. As for traditional sweets- I'm rather fond of Peda (I think that's correct, there's soooo many names and variations!)

A popular one!
Gwen asks "Where do you get inspiration for your designs?", Jennifer "What inspires you in your design work?", Kristin asks "What inspires you?", Rachel asks "Where do you get the inspirations for your patterns?", Beverly asks "What inspires you when you design knitwear?", Alison asks "You come up with some of the most interesting things, where do you get your inspiration?" I get inspiration from all over and sometimes from who know where! I do keep an 'inspiration file' both in print and saved from web. Usually it's a certain element of something I see in commercial fashion, ads, vintage clothing such as a silhouette, interesting shaping, a closure. Sometimes the final piece is inspired by a certain feel. I also take inspiration from time periods, such as Celtic, Victorian, and a recent piece from Ancient Greece.

Kelly-Ann asks "What other designers inspire you?" and Earthchick asks "Who's your favorite designer?" There's so many amazing designers out there that blow me away but off the top of my head: Nora Gaughm, Teva Durham, Jenna Wilson, Adrian Bizilia, and Elsebeth Lavold. Goes to show I have a bit of a thing for interesting construction, complex cables and details.

Jenni asks "Whats the secret to making palek paneer?" Not sure how much help I can be as this isn't a usual one for us. However we do make spinach curries a lot and I'd recommend using fresh spinach and cooking it in a pressure cooker vs. using frozen.

Erin asks "Are you a cat or dog person (or neither)?" Actually I'm both! I love them both fiercely for their own unique ways. I could never pick one over the other as it's kinda like comparing apples to oranges for me. Unfortunately Mr. PieKnits is really allergic to cats. My love for kitties is well known in the family though and my grandfather upon hearing this joked "And you still married him?" hehe. We have the bestest, cutest, funniest, sweetest, smartest dog ever (not biased or anything) - Aejaz.

Gem asks "How long does it take you to get such cute photos of you modeling your FO's?" Awww the beauty of digital cameras and no 'wasting' of film. I usually just snap a lot very quickly. If modeling is required it's usually whenever I can snatch Mr. PieKnits during a few minutes of day light and us home together (half the time that's 10 minutes before work, ha.)

Beth asks "What's your favorite project you've knit?" I should have known I'd have to answer my own tough question! As for other designs between Anouk (enjoyable easy but engaging process, happy FO), Circumnavigated Cardigan (lots of interesting options for customization and clever technique) and the Cabled Newsboy Cap (for most worn).

Dave asks "What's your dream knit project? Details, please." I think what most knitters are looking for- that perfect balance of engrossing details without too much frustrating difficulty that produces a stunning or more complicated looking piece using beautiful and enjoyable yarn. Too much to ask!? ;)

Alice from France asks "Do you draw or note on a sketchbook your ideas for a design?" Yep, I tend to end up sketching all over the place. But once a design is pretty firmed up in my minds eye I sketch it out in a notebook with notes all over the place. I usually do a lot of "sketching" on the computer too. I draw in Illustrator or Flash all day at work so it's what I'm used to. Especially when I work up a final sketch for a design proposal. I'll usually do the silhouette on the computer, print it then add color and texture shading/detail with pencil and colored pencils.

Orli asks "Who takes all your photos? They're always so artistic, and some of them look impossible to do on one's own." Thanks, anything without me in it I take with a few exceptions such as this shot I'm rather amused I managed to get myself. (The benefit of having a wall of mirrors behind you, heh.)

For the rest though I have brag on my hubby- Mr. PieKnits a bit. :) He takes nearly all the modeled shots. I usually provide "art direction" and sometimes have a very specific shot in mind that I want but he's the one that finds them and otherwise it's all him. :)

Wendy asks "Do you have any tips for beginners on how to design patterns?" My biggest thing is always Just Try It; I'm a believer in learning by doing. But otherwise get yourself some good reference books and then forget about them and dream up whatever you can, then worry about how you're going to make it work in stitches. If the design has to evolve so be it, but I found the biggest thing hindering me in the beginning would be shying away from an idea as I was unsure I could figure it out. (Which dawned on me that was really counter-productive.)

Ern asks "How many WIPs do you have at any given time?" I guess I usually have "active WIPs" and "on indefinite hold WIPs". Just counting the pieces I'm actually going between always at least two usually more like four. Now that could be with four other items lounging for months and several swatches thrown in too though, heh.

Cecilia asks "What's your favorite thing you've ever knit and/or designed." and Liz G. asks "What is your favorite of all you have designed?" Refer to above for favorite knit, as for favorite design it really feels like choosing between your children! If I had to say, I think it'd be the Celtic Tote. I loved everything about the entire design and process. It was fun coming up with, fun charting, enjoyable knitting and such satisfying results with the finished piece looking like what I'd hoped for. It's been the awesomest thing ever getting to see so many other FOs.

Kirstie asks "What's your favorite type of thing to knit (or design)?" Hmm, I guess I don't have a specific "type" as I've done so many different things. I'd have to say I like the technically involved stuff. I joke that I like to wrestle with my knitting, I don't know I'm weird. :)

Amanda asks "What was your last yarn purchase?" Wow, I really had to think about this one, ha. I'm pretty set with my stash at the moment. I think technically it was some Patons Classic Wool Merino I picked up to swatch in for a book submission (had the right colors I needed) but I haven't been able to show that one yet. Otherwise it was probably the Victorian beaded thimble bag kit last October.

Lori asks "Hmm...how's the weather?" Ha, right now actually cloudy and rainy! I've gotten so incredibly spoiled with Texas weather and sunshine all the time. At least it's still 78 degrees. :)

Allison asks "Do you have a recipe for Carrot Halwa you'd like to share? ;)" I'm sorry I don't actually! But I will check with my MIL and see if I can't get one up here. :)

Stephanie asks "Do you have a favorite yarn?" Not really, at least not one clear favorite. Yarn and the individual project are so uniquely linked for me. Although I do tend to oooh and aww over heathers, subtle multi's and nearly solids. And handspun- so much handspun out there makes me fall down with want!

Aimee asks "Where do you start when you are coming up with a design? (If that makes no sense, I'm sorry, I have been hand raising a runt kitten, its like having a newborn again)" First lets all say "awwww" for the little kitten. As for where I start I guess it depends. There's the initial spark of an idea which can come from about anything- something I saw in commercial fashion, an interesting closure, a new technique, totally random out of the sky, etc. I usually end up turning it over in my head for awhile until I have to start doodling it out usually on whatever random scrap of paper is around. For my own sanity I'll later try to gather these bits of paper and properly sketch out the design with notes in my actual "design journal". Then it's off to swatching (or obsessive yarn hunting).

Molly asks "How did you first start knitting?" and Carole asks "How/where did you learn to knit?" I wrote a bit about it on my 1 year blogiversary here but basically I stumbled upon knitting blogs and the Stitch N' Bitch book online and knew I wanted to learn to knit and Make All This Cool Stuff out there. I picked up the book and some Wally World basics figuring I'd start slowly as I didn't want to end up frustrated and quitting and before I knew it I was knitting away. :)

Melanie asks "What's on your needles, other than your designs?" Hmmm, well I'm really trying to finish up some long standing design WIPs and swatching but what I'm most looking forward to getting back to is the Peacock Feathers Shawl. Poor thing hasn't seen the light of day in ages. Considering how looong I take to finish things I'm seriously considering finally casting on Rogue so that it may be done in time for the next brief cool season. (See I am so behind the times.)

Jen C. asks "Where do you think your knitting is headed? (as in more sweaters, more socks, going fair isle, lace?)" I actually keep a notepad file with a loose 'plan/schedule' of my ideas and I'd really like to get to some more garment designs next. Plans include a textural hoodie and a more complex corset inspired/victorian flair top but several handbag designs won't let me sleep, so expect a few of those coming up. Also hoping to get a non-traditional lace scarf moved from paper to fiber and take a stab at some socks.

Melissa asks "Any more cookie recipes in the future?" Why yes actually! Cookies being my ultimate weakness of course, some sandwich cookies are in the queue.

Jen asks "When did you start knitting and when did you start designing?" I started knitting sometime in February of 2005, and I think I wanted to design pretty much off the bat. Didn't really think about it, coming from an art design background I immediately wanted to do my own stuff. I think I started to work on the design for Topi (my first design) about 6 months in.

Heidi asks "How did you get started with designing?" I just kind of dived in! The web is such a wonderful resource and I'm really grateful to online magazines that gave me my first platform. I read whatever knitting books I could get my hands on, deconstructed designs I liked and then just started submitting.

Rebecca asks "How long have you and hubby been married??" 3 years in less than 2 months!

Heather asks "What makes knitting click for you? Is it the process, the outcome, or maybe just the challenge?" I use to say it was both, but honestly looking at how much i actually wear/use some of my FOs I have to admit it's more process. I like the creative challenges and simply the creating. Though it's not that I think you need to make something you even use- in the same way I wouldn't think a sculpture or painting needs to "do something".

knittripps asks "What was the last design you saw that you told yourself "Oh, I have to make that"?" Hmm, well I had hunted down the Vogue Holiday 2005 for the High Neck Lace Top (#23) pattern but I just saw a recently completed one that nearly had me running for the yarn and needles to cast on Right Now.

Nichole D. asks "I've always wondered- why "PieKnits"?" Hehe, yeah I've never really shared that. Seems fitting for the the blogiversary though. When Mr. PieKnits and I were first dating, one day messing around he started writing on my hand after me asking about him being "hex-lingual" (6 languages!) and wrote the same phrase several times over in different scripts. When I asked what it said he said, grinning "sweetie pie". After that it kinda became a joke/pet name and was shorted to just "Pie". It has evolved into "Pielu" as well actually as a kind of slang homogenization of English and Telugu (sorta like Spanglish - Telugish?). We amuse ourselves with lots of words like this. :) So anyway, when on a whim I started a blog and needed a name, Pie (me) Knits was what popped into my head. :)