If you've been knitting for more than ten minutes, you've probably
realized that knit designers are a big deal. Most of
the designers who fill the pages of knitting magazines and sites like Ravelry do this part-time, freelance, out of their
apartments, their family-filled homes, their yarn-filled studios. They design
for the same reason you knit: they love it and they're magical, creative
people. Yes, they make money with knitting—which you probably don’t—but
this money doesn’t come immediately. Everyone starts somewhere.
One of Knitscene's missions is to publish up-and-coming designers. Along with printing single patterns of such folks,
we also choose one designer each issue to create a mini collection, which runs
with a profile on that designer. These collections act as an introduction to
the artist’s aesthetic, and gives the profileé a chance to try creating a
cohesive group of knits, which some of them have never done before. The
challenge always proves beneficial to Knitscene, as we get some awesome
projects out of it!
In the winter issue, we take a look at the work of Alexis Winslow,
a painter and textile designer living in New York whose foray into knitwear
design happened only recently. But check out her portfolio—it’s pretty
impressive!
Over on her blog, Alexis talks a little about the process of
designing her Knitscene collection. Stay tuned for future posts, in which she’ll
be discussing each project individually. The Zelda Cloche (shown at right on Alexis herself) has proven to be very popular with knitters.
Who else has Knitscene featured?
Knitscene has published 8 design collections over the past few years. Below you'll find one design from each of the eight collections. Click on the photos for more info. Many of these patterns are available for
individual download in the Knitting Daily Store, or you can find them in back
issues, and some in the new book, The Best of Knitscene. These designers are
precious people in the knitting industry—a big thanks to all of you for making our work here possible and fulfilling!
Cathy Carron, Spring 2009 
Melissa Wehrle, Fall 2009
Connie Chang Chinchio, spring 2010
Hannah Fettig, Fall 2010
Debbie O'Neill, spring 2011
Amy Christoffers, summer 2011
Amy Herzog, Fall 2011
Alexis Winslow, Winter 2011