Interview with:Kristen TenDyke [sbutteramfly]
DESIGN
 | What is your specialty? My specialty is designing handknit and crochet sweaters and accessories with yarn. |
| Where can we view your portfolio online? |
| What made you interested in design? I have been playing with yarn since I was a little girl, and always found it easiest to create what I had in my mind. It never even occurred to me to seek out existing patterns. It all began with drawing and coloring my own outfits for paper dolls. Then as my crocheting skills improved, I began crocheting clothes for Barbie dolls, then graduated to making slippers for myself… |
| What has been your professional career path? I've always been interested in a creative path. I attended a trade-school for high school where I studied in the Technical Illustration and Design shop. From there I went to college at Mass College of Art for Graphic Design. During college I worked in a 1-hour photo lab. As time went on, I made my way to being the supervisor of that lab, then to the district photo lab supervisor, advising the photo supervisors of 9 different stores. But the creative aspect of the job had waned when I entered management—it had become all about numbers, and statistics.
After college, I was ecstatic when I found a job as a graphic designer for a yarn company. It seemed to be fate that I would find a job doing what I had been trained for, while also working with something I love.
I worked at the yarn company for 5 years while learning a lot about patterns, and enhancing my knitting and crochet skills. They encouraged me to design and published my work. The designs they didn't accept, they encouraged me to submit to magazines. Eventually, I understood patterns well enough to begin doing the technical editing of the patterns, and thus did less and less graphic design.
I am now self-employed doing freelance technical editing for that same yarn company, many others, as well as for magazines and individual designers. I also still submit designs for publication to magazines, yarn companies and book publishers. I continue to use my graphic design skills in self publishing knit and crochet designs on my websites: http://www.kristentendyke.com and http://www.caterpillarknits.com |
| Have you received any awards for your work in the field of design? I consider each time a publisher accepts one of my design submissions to be an award.
There are very few awards that are give in the knit and crochet design field. The Crochet Liberation Front hosts the "Flamies" awards each year. This past year I had a crochet design nominated, but it did not win. I'm unaware of any similar knitting awards that are available. |
| What is your motivation? What makes you get up in the mornings? I love what I do; I love the yarn; I love the process of knitting and crocheting; I love the people who share this craft with me… It's all beautiful, and I love that I have the ability to flow creatively and share what comes through me to bring happiness and peace to others who enjoy these crafts. |
| How would you define your design style? I try to design things that I would like to make and wear. It's a personal endeavor that I've decided to share with others of like-mind and style.
Lately I've been concentrating on comfort, and warmth and choosing to use mostly eco-friendly yarns in my work. |
| How do you promote and move your work? |
| In which new areas would you like to experiment? There are so many areas to experiment with… whenever I think of something new I'd like to try, I just do it.
Right now I'm challenging myself to design using only a few balls of yarn. I tend to stick to sweater design, but have many individual balls of yarn that would like to be made into accessories.
I've also recently been experimenting with various ways of knitting sweaters without having to seam any pieces together when the knitting is finished. |
| Shapes, color, concept: where do you usually begin when conceiving a design? Most times I'll begin with the shape of the garment, other times I begin with the texture or color pattern. I have a sketch book dedicated to sweater sketches, and I'll draw in there whenever something new arises. Then I'll swatch a small portion of the design to see how the stitch pattern and/or color patterns will work with the shape I have in mind. From there, I'll write the pattern then have the garment created.
I'll occasionally have a design come to me in a dream, and it will continue to haunt me until I bring it into reality. I really love it when that happens. |
| What are your sources for documentation and to generate ideas? To document and generate ideas there are sketches and swatches which I'll often photograph or scan to save into folders on my computer. I'll also take notes in a Word doc and develop charts in Adobe Illustrator.
In addition, I'll also photograph and blog about certain creative works to share the process with others who may be curious about it. |
| Which festivals or awards in your field do you find most interesting? There aren't many awards given in my field, but there are many social get-togethers that I love attending, or would love to attend.
Each Spring and Fall The National Needlework Association (TNNA) hosts a conference where wholesalers and publishers showcase what's new for the upcoming season. It's also a great place to network and socialize with others in the field who I rarely see and only speak with online or through e-mail. In addition to the conference, there are many events planned in the area where everyone can really enjoy the presence of each other.
There are also many fiber festivals that happen throughout the fall where many designers and fiber enthusiasts congregate to share their love of fiber. Rhinebeck is one I've heard great things of, but have yet to attend. |
| What is your favourite type of customer? I love the knitters and crocheters who are enthusiastic about the things they create. I really love reading blog posts, Facebook posts, or tweets about the things people are working on. It's enjoyable to hear what they think of the designs, what they changed to suit their personal wants and needs, and to see their version of the finished project. It's also really satisfying and motivating when they comment on my posts and interact with me about my process. |
| To a certain point, is copying justifiable? In the fashion world, I can't say that there are many things that are truly unique, therefore it's challenging not to copy something in some way or another—but only to a degree.
Say I find an existing sweater design that I love, it wouldn't feel right to copy the whole design. But instead I'll investigate the design to see what it is about it that I love. Maybe it's the shape or the construction, or the stitch pattern. I may use that one aspect that I love about the design and create something completely different with it. So, I think of it more as using existing designs as inspiration to birth something new rather than copying. |
| List some things you dislike seeing in design. I find it unfortunate when:
• designs don't fit right.
• there are big mistakes in the pattern.
• stitch counts aren't included in the pattern.
• stitch patterns don't line up for all sizes like they do on the model size. |
| Do you believe the newer generations are better at designing? Not necessarily. I think the older generations have a better understanding of sizing, technique and certain ways of construction. However the newer generations may be more in touch with what is current in the fashion world. I think there is a lot we, from the newer generation, can learn from our past generations that can help us build onto what we already know. |
| With which type of client would you decline in working for? I'd rather keep my answer positive, and describe who I would enjoy working for, and thus the opposite would be someone I would be less likely to do so.
• I prefer to work with a publisher who appreciates and respects the amount of work that goes into a design, and who pays accordingly.
• I prefer to retain the rights to my work, and to have the option to republish on my own after a certain amount of time.
• If the publisher chooses to retain the rights I prefer to receive royalties from whatever future sales they have of the design.
• I appreciate timely, open and honest communication about the process so I know what to expect when working with a new publisher.
So therefore, a publisher who pays little, retains the rights without royalty compensation and does not communicate well would be someone I'm unlikely to work with. Unfortunately, I may not be aware of these things until after I agree to do so.
There have been situations when I have felt taken advantage of, and I consider them learning experiences. Therefore, I'm very cautious and even hesitant about agreeing to work with those publishers in the future. |
| How do you calculate budgets for a design project? Heh… I don't really. For the freelance tech editing I do, I have an hourly rate, and can estimate approximately how long it might take me to do the editing.
But for the designing I'm often offered a flat rate by the publisher for the design, finished pattern and completed garment. Many times I will knit/crochet the garment myself, but I'll occasionally ask a friend to make it for me. When deciding what to pay her I'll estimate, if I were to make it, what I would feel to be a reasonable amount. |
| Which professionals in your field -contemporary or past- do you most admire? There are so many. Where to begin…
Pam Allen, Cecily MacDonald, Elizabeth Zimmerman, Jared Flood, Ysolda Teague, Gudrun Johnston, Robyn Chachula, Barbara Walker, Cirilia Rose, Norah Gaughan, Joëlle Meier Rioux… just to name a few. |
| Which software applications do you most utilize in your work? Microsoft Word - for pattern writing and note taking.
Microsoft Excel - for sizing and the math for most of the patterns.
Adobe Illustrator - for chart creation and drawing schematics.
Adobe InDesign - for self-publication and design submission layout.
Adobe Photoshop - for photo editing. |
| Up to what point do your designs reflect your personality? It depends on the design. Many of my self-published designs are things I have made for myself, in the yarn and colors of my choosing. Therefore, they most-closely represent my personality and style.
The designs submit to magazines often represent myself when they are submit, but are often tweaked in small ways (yarn, color) by the editor to fit the feel and style of the magazine. Therefore I'd say they less-closely represent my personality. |
| How do you distinguish passing fads from mainstays in new trends? I don't really pay much attention to fads and trends.
I run each design past my own preferences to see whether it's worthwhile. As far as I'm concerned, right now, if I like it, other people probably will too. |
| If you weren't a designer, what would you be doing? If I wasn't a designer, nor worked with yarn in any way, I would most likely be a yoga/reiki instructor/teacher.
I've considered investing in yoga instructor training a few times, but have yet to do so because of my designing career and lack of time. I am currently a level 2 reiki practitioner, but do not do it professionally—just with friends and family. Both yoga and reiki, like knit & crochet, are things I love to share with others and could see myself doing professionally if the opportunity arose. |
| At this moment, what would be your dream job or project? Heh, I think I'm doing it. I'm working from home, designing and tech editing during the hours I please, with the people of my choosing and I'm working on projects that are satisfying to me—a line of eco-friendly patterns as well as an upcoming book.
I really wouldn't want it any other way… except for maybe having more hours in each day, and maybe a little more pay. |
| Can you see yourself in this field twenty years from now? In some way or another, yes. Twenty years is a long time, and I tend to tweak my career every 5 years or so. However, I love working with yarn and fiber so much that I can't see it leaving my life completely, ever. |
| Which design resources online do you frequently visit? |
| 
1086 visits Whohub
Kristen TenDyke
Massachusetts
|
95743 interviews created
![[sbutteramfly] Kristen TenDyke](http://www.whohub.com/_pics/50423.jpg?1337673891)
INVITE YOUR FRIENDS