By Kimberley Mumford
Seven years ago, I received an email touting a new online workshop called Knit Stars where one could take courses from “celebrities of the knitting world”. I was not a novice knitter at this time, but the concept of knitting celebrities was totally new to me, so this course didn’t spark my interest at the time (disclaimer, now I own all the seasons). At the time, my typical habit was to visit a yarn shop, select a design and materials and just get busy creating. I really didn’t pay much attention to who designed the patterns or whether or not they were “famous”.
Over the course of the ensuing year, I increasingly selected my patterns on Ravelry rather than through magazines or print patterns at the yarn shop. Many of the designers had videos to support their patterns, and I found I gravitated toward the teaching styles of some of them. One of these was Andrea Mowry, so when I had the chance to attend a retreat where she was teaching, I signed up. The organizer of this event put together a much smaller intensive retreat the next year. I signed up for it and there I was able to attend a day-long design workshop with Andrea. A quick internet search can provide you with Andrea’s bio so I won’t go into those details here, but I can attest that not only is she a wonderful teacher and gifted designer, but also an incredibly gracious individual. She encouraged each of the twelve participants in the workshop to stretch our boundaries in design and color choices, and ended up sharing her time with us at meals and during her ‘down time’ over the weekend of the retreat.
The Fall KALs Cindy is offering feature Andrea’s patterns, and if you haven’t knit any of her designs before, you are in for a real treat—her patterns are all tested, tech edited and incredibly detailed. Please don’t be intimidated by the fact that many of her patterns are long—this is because she really spells things out. None of those puzzling instructions that direct you to do the next section as a previous one, making subtle changes. Typically, she will write out instructions for each step rather than having you flip back and forth to other parts of the pattern. Additionally, she hosts Ravelry support groups for many of her individual designs and also provides numerous videos walking you through different techniques. If you subscribe to her newsletter at dreareneeknits.com, you will receive advance notifications regarding new pattern releases as well as discounts. She also has an active Instagram feed as well as a youtube series called I’ll Knit if I Want to. Check it out!
The first pattern I knit of Andrea’s was the Range Shawl, and I was wearing it when I first met her. I purchased a copy of her Ramble shawl that evening, and you can see I finished it before meeting her at the second retreat. We were surprised when we found we had both chosen that design as part of our outfits! Since that time, I have knit up several of her designs for hats, socks, shawls and sweaters. She has inspired me in my knitting journey, and I hope each of you enjoys working with her patterns as well.
