Getting to Know You #4: Laura Nelkin

Welcome back to Getting to Know You! Today I'm interviewing the lovely and gracious Laura Nelkin, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at TNNA. Laura's portfolio includes a stunning 70 designs that have been featured in magazines like Interweave Knits, Knitty.com, Creative Knitting, many books from DRG Publications and Storey Publishing, and her own latest collection, Adorn.

Laura modeling her shawl design, Clarus. See? Lovely!

TSK: With designs that include children's toys, intricate lace shawls, tailored garments, socks, and scarves (just to name a few!), you seem to be extremely talented at all areas of knitwear design. Your latest collection of knitted jewelry patterns, Adorn, has been a runaway hit. Should we expect to see you start focusing solely on jewelry design, or will you continue to offer a full range of items? Are there any items you particularly enjoy designing?

Ten patterns are planned for this collection; six have already been released!

LN: Wow, I love this question! I do love jewelry design, and one of the things that I love about it is that although the design aspect takes me about as much time as any of my other pieces the actual knitting so SO much quicker… that way I can always have some jewelry pieces ready to publish WHILE I am focusing on some longer term more time consuming projects. I do enjoy being challenged by my designs so I am almost always taking something new on… this is how I learn new techniques! Right now, in fact, besides the final designs for Adorn, I have another passion on my needles… colorwork gloves! (Sneaky side note for my readers: The latest from Laura, the Iota Collection, is in the works! The new collection will feature four garment patterns centered around a focal stitch motif. Stay tuned to her blog for more info!)

Beautiful colorwork mittens designed by Laura for a mitten swap. Read more about them here.

TSK: One thing I'm always curious about is how other knitters learned how to knit. What's your story?

LN: I’m actually a bit new to knitting, I went to school for apparel design and did a TON of weaving and textile design while in school. I tried knitting in college, but believe it or not, it was too hard (says the girl who mastered a 32 harness compu-dobby loom) and I gave up. Fast forward almost 10 years, my daughter was 4, I was at a play date and one of the moms taught me how to knit. Suffice it to say, we had A LOT of play dates over the next year while I knitted and learned as the kids raised hell all around us… fun times!

The latest design from Adorn, the Beignet Necklace, and Laura's gorgeous Beaded Cuffs.

TSK: So what's the latest for you? What exciting new ventures are you undertaking these days? I know your class on Craftsy, Mastering Lace Shawls, is doing extremely well! How did you find the experience of working with the Craftsy team?

LN:   Frankly, I had a small idea of what I was getting into, but WOW, I am so impressed by the class and the platform! I designed two top down shawls, Clarus and Skywalker, that teach many lace techniques, such as provisional cast ons, chart reading, shawl shaping, fixing mistakes, lifelines, and more. The class and its discussions and videos are available 24 hours a day for students to follow along with at their own pace.  The class has been live for about a month and already has over 1000 students.  I’ve had a fabulous time interacting with them! If anyone wants to check out the class further there is a link on my blog for 50% off the class… just click on the link on
the image at the top. 

This Craftsy class will equip you with all the skills you need to knit lace like a Jedi Master!

TSK: Just had to point this out - Laura's Craftsy class includes over 5 and a half hours of video instruction time! If you sign up via the link on Laura's blog and receive 50% off the class, that makes it just $20.00. Where else are you going to be able to take a class from such an experienced instructor that A) is that inexpensive, B) you can retake any time you want, for FREE, and C) has a teacher that's available to answer questions any time you have one? Just sayin'...

Okay Laura, one last question just for fun. If you had to choose one yarn to knit with for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

LN: Really? Can I not answer this? How about yarns I am currently obsessed/can’t live without by weight?

Lace: Tie between JuniperMoon - Findley and Sweet Georgia Yarn - Cash Silk
Fingering: String Theory Caper
Worsted: Stonehedge Fiber Mill - Shepherd’s Wool
Bulky: Schaefer Yarn Company - Esperanza (Sadly discontinued!)

As a special thank you to my readers, Laura is offering a subscription to her jewelry collection, Adorn, to one reader, and a kit from her Etsy shop to another! To enter the giveaway, sign up for Laura's newsletter (Bonus! Laura randomly selects 5 newsletter members to receive a free pattern each time she releases a new one!), then come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite piece from Adorn is. We'll announce the winner on Wednesday, September 28.

My favorite's Ribband!

Thanks so much to Laura for stopping by! Follow Laura's career through her blog, Twitter, Facebook fan page, or find her and her group on Ravelry. Her Etsy shop, featuring gorgeous kits to knit the pieces from her Adorn collection, can be found here.

ALSO, through the October 26th, you can get 15% off anything in Laura's Etsy shop or Ravelry shop by using the code, "FALL4KNITTING" during checkout.