Getting to Know You #8: Kristin Omdahl

Oh boy, I'm so excited to introduce you guys to a crochet designer! This week I'm interviewing Kristin Omdahl, as part of her blog tour for her newly released Complements Collection, designed for Bijou Basin Ranch.

This collection features 6 knit designs and 4 crochet designs
  

TSK: Kristin, you are such a prolific designer! The Ravelry database currently shows a whopping 266 patterns created by you in just the last seven years. That's an incredible 38 patterns per year! As a fellow designer, I've just gotta ask: How do you find TIME for it all? What's your secret to staying efficient with you design time?

Starry Night Wrap and Blue Skies Chunky Cowl show off the wearability of Kristin's crochet designs. 

KO: Thank you for sharing my pattern statistics with me! I never figured an annual average before. Wow, it makes me tired just thinking about it. But if averages around 3 per month, that sounds about right, I guess. I am a single mom whose only source of household income is designing knit and crochet patterns. While this is a labor intensive job, you can imagine the hours I put in. BUT, I have the freedom and luxury of being a mom who works from home, gets my son ready for school every morning, picks him up at the school bus stop every afternoon, makes & eats dinner together, and tuck him into bed at night. HOWEVER, that also means I work from the time he leaves for school in the morning. Stop when he gets home from school to do homework, make dinner, clean up, play outside with him, get him ready for bed, THEN go back to work until midnight or 1 AM most nights. It is the only way I can keep up with the hours requires to produce enough patterns to keep the roof over our heads! I love what I do and feel very fortunate to have such a wonderful creative outlet for my income and it absolutely thrills me that my schedule is so flexible for my mommy time.

Willow Bag and Petals Wrap Cardigan, both from Kristin's book, Crochet So Fine

TSK: Many knitters are biased against crochet, because crocheted fabrics can often be bulkier and less fluid than knitted fabrics. You, however, have managed to breathe new life into crochet, designing relevant, fashionable garments and accessories for today's woman, many with exquisite draping. Do you have any words for knitters who are interested in crochet, but still hesitant to take the leap and try it out?

KO: I think crochet has an incredibly easier learning curve when it comes to fixing mistakes. A beginner at anything is going to make mistakes, and lots of them, and crochet is far easier to fix than knitting. Also it is about 30% quicker if you compare apples to apples (yarn, hook & gauge, of course). There are things I prefer to do in knitting more than crochet, and vice versa, and many things I think can be equally beautiful in either craft. I have done a lot of exploring in lacework and tiered edgings in both crafts. The secret to many mysteries is BLOCKING! I believe in blocking your swatches to get accurate gauge. Also very important is blocking lace to get the most beautiful drape and blossoming of your stitch patterns.

Stepping Stones Cardigian and Lace Motif Cardigan

TSK: With so many hours in the day devoted to working, do you ever have time to do anything else? What do you enjoy doing when you're not slaving away with the pattern-writing math?

KO: Oh boy, this is a tough one! My hobbies (because although knitting and crochet are hobbies, they aren't mine because I work in them) are piano, guitar, weight lifting, kayaking, barefoot running (sometimes in the rain), reading historical fiction and non-fiction and creating my own healthy recipes.

My two favorites from Kristin's Complements Collection, Tulip Tiered Crochet Cowl and Aster Tiered Knit Cowl

Kristin has generously offered a digital copy of her new Complements Collection to one lucky commenter! To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment stating which of the patterns in the collection is your favorite. That's it! If you're on Twitter, you can gain an extra entry by tweeting the following (but note that you must also leave a comment):

I just entered to win a copy of @KristinOmdahl's Complements Collection! Stop by @TheSexyKnitter's blog for more info: http://tinyurl.com/gtkykristin

I'll announce a winner on  June 1st! See you then!

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