Tops & Toes- Day 8: Laura Nelkin of Nelkin Designs

Welcome to the final leg of the Tops & Toes Blog Tour. Today I have the honor of chatting with Laura Nelkin of Nelkin Designs and Design Director of Schaefer Yarn.

Kara: Hi Laura, thanks for stopping today to talk with me about your designs in Tops & Toes: A Whimsical Collection to Delight Hat & Sock Knitters. We met for the first time in Long Beach at TNNA last January in the Schaefer Yarn booth, how long have you been working for Schaefer?

Laura: I’ve been working for Schaefer Yarn for 3 years now. I was initially hired to lend a hand and come up with new ideas to help grow the business. That position quickly morphed into me becoming Design Director. Working at Schaefer is fabulous, there are days, as with any job, that it sounds more glamorous than it is, and days that I end up on the computer WAY more than I play with yarn. Luckily, there are other days that make up for that in spades! I’ve also started my own pattern design company, Nelkin Designs, which allows me to explore my knitwear ideas even further!

I received the submission guidelines for Tops and Toes from you right after TNNA and the rest is history. I remember having SO many ideas that would use only one skein of yarn. Schaefer Yarn’s fibers lend themselves to hat and sock patterns and I had to spend some serious time streamlining my concepts and deciding which yarns to focus on.

Kara: So why did you decide on the Walking Spiral Hat & Socks and the Cozy Cabled Leg Warmers?

Laura: I really wanted to make something for little ones, and something I would love to have. I am a big lover of babies and toddlers and LOVE to design and knit for them. I also definitely enjoy designing accessories I want to wear myself.

The Walking Spiral Hat & Socks are based on a spiraling textured knit and purl stitch. I had been spending a lot of time last winter playing with stitches that “move” while you work them. This is simply achieved by moving the stitch pattern over one stitch on every round. This technique lends itself incredibly well to working with hand-dyed yarn as it typically helps mix up any pooling or striping that naturally occurs.

Kara: Tell me about the yarn you chose for the hat and socks.

Laura: I ended up using Schaefer's Lola, a fabulous 100% superwash merino wool that is perfect for baby and toddler wear. It’s soft and cushy, and washable. What more could you want? Besides that, Lola soaks up the dye in a way that shows Schaefer’s colors off to their best advantage. We chose the color Hermione because we both loved how bright and fun it makes the cap and socks look. In the future, I would love to try this design in one of Schaefer’s Subtly Solid colors as I think the stitch pattern will really pop out even more. In fact, my friend is about to give birth and I plan on making the set for her new wee one.

Kara: I like the shaping of the hat, how did you achieve that?

Laura: I love hats that cover little ears, so I designed this cap with ear flaps. I started working each flap flat and once I had them on double-pointed needles, I worked across one flap, casted on the stitches for the front of the cap, worked across the second flap, casted on the stitches for the back, and then joined the cap into the round. Working the rest of the cap was quick as the pattern just keeps you going around and the purl stitches spiral on each other. I remember being challenged trying to figure out the crown decreases for each size to keep the pattern intact. It worked out in the end, but there was an evening where my brain hurt!

Kara: Well, I’m so glad it worked out in the end! What about the Cozy Cables Legwarmers? I’m sure they have a story.

Laura: They do! I am enthralled with one of Schaefer’s bulky yarns, Esperanza. This yarn is 70% lambswool/ 30% alpaca that takes dye beautifully, works up quickly and feels so good when you're knitting it, that you never want your project to end. I remember being sad when the legwarmers were done as I didn’t have plans to knit anything else in Esperanza for a bit.

I live in upstate NY, which has a cold climate, and have recently re-discovered leg warmers. I used to wear them in the 80’s, and forgot just how functional they can be. Sometimes I really want to wear a skirt, but it’s 20 degrees, and I would just freeze in tights!Throw on some gorgeous wool leg warmers, and you are good to go. I placed a cable pattern down the back of the leg to break up the colors and create some surface interest (and to keep me from getting too bored while I knitted them.) The vertical element of the cable also makes one’s legs look longer, which is never a bad thing!

Kara: Thanks so much for taking some time out of your busy day for the interview, and being a part of Tops and Toes: A Whimsical Collection to Delight Hat & Sock Knitters.

Laura: Thanks to you Kara! Designing and knitting are things I can talk on and on about. If anyone wants to learn more about my design process, check out my website at: Nelkin Designs, or visit me on Ravelry, I’m loladesigns!

Don't miss tomorrow's interview at Joanne Seiff's blog: Yarn Spinner. Get the complete blog tour schedule here. Don't miss the last few days!