Oooh! Pretty!

I can't quite recall how I stumbled upon jriede's Etsy shop, but these lovely knit stocking patterns were one of the first things to go into my favorites. Aren't they gorgeous?

So, in the first of a series of interviews with Etsy artisans that I admire, below are a few questions that jriede was kind enough to answer for me. Be sure and visit her store, and if you knit, I'd love these for Christmas!

(Photos are courtesy of Jen Wang.)

I see your location as Vienna. Are you from there originally?

No, I'm from Upper Austria originally. I came to Vienna to attend university and stayed.

You must be an accomplished knitter to have designed these lovely patterns; how long have you been knitting, and what inspired you to learn?

I learned to knit at the age of 5 and have not stopped ever since, except for a phase between 13 and 14 where I considered knitting to be rather uncool. :)

Do you remember the first thing you knitted? How did it turn out?

I think it was a scarf. It turned out ok but I have got no idea where it could be now.

What other creative endeavors do you enjoy?

I love to sew and to spin.

Assuming that knitting or pattern design isn't a full time job, what do you do professionally?

I'm a nuclear physicist working for the Austrian Armed Forces. Knitting and designing knitwear is recreation for me - together with sports.

I crochet, but have yet to learn how to knit. I so admire your patterns, but am I correct to assume they are for an advanced knitter, and not appropriate for the beginner? How would you describe the difficulty of your patterns?

It depends. As long as you are able to follow instructions and (in most cases) charts it should be no problem for an advanced beginner to work one of my patterns. I try to be as clear as possible in my instructions and have to say thank you to my test knitters for many good suggestions here. They are of great help.

I've noticed you don't have a lot of finished items for sale; do you not have a lot of time to knit these days, or do most of your finished products end up in your own closet or those of friends?

I just have one finished item for sale, a knitted lace shawl made from a gorgeous cashmere/silk blend laceweight yarn made by Posh Yarn (UK). I just loved knitting this item but am sure I will never ever wear it because it just does not fit my wardrobe. I therefor decided to sell it because actually there is no one I'd want to gift it to.

Usually my finished items get worn by me or my family. I knit gifts for friends seldomly (and am a proud member of the Selfish Knitters group on Ravelry ;)

If you could give one bit of advise to a beginning knitter, what would it be?

I'd say try to enjoy what you do. Knitting is supposed to be relaxing, not stressful!