Alice Yu has an impressive knitting resume. She is the owner of Socktopus, and creator of the popular Knit Love Yarn Club. You my recognize her work by the popular pattern, Shur’tugal or by her book, published in 2011, Socktopus: 17 Pairs of Socks to Knit and Show Off. Alice has kindly managed to carve out time in her schedule to answer some of my questions.
Alice, tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m an expat Canadian living in Hong Kong by way of London England. I used to be a lawyer, then sort of fell into knitting, like falling down the rabbit hole. Ever since then my life has been an adventure in knitting, designing and dyeing yarns.
Deuce has such a fascinating stitch pattern. Loving working with stranded yarns and slipped stitches, I’m curious how you came up with the pattern. Did you need to swatch for it very much?
I played around with slipped stitches with my design De Stijl, and thought that it had potential. Deuce is a follow on from that design, using the same technique. I played around with alot of different combinations but settled on one that was relatively easy to remember.
How did you come up with the names for your pattern?
Names for patterns are often inspired by my life at the time of designing, or if the pattern reminds me of something (like Fiori di Zucca that reminded me of zucchini flowers).
Why do you like to design socks?
I love socks because they are the ultimate portable project. A small microcosm where you can play with all manner of knitting techniques – short rows, slipped stitches, texture, cables, etc. A great canvas but not overly involved – I have short attention span so socks are the perfect thing for me.
Are there any things you are hoping to design in the future?
I would like to design some kid’s wear – having a little one has opened up a lot of possibilities and things I would like to see her in but can’t find.
Is there a favorite time of day you prefer to knit?
I love knitting in the afternoon – a nice calm time when I’m not too tired.
If you were making your own trail mix, what would you put in it, and why?
My own trail mix would have: raisins, a nice 54% chocolate chip, roasted almonds, granola clusters, Brazil nuts (love those), dried cranberries, some cocao nibs, and roasted hazelnuts.
Having said that, I do love Chex mix.
Thank you Alice for taking the time to stop and chat with us today. If you are interested in more about Alice, visit her website at http://www.socktopus.co.uk/blog/.
If you would like to track back to the other interviews they are as follows:
