FAST Member Interview- Marie of Knitted Gems

If you’re a member of FAST and would like to be featured in the weekly interview, visit this thread in the yahoo group to get the questions, then send your answers (and a picture or two if you’d like) to me at merigreenleaf[at]yahoo.com (or a convo to merigreenleaf). These will be posted in the order I receive them.

What is your name?
Marie Haigh

What is your Etsy shop? Does your shop name have a meaning?
KnittedGems. It has no meaning aside from the obvious. When I resigned from Elsevier, my co-workers voted on several names I had been deciding between. Knitted Gems won the vote.

Besides your Etsy shop, do you sell anywhere else? Do you have a website or blog?
Yes, I sell my knitting patterns on Ravelry.com, TheKnittingVault.com, SandraSingh.com, and CraftedOnline.com. I also have a website/blog at http://KnittedGems.com

How long have you been making art/crafting? What was the first thing you remember making?
Unlike most crafters, I did not start making things with my hands until I became engaged to my husband at the age of 22. During my younger years, I was more interested in playing sports and hanging out with my friends. The first thing I remember making was a summer dress with my mother-in-law. I didn’t start designing knitting patterns until 5 years ago. I am 32 now (or I will be in a few days).

What kind of fiber arts do you do? If different from the previous question, what was the first fiber art thing you made?
I knit, spin, sew, and quilt – in that order.

What’s your favorite thing to make?
I don’t have one particular item that I love to make over and over again. Yet, I do have a theme; I love to make items for the home, such as pillows, afghans, quilts, etc.

(Click the below link to read the rest of the interview)

Where is the craziest or most interesting place you’ve ever crocheted, knitted, felted, spun yarn, etc?
I take my knitting with me wherever I go. If I am forced to sit still for longer than 5 minutes, I tend to pull my knitting out. I end up knitting in all the usual places: bars, banks, parks, cars, airplanes, trains, buses, etc. I wouldn’t tout them as being interesting places. If the places were interesting, I wouldn’t need my knitting to keep my hands and mind busy.

What is your favorite place to work?
I love to do my design work sitting at my red desk that I received from my cousin.

What inspires you? Where does your inspiration come from?
My inspiration comes from my home and my garden. My designs tend to be traditional so I never have to look far. New techniques are learned through blogs, books, TV shows, and from other crafters.

What is your favorite color? Do you tend to work with that color, or do you find yourself working with other colors?
Blue is my favorite color. Yet, perhaps because I am aware that I love blue and would make everything possible out of the color, I force myself to design with other colors. It helps that half of my stash was received from family and they did the color choosing.

Do you prefer a specific type of fiber?
Wool. No other fiber can hold a candle to it.

Is there any other kind of art (fiber-related or not) that you’d like to learn?
Truly, I do not need any more hobbies. Rather, I would like to grow and learn more about the crafts that I currently work in.

Tell us a bit about yourself- where do you live, what’s your job, do you have a spouse/children/pets, any other hobbies, that kind of thing.
I live in Pottstown, Pennsylvania with my husband Dan and a 5-year-old golden retriever named Jake. My knitting pattern business is my full-time job. When not working with wool or fabric, I am often found in the kitchen cooking or out in the garden. We have a huge garden (our entire yard is landscaped) thanks to the hard work of the original owners. I have only increased the amount of vegetation by planting more bulbs, seeds, saplings, and a vegetable garden.

Tell us one quirky thing about you (or one thing no one knows about you).
I make up sayings that don’t make any sense whatsoever.

Do you have any advice for other fiber artists? Have any craft room, storage, or other tips?
Learn everything you can about your craft. Constantly search for new techniques and tricks. This way, if an idea comes to you, you will know how to recreate it in your medium of choice. Be confident in your skills. Know that you are the master; your medium is the mold. Shape the mold as you see fit.

Tags: etsyfast, member interview

This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 8:58 pm and is filed under featured member. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.