Designing My First Pullover Pattern: An Interview with Jill Thompson Beach
Are you curious about what it takes to design your first pullover pattern? If so, I have a very special blog post lined up for you today!
My student, Jill Thompson Beach of Beach House Knits, designed her very first pullover pattern last year inside of Sweater Design School. In this interview, she shares the highs, lows and lessons learned along the way as she designed her beautiful Holloway sweater.
There are so many fantastic insights and resources that Jill generously shares, so if you’re thinking of designing your first pullover, make sure you read this first!
Jill, thank you so much for joining me on the blog today! Could you tell my readers a little about yourself and your knitting pattern design journey so far?
I always loved crafting in the summers when I stayed with my Granny. She had a project ready for me when I arrived that we would always work on during those few weeks I spent there. My mom also encouraged these things as she is also pretty crafty, but I just stopped while I was in college, living abroad for a year and in graduate school.
One cold day, almost five years ago, my husband and I walked by a local yarn shop in Salem. I asked for a knitting 101 class for my birthday and the rest is history. I can’t remember many days I haven’t knit since.
Honestly, I didn’t know that I wanted to design knitwear... not for a while, at least. I kept telling myself “no” and “that’s not what I want” to do…
For me, and I think a lot of other people, I think when we tell ourselves “no” or that we don’t want to do something, it turns out that fear is telling us to be afraid of doing it when it’s really what we want to do. I’ve actually been reading a book called “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon and it is helping me immensely with this.
Anyway, I think it was two summers ago now that I went to Squam Art Workshops and I got to be around so many creatives and take classes with folks I really admire. I was in a class with Andrea Mowry and it was truly amazing. She suggested reading “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert. This week of classes and friendships and saying “no” was just what I needed to change my mind, but I didn’t know it yet.
Ultimately I said “no” to design work for about 6 more months because I didn’t know where to start or if I should even try. But I did read “Big Magic” and something sparked. Once I read it, I knew I had to try.
I had a few hat ideas and a shawl I wanted to write up, so I started with the shawl. It was harder than I thought and I put it down for a while. Hats, for me, were much easier concepts and quicker to knit, so I started knitting them around the holidays in 2019 and taking lots of notes.
Finally, I got to a point where I gifted a ton of hats and liked a couple of my designs enough to try to write them up and ultimately, sell the patterns.
I should also mention that several of those friends from Squam are even more dear friends. They are extremely creative and also extremely kind. I met my first yarn collaborator, Armenuhi, owner of Oysters and Purls yarns, through friends I met at Squam and we have stayed in touch since that summer. These camps and creative meetups are truly inspiring and definitely worthwhile if you have the funds and opportunity. You never know what you might end up doing or who you might end up inspiring!
What an amazing journey in less than five years! How did you know that you were ready to venture into sweater design?
Sweaters are by far my absolute favorite thing to knit. By the time Spring 2020 rolled around, I was a bit tired of knitting hats (and more hats). I saw Clare’s Sweater Design School course and I just knew that this was the right time to jump in and at least try!
Inside Sweater Design School, you designed your first pullover pattern, Holloway. What was the inspiration behind this design?
Holloway is named after my friend Kate Holloway of Kate Aurelia Studio. She is an amazing artist local to Salem, MA.
When going through Sweater Design School, there is a stage to get inspired by various things you like and I just happened to see one of her new designs at the time. I wanted to take a piece of her art and create some sort of design/motif around it. I kept drawing various mock-ups until I found a motif I liked.
I also knew I wanted to keep my design fairly simple since it was the first sweater I’ve made and there are so many things to consider when designing one.
What did your design process for Holloway look like?
I started by using Clare’s prompts and suggestion for searching around on Pinterest. I also happened to see Kate’s design around the same time and thought, maybe I could incorporate her art somehow. I created a mood board with the feel of the design, fabric, and other aesthetics I felt inspired by.
Then, I started looking at different stitch patterns and went through all of my stitch dictionaries multiple times. I honestly couldn’t find one I really liked and tried several. I kept modifying them slightly to see if I liked them better. I finally found half of the pattern that I was hoping for and I think I implemented it backwards and possibly upside down. I just kept trying until I was happy with what I was designing, and ultimately, making!
Throughout 2020, I played around with various ideas of how designs can come to you. One way is just drawing and seeing what comes out. Others are looking through stitch books and seeing something you would like to try your hand at designing. Those were often where I would begin at the start of 2020. Now, designs are coming more naturally. I had a night where I dreamed of two different ideas and needed to find a notebook to write them down!
I’ve also experimented with trying to organize a time each week to come up with at least 1-2 new design ideas in a 10-minute span. I’ve found these exercises are extremely helpful if you are looking for something new or want to apply for a design call.
What parts of the design process came surprisingly easy to you?
This is a tough one, as I am not sure if I would say that any parts of the design process are easy. But, I have found that trying something new is super exciting to me. I am also someone who is especially determined and once I start something I don’t usually give it up.
Designing Holloway was one of the more easy and natural designs I had come up with to date. I would say this is likely because Clare makes the design process so approachable, understandable and fun! It didn’t feel overwhelming or frustrating. Having steps to follow definitely makes the process much more achievable and it helps because it’s broken down so well.
What parts of the process were most challenging?
The two areas I struggled most with were understanding the spreadsheet, and what calculations to use and how. This is still one of the hardest parts for me in designing things, mostly because I really, really don’t want to try to figure out the math. But spreadsheets and formulas make it so much simpler.
I would also say writing the pattern is a bit difficult to make sure it is in your own language whilst also being easily understood by someone other than yourself. Thankfully, I have some amazing tech editors, friends and test knitters who have helped immensely and let me know when there are issues I don’t see myself.
When I first started designing, I was struggling to balance everything. I wanted to go more quickly; to get my website ready, to have all my designs knit and tech edited and test knit. Pacing yourself is extremely important. Something is bound to go wrong, change or just not work exactly how you would like it to. Don’t stress yourself out - all of these deadlines are self-imposed (unless you are working with a magazine or yarn company). I am constantly having to tell myself these things.
What are your biggest lessons learned from designing the Holloway Sweater?
Don’t give up. Designing is not always easy and you are going to have great days where you don’t need to take a break and other days where you have to stop looking at that project for a while.
If you are struggling with something, don’t be afraid to research about sweater construction and different reasons to use certain techniques. And most importantly, if you have someone you can ask to help you and you need it, ask.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to take on their first pullover design this year?
Make it approachable. Don’t start out with your most intricate design. Get inspired by something you love. That way, you’ll want to see it through. If you need to stop working on your pattern for a little bit, that’s ok. Don’t beat yourself up! Just make a plan to come back to work on it.
Jill, this was such an inspiring and insightful interview! Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Where can my readers get to know you better and follow along with your knitting pattern designs?
For 2021, I have some exciting plans on various design challenges throughout the year that I’ll be hosting on my website, where you can also shop my patterns. You can also follow me on Instagram and my designs on Ravelry.
