Lee Gant is an amazing designer & knitter – she has 12 patterns already in the IDP program and always has more in the works! Her patterns cover a wide range of styles, from beautiful spring & summer tops to lovely cold weather sweaters, both for children & adults. She’s one of our favorite designers to work with & we wanted to know a bit more about her…So here it is in her own words!
My Aunt taught me to knit when I was 8 years old, after much begging and pleading. My mom and she would knit together on the couch in the evenings, and I would sit on the floor in front of them, mesmerized by the movements of their hands. I asked my mother to teach me, but she said “No, you’ll never sit still long enough to learn!”. I kept up the pleading, and finally my Aunt gave in and taught me. The minute that I touched the needles and yarn, it was like magic to me; I could make something with 2 sticks and a string! I don’t remember really making anything for quite awhile, I just know that I loved to do it…I even showed my brother how to knit (We used to make miles of cord with a wooden spool and nails that our father made for us)
I spent many years working with craft store acrylic, I thought that I was allergic to wool (my mother made me wear a wool dress that she made and it was ITCHY) so I never considered knitting with it After many years, I started hearing people talking about how wonderful wool was, and I decided to try it. I spent more than I should have for yarn to make a sweater that I entered in the county fair ( won my first blue ribbon) and I’ve never been able to work with acrylic since!
Not only am I a collector of yarn, I have a huge collection of knitting pattern books. There’s nothing better (besides knitting, of course) than sitting on the floor with piles of books and magazines to inspire me to come up with ideas for new designs. I started with children’s patterns, because they are cute and fast to knit. If I had to say, Debbie Bliss and Alice Starmoore are two of my favorite designers, especially some of the patterns and photography in the older books.
Child Argyle Jacket with Cables
I am very fortunate to be able to say ” My life revolves around my knitting”. I work at a yarn store and a second job gives me a quiet place where I can knit and write patterns!
I also like the early ” before dawn” hours to knit with a cup of coffee and birds singing in the back yard, so I can get lot’s of knitting done in a short amount of time. Occasionally, the household stuff will get done, but the dog hair and the laundry will still be there tomorrow, I’d rather knit today!
Thanks so much Lee! See all of her lovely IDP patterns right here and stay tuned for more of her fantastic work that will be coming soon to the IDP program!!
