An Interview with Kristina Vilimaite of AnimaKnits

Working with talented, independent designers is one of our favourite parts of the job. Time after time, we are astounded by the creative ways that they use our yarn.

Last year, we launched the first round of our Yarn Support Programme to enable us to work with even more indie designers and today, the first pattern in our second round is released.

Kristina Vilimaite of AnimaKnits

Kristina Vilimaite is a Lithuanian knitwear designer living in Hungary. She primarily designs elegant shawls in the most intricate lace patterns; truly special pieces that you would treasure for a lifetime. Her latest shawl pattern, Peace of Mind, is no exception.

In this interview, we find out more about Kristina and her striking new release.

Knitting to Improve our Inner and Outer Worlds

“I started designing whilst I worked in the environmental field and I still love incorporating suggestions into my patterns on how to make the world a better place.”

Kristina runs a charitable project called Sight is Life to raise money for an eye clinic in the DR Congo. With the help of many generous knitwear designers, she collected over $35000 in pattern proceeds. Her fundraising means that many blind people using this clinic are now able to see.

Improving our inner worlds is important to Kristina too. Her new shawl pattern, Peace of Mind, is designed to show knitters a way of improving their wellbeing.

“In this pattern, I suggest that knitters remember moments in their lives when they felt at peace and kind of knit them into the fabric. Then, when they wear the shawl, it serves as a reminder to notice such moments and even create them for themselves.”

Kristina Vilimaite’s Design Philosophy

Kristina’s design philosophy is both aesthetic and technical. Whilst she intends to design something beautiful, it is important to her that the pattern should be flexible; easy to resize and adapt to different yarn weights.

Peace of Mind is a perfect example of this. Stunningly beautiful, with the option to knit it in either Canopy Fingering or Road to China Lace.

“I use techniques that might be new to some knitters, but I put a lot of effort into explaining them well. Whilst many of my patterns are sophisticated, I write them in a way that is easy to understand. As well as working with a tech editor, I test each pattern with 10-12 test knitters, so the accuracy of the pattern and the clarity of wording is checked by many people.”

She tries to make her patterns as accessible as possible, providing line-by-line written instructions as well as charts that use symbols that are friendly to dyslexic people.

Peace of Mind: A Brioche & Lace Shawl Pattern by Kristina Vilimaite

When speaking of the inspiration behind her new shawl pattern, Kristina says that colour led the way.

“I love playing with stitch patterns to inspire my designs, but when designing the Peace of Mind shawl, I wanted to showcase this bright green shade called Parakeet. I am a big fan of brioche, but I do not like binding off a large shawl in brioche. That’s why I decided to use a brioche body and lace edging.”

I’m sure we can all agree that the beauty is in the details and it is those details that set this design apart. Kristina took great care in creating a harmonious look in this shawl, using the same two colours in the picot edging as she used in the brioche. It finishes off the lace beautifully.

Choosing the Right Yarn

She chose to work with Canopy Fingering for this design because it has perfect qualities for brioche stitch.

“It was easy and pleasant to knit brioche with Canopy Fingering. It doesn’t split and feels neither slippery nor sticky. I like how the fabric of the shawl looks and feels. The yarn is very soft to touch and at the same time, I can clearly see it is a natural and warm, slightly rustic fibre. The yarn holds blocking well and the finished shawl has a wonderful drape.”

Shop Canopy Fingering

Brioche for Beginners

If you haven’t knitted brioche before, don’t be intimidated. Kristina thinks Peace of Mind would be a great project for brioche beginners. Find a tutorial online that shows you how to work two-colour brioche and you’ll be set. In fact, Kristina learnt brioche from Nancy Marchant’s course on Craftsy only a couple of months before she designed this shawl!

Get Peace of Mind at a 20% introductory discount, which is valid until the end of Wednesday 14th March 2018 (EST time). No code needed, just add the pattern to your cart.

You can find out more about knitwear designer, Kristina Vilimaite and her collection of patterns on Ravelry or Instagram. Details of your local or online Canopy Fingering stockist can also be found on the Stockists page.