A few weeks ago I took a trip to Birmingham and Nashville with my boyfriend and another couple. They're both really unique cities with a flavor all their own. I thought Nashville was one of the most interesting places I've ever visited. It's got this vibe I've never felt anywhere else. Music spills out of every open door you walk by, and the whole place feels well-loved and lived-in, like the Velveteen rabbit or like broken-in cowboy boots. Plus it's got this sort of like grit-glam thing going on. It's some sort of nebulous mix of polish and gravel or something. I tried to take a lot of pictures, but as usual, only a very few seem worth sharing. Here are two that capture the feel of the town, I think.

This is a partially-functioning neon sign on the side of one of the storefronts. It's right at dusk.

There were tons of horse-drawn carriages, and a few of the drivers had companion dogs. One of these canines was a real showboat, and everytime the carriage stopped, the dog would go stand on the horse's back. Normally I think carriages are completely dorky and forced and super-touristy, but somehow in Nashville they just seemed natural and cozy. We didn't take a ride in one, but it was an appealing idea. We definitely considered it.

* Jessica *

Hello all! I'm realizing this is my first post as a member of MyCraftivity. Generally I post as one of the administrators for the knitting/crochet group. I am an editor on the North Light Craft team here at F+W Publications. I've worked on many of our knitting and crochet books, but on other titles as well.

I worked with Hannah Fettig, author of Closely Knit, to develop her book, and I also edited it from start to finish. We spoke last week, and I typed up our interview here. If you've clicked here from the knit/crochet group blog page, here's the rest of the interview for your enjoyment. If you landed here first, click here to read the first half of the interview.

MyCraftivity: So when did you start designing? Can you tell me about how that evolved?

Hannah Fettig: I started working at Knit Wit here in Portland, Maine, and at that point I was really into knitting but I wasn’t good at it yet. I was—as with most things—scatterbrained about it. I had like 100 projects going from different patterns. But, you know, I had never really followed through on anything, so I was just sort of dabbling in everything and trying everything. I started working there and that really fast-forwarded things because I saw what other people were working on and I had to help people with their projects, and that made me learn more about how things really worked. And I remember when I first started I remember Anna asking me if I ever thought about learning how to design my own things. And I remember at that point I was just like no way, I just thought I would never be able to figure that out. And it seems like people get that way with knitting, which is really funny. They’re just like, I could never do that. They’re just like you know, people come into the knitting shop, and they’re literally like brain surgeons, you know, but they’re like, oh, I couldn’t do that. For some reason they get freaked out about knitting.

And I mean I guess I was one of those people, too. I thought, no I couldn’t do that. I guess I didn’t like the constraints of patterns at a certain point. Part of me did like to do patterns because I like to follow a recipe, I like to read sheet music. I like to do that, but then I was not getting exactly what I wanted as the end result. So that’s when I started to realize I needed to make those kinds of adjustments if I really wanted what I wanted. And then—it’s so crazy—I can’t even remember how I started designing stuff for the Fibre Company—and that was the next big step because after that I met you and on we went.

MC: Can you tell me about what you’re doing right now? What are you knitting and are you designing for people and stuff like that?

HF: I just finished a vest

MC: Oh, I think I saw that. Is it the one with the lace weight and the worsted and then the green trim?

HF: That’s a different vest. OK, so I did that vest for a fashion show that Anna and another yarn shop owner in the area coordinated, along with Pam Allen. Called Show Us Your Wears and I’m super happy with how it came out. A lot of people have responded to it, and in fact I have the pattern available for download on my Web site right now because so many people locally were asking for it.

So I did that vest and after that I did a vest for Susan Mills, the creative director for Nashua Yarns, who I met at TNNA. She asked me to design a vest for them in a very short window. But I’m glad I did it. It was great to have just one project to do and do it and feel like I had the time to focus on it. And they were really happy with it, so that was exciting. And hopefully I’ll get to do some more design for them.

Right now I’m designing a sweater with some Fibre Company yarn I’ve had kicking around for a while. And I’m just swatching like crazy because I’m thinking I might be needing to come up with 30 more projects in the future. So I’ve got my boards full of yarn cards and I’m just thinking I really am excited about doing some—again, going back to my childhood—my grandmother always would knit us boxy cardigans but they would always have these really crazy graphics on them. Which of course she was just knitting from patterns, but looking back at the pictures, they were really far out graphics. So I’ve been thinking about that and how I want to do some sort of retro feeling designs for this book. So I’m looking a lot at vintage kids’ books right now. In fact, there’s this one designer called Saul Bass who did a lot of design in the 60s. He only did one kids’ book, it was called Henry’s Walk To Paris. It’s the cutest book ever and there’s one picture in particular from that book that’s totally inspirational. The second I saw it, I just know I’m going to make this whole cardigan around it for kids. So that’s kind of what’s going on over here right now I guess.

MC: That sounds lovely. Who are your favorite knitwear designers?

HF: Now I’m feeling very put on the spot. I just have to think for a second. As everyone does, I have a huge respect for Nora Gaughan because…

MC: Me too!

HF: She does such interesting things. I mean, come on. You don’t even need to explain it.

MC: Her brain must be so different from most peoples’. She’s got like a mathemetician’s brain or something.

HF: Yeah, she brings something new to the table and I just think she’s super interesting. Let’s see, who else. I really like—one of my favorite books in the last year or so is Knit 2 Together book. Which is the one that Tracy Ullman did.

MC: That really is a great book.

HF: Yeah, I’d definitely say those, and I’m looking at my shelves, just thinking. I really like Lucinda Guy’s kids’ books.

MC: I know. They’re so cute—I really love those illustrations.

HF: Yeah, and again I guess anybody who’s doing something just a little different is going to catch the eye. And I’m very into Rebecca Magazine, of course, too. Every issue that comes out I’m blown away.

MC: Do you subscribe to that magazine?

HF: I don’t subscribe to it, but I buy it every time, so I guess I might as well.

MC: Do you buy a lot of knitting books?

HF: I do. I don’t buy them all, but I buy the good ones. The ones that really catch the eye. Right now I’m reading the book by Clara Parks.

MC: The yarn book, right?

HF: And I am learning so much.

MC: There’s a lot of information in that book.

HF: And again, that’s an example of somebody’s mind who is not just a crafter. She’s working on a different level. She’s very scientific. But it’s so helpful. I mean, maybe I knew things about yarn, but I didn’t understand why it was the way that it was and so it’s kind of cool to have that even more core understanding of why certain yarns react the way they do to different situations or different make-ups. So that’s been really good to read. And of course I’m still reading it because it’s really long.

MC: It is really long. And there are a lot of patterns in it.

HF: There are, yeah.

MC: What are you knitting right now for yourself? Anything?

HF: I am knitting this little capelet…I’m spending a ridiculous amount of time on Ravelry right now…so there’s somebody on there, I don’t remember name, but she kind of transcribes a little capelet top from an Anthropologie top, and she has the pattern for free download. And so I downloaded that. I just got back from California so I was knitting that on the plane.

MC: Are you almost done?

HF: Yes I am. It’s a fast knit.

* Jessica *