In 2017 we ran a survey of Stitchmastery users and one response particularly caught our imagination – someone told us they would like to hear from other Stitchmastery users and how they make use of the software. We’re delighted to bring you a series of interviews with designers, tech editors, magazine editors and teachers – we hope you enjoy reading them!

Interviewee – Erin Clayton of Erineen Designs

1) When did you start designing? Could you give us a potted history of your knitting and designing background?

I have been designing knitwear since 2018. I released my first pattern in September of that year but began my process months before that! I only learned to knit in 2015 after taking my then 8 year old daughter to a children’s knitting class at our local yarn store. At the end of the class, I said to the teacher, you should probably show me how to do this so I can help her. That day I started knitting and I never stopped! Fast forward a couple of years and I was looking for patterns that were easy to follow and wearable. And I just wasn’t finding what I was looking for. So I decided to create them. I am lucky that my background in graphic design and photography made it a little easier to create what I was reaching for. For the first year or so I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to create. When Covid hit, like so many other people, my life changed! So my focus changed, too, I buckled down and really threw myself into Erineen Designs. I just released my 68th pattern and I do not regret my shift in focus one bit!

2) Do you have any recurring sources of inspiration or unusual muses for your design work?

I draw inspiration from my Irish roots and from my clean graphic style. It really is a combo of these two things. I feel like my story telling and my naming is steeped in the heritage my Irish-born mother brought with her when she moved to the US from County Galway, Ireland. The town I grew up in was 90% Irish-born or Irish American so it was a part of my everyday life. And as a graphic designer, I am really drawn to geometric shapes and clean lines. I find inspiration in the most everyday things, like the way the light comes through the blinds, the repeating pattern in the brickwork of an old building or the tile work in a random tv show I am watching. I like to take those graphic elements, and pair them with a wearable shape so that what I create is both beautiful and useful. Put all of that together and you get Erineen Designs.

3) When you have an idea, do you always work to a set workflow (eg swatch-knit-chart or chart first then knit) or does your approach change with each design?

I love a good system, so I absolutely have a workflow! I plan my year in one sitting on a single sheet of paper (I even created a workbook with a video lesson on this for other designers).

Balance has always been really important to me. So I look at the year as a whole and plan what I will release. I release 10 patterns a year. They are normally released on the first Friday of the month August through May. And I use June and July for planning and to run a KAL with the Maine Yarn Cruise. This also allows me some buffer if I need to shift things around.

When I plan for the year, I am looking at big concepts, like the kind of item, shape, will it be textured, lace or cables? What weight? Will it be easy or a little more intricate? Then once I nail that down, I will make sure there is balance. I like to have a big project and then a smaller project. I do this so that I don’t overwhelm the knitter. They can work on an oversized shawl and a cowl side by side but two big shawls back to back would be too much for them and for me!

After this, I decide on color and yarn choices. Then I reach out and collaborate with yarn dyers and companies. The actual design happens when I have the yarn in my hands. At that point, I pour over my stitch dictionaries trying to find the perfect stitches to achieve my vision in the most efficient way. I always look at this with a mathematical approach. It is a puzzle. I want to have the most efficient directions/chart with balance. Balance in the experience. I never want the knitter to get bored. I don’t want the directions/chart to be overwhelming.

This is the part I love the most. Writing the pattern and creating the chart(s). Figuring out how to create this useful thing so that the knitter will know exactly what to do next and enjoy the process. And then have a finished piece that they will wear for years!

4) What made you choose to use Stitchmastery? Is there a particular feature you use most regularly or couldn’t do without? And is there anything you wish Stitchmastery could do?

I am a chart girl through and through so I feel like I could not design without Stitchmastery.

I am super visual so I think and design in charts and then export the written directions that Stitchmastery creates to format for my pattern. But everything starts with the chart. When I started designing back in 2018, I used a free charting software for the first couple of patterns until I found out about Stitchmastery. Once I saw how easy and intuitive Stitchmastery was, there was no going back. The structure and organization within the software allows that I can get lost in creating my chart knowing that the tools I need are there to make the process easier. I suggest Stitchmastery to every knitwear designer I meet.

5) Please tell us about your latest publication or next exciting project!

I just released the Athenry Shawl. It’s a two-skein, fingering-weight, crescent-shaped shawl with bands of lace and eyelets in a merino/silk blend. It is lighter than air and oh-so-wearable. I drew inspiration for this design from the music that filled my childhood home. I love telling the story behind the name just as much as designing the shawl.

It has an incredible balance that makes you just want to keep knitting. And not only is the shawl pretty but the charts are pretty, too! I always have written and charts, because each knitter has a way that works just right for them and I always want to be supportive of people doing what works for them.

I run two knit-alongs every year and this shawl will be the project we use for the Maine Yarn Cruise KAL this summer. There is not a set date yet but you can sign up for the knit-along here, and I will send out dates when they are firmed up. You can also sign up for my newsletter here and get my mom’s soda bread recipe with a trivet pattern to rest it on!