Designer Take Over! - Vikki Bird

Today's designer take over comes from the woman behind Vikki Bird Designs!

Who doesn't love precious baby and children knits?  These brightly colored designs are sure to bring a smile to anyones face.  I love how she combines practicality with a fun-loving style so indicative of a young child's imagination and playful spirit.  She even has designs that cater to all of us older children (more commonly known as adults)! 

When did you first start designing?

"I've been designing ever since I learnt to knit when I was about seven, although I have moved on a bit form making teddy bear waistcoats out of a few rectangles and some buttons.  My first published design that I thought was worth publishing was my Christmas Pudding Hat, which I designed for my son in 2012."

What inspired you to design?

"When I learnt to knit, I mostly knitted Jean Greenhow's soft toys and thought it was amazing that I could create three-dimensional shapes out of lengths of yarn.  I also loved to knit intarsia jumpers for my sister, who is nine years younger than me.  After many years of modifying patterns to fit or adding different features I started coming up with ideas that no one else had done before and I thought 'why not just knit them,' so really it was a very gradual experience that led to me creating my own designs."

Let's talk about your design process!

"My designs usually start with a person or occasion in mind, I then start sketching an approximation of what I'm aiming for, then refine it until it looks the way I want.  A lot of my designs feature intarsia, so once I've worked out what item I want to knit, I determine the approximate dimensions and knit a swatch in the yarn I want to use.  I then make a grid and redraw the design onto the grid, by hand, colouring squares in (and rubbing them out) until the image looks exactly how I want it to.  I always have the majority of the pattern written before I cast on; if there are any bits I can't work out, I doodle with some yarn until I get the right shape!"

How would you describe your design style?

"Quirky, bright, and bold.  I don't have the patience for knitting lace, and have never been all that keen on pastels and neutral colours.  I want people to have a bit of fun with my designs.

Fun-Fact!

"Since I've worked out how to knit cables without a cable needle I've been enjoying them much more, and am hoping to branch out in to a few more cabled designs in the future.  I don't think I'll ever have the patience to knit an intricate lace shawl, I have huge admiration for anyone who can!"

I really love all of Vikki's designs.  She lets her style shine through each and every one of them and I think that's so important for designers.  I'm so inspired by all the cheerfulness embedded in her patterns.  I'm excited to be able to share a closer look at some of her designs!

Nature's Way Baby Blanket

"A nature themed baby blanket made up of squares featuring different nature-inspired images.  The images in this blanket are all very personal to me; teh snail is my favourite, he's been doodled on all sorts of things over the years; I love the super-friendly ladybird with his happy smiley face.  The original went to one of my oldest friends, which makes this blanket extra special."

Want to make one yourself?  Click the picture or the pattern name and be instantly transported to the pattern page on Ravelry!
Here's what you'll need:
- 4 mm (US 6) needles, 3.5 mm (US 4) circular needles
- dk yarn.  The sample is done in Stylecraft Special DK - 1 ball each in white, black, matador, cloud blue, copper, meadow, magenta, green, jaffa, citron, and clematis.  Approximately 294 m (322 yds) per skein.

Rudi
"A children's Christmas picture sweater featuring a cartoon reindeer head.  The intarsia cartoon reindeer is very characteristic of my style; intarsia is my favourite technique - I love to see the image emerge as I knit."

Want to make one yourself?  Click the picture or the pattern name and be instantly transported to the pattern page on Ravelry!
Here's what you'll need:
- 4.5 mm (US 7 needles), 5 mm (US 8 needles), and 4.5 mm (US 7) circular needles
- aran/worsted weight yarn: MC 320 (410, 500) m / 350 (450, 540) yds, CC 100 (130, 150) m / 110 (140, 160 yds), red (oddment, 10 m / 10 yds), dark brown (oddment, 20 m / 20 yds), light brown (oddment 45 m / 45 yds), white (oddment, 5 m / 5 yds), and black (oddment, 5m / 5 yds)

Vroom Vroom, Beep Beep
"A baby blanket featuring cars in an assortment of colours.  While this was designed for a friend's son, it was inspired by my son and his favourite activity of making traffic jams with his toy cars.  Again it's intarsia, and I love that it's such a simple but effective motif."

Want to make one yourself?  Click the picture or the pattern name and be instantly transported to the pattern page on Ravelry!
Here's what you'll need:
- 4mm (US 6) needles and 3.5 mm (US 5) circular needles
- dk yarn: MC 560 m / 610 yds, 80 m / 90 yds each of 5 CCs, yellow for wheels 25 m / 30 yds, black 75 m / 85 yds

Want more from Vikki?

Check out her Ravelry designer page Vikki Bird Designs

or her blog over at Bake Day Wednesday