Jennifer Stafford - Domiknitrix: Whip Your Knitting Into Shape

DOMI KNIT RIX

jennifer stafford

NORTH LIGHT BOOKS
CINCINNATI, OHIO
www.artistsnetwork.com

DOMIKNITRIX. Copyright 2007 by Jennifer Stafford. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. It is permissible for the purchaser to make the projects contained herein for personal use or to give away as gifts. No other part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote a brief passage in review. Published by North Light Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc.,

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stafford, Jennifer.

Domiknitrix / Jennifer Stafford.

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-1-58180-853-7 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-58180-853-4
eISBN: 978-1-4402-2531-4
1. Knitting--Patterns. I. Title.

TT825.S7165 2006
746.432--dc22

2006020117

EDITOR: JESSICA GORDON
ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER: KARLA BAKER
PHOTOGRAPHERS: BRIAN STEEGE, TIM GRONDIN, CHRISTINE POLOMSKY
ILLUSTRATIONS: RACHELL SUMPTER
WARDROBE STYLIST: MONICA SKRZELOWSKI
HAIR AND MAKEUP: CASS SMITH, GINA WEATHERSBY
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: GREG NOCK

THE DOMI KNIT RIX

Jennifer Stafford has been sewing since she was a wee kid, and shes been knitting since 1979. She has borne the DOMIKNITRIX mantle since February 2004 when she launched a Web site of the same name loaded with knitting techniques, unique projects, inspiration and attitude. She founded the DOMIKNITRIX company in 2005, dreaming of showing knitters how to take their knitting to the next level and of sharing her original knitwear designs with the world. The site has grown from a few users each day to 45,000 a month as of this writing. Jennifer lives in San Francisco where she has managed to hold tight to her position at a different kind of Internet media company for more than nine years.

dedication

This book is dedicated to the two most important men inmy life: my father, John Stafford, and my husband, EthanOBrien.

Dad raised me single-handedly from the age of five andspoon-fed me a steady diet of female role models: bionic andwonderful, gun-slinging and sword-wielding. He told memany times that I was lucky to be born a woman because Ican become anything I want to be.

In 1993, Ethan traveled halfway around the world tomeet me: the girl next door. Without Ethans support, thisbook would have been only a glimmer. Ethan designed theDOMIKNITRIX logothe heart of the site and the perfectrepresentation of myself. Only the love of my life could havecreated something so perfect.

WHIP YOUR KNITTING INTO SHAPE

Charts

BADASS KNITTING FOR
BADASS KNITTERS

domiknitrix \d-mi-ni-triks \ n, pl -trices [US, var. of dominatrix, re: knitting] (2005): a woman who dominates her knitting; BROADLY: a badass knitter

I AM THE DOMIKNITRIX

I discipline my yarn. I force it into the form I want it to take. I am persistent, firm and commanding. I am the DOMIKNITRIX.

If the yarn is wayward and the pattern not quite right, I rip out and reknit until I get what I want. Its classic, really. Pain begets pleasureTheyre really not so very far apart.

As you might imagine, I would rather lead than follow. I dont like to let pattern writers tell me what to do. I am in charge, and the yarn is at my beck and call. Im adventurous, and I like to design clothes that are a little different, or a lot. Who says a sweater has to be knit from bottom to top? Why not do it sideways or on the diagonal?

Well, the road less traveled is often more punishing, but then again, maybe thats why I like it. In taking those rough paths, Ive managed to maverick my way through ideas that Ive never seen tried before. Im not going to tell you this is an efficient approach to designing knitwearfar from itbut maybe I can save you some time by sharing the patterns and methods that tease out the best possible results, sometimes in the most unusual ways.

A DOMIKNITRIX IS BORN

Of course, I havent always been a badass knitter. I started out as just a plain bad crafter. In kindergarten I made macram plant hangers and woven place mats. From there, I graduated to cutting up old satin sheets and lace curtains and sewing them into ill-fitting princess dresses. At age ten, I entered the year of the half-afghans. (They remained forever unfinished because I always got bored.) I sewed my own clothes for years, and not always well.

Many of these sad handmade pieces ended up in the trash or at the local thrift store (although I sincerely hope no unsuspecting children or awkward teens were forced to wear them).

Then I discovered knitting. At last, the perfect outlet for my brand of hard-knock discipline. Materials could be recovered from even the most disastrous project. No mistake had to be permanent because I could rip out the yarn and force it to see things my way. From that point on, there has been no turning back. I am bound to knitting for life.

I definitely learned knitting the hard way. I quit working from patterns long ago (the year was 1980, and the pattern was for a sweater), but that doesnt mean my first efforts were successful. My entree into designing was arduous and painful. An early project was a midriff-baring pullover with overlong sleeves I made for my best friend in high school. It wasnt exactly flattering. Although I meant it to come out that way, the proportion was all wrong for her petite frame.

MAKE IT HURT SO GOOD

After lots of ripping out and starting overah, the delicious pain of seeing those wrong stitches unravelI was eventually turning out items I wasnt embarrassed to wear or give away.

Being a DOMIKNITRIX is all about bringing discipline and diligence to knitting, and above all using that discipline to create cool clothes and accessories youll want to wear, use and give away with pride. I want you to experience the supreme satisfaction of creating a knitted piece that is well crafted and unhurried. A true DOMIKNITRIX has no room for shoddy workmanship or uneven stitches.