Our first designer spotlight is on Kimberly Dijkstra, the designer of the fabulous gloves we saw earlier this week called Rampage.
How long have you been knitting and how’d you get started?
I have been knitting for about 3 years. I was just getting back into crochet and searching for patterns online. So many of the patterns I came across were knitting and I thought, “I want to make that!” More than that though, I wanted to understand how knitting worked the way I understood crochet. I figured if I could do one, I could do the other. Turns out they’re both just pulling loops through loops, only in a different way.
How did you start designing?
It kind of came naturally. I would slightly modify patterns as I went along to get the result I was looking for. That turned into just creating things from scratch to match the picture in my head. I would take notes along the way, but eventually realized I should be writing it all down in proper pattern form.
What was your first design?
I honestly can’t remember the first thing I designed, but my first official pattern was a bracelet I call Spangle. It’s a fun, quick knit you can really personalize by choosing the color of the beads and the order in which you string them.
What did you design for Vampire Knits? What inspired you?
I designed a ton of stuff for Vampire Knits, or TKB, what we originally called it. Not everything made the cut, but I don’t even mind because I had so much fun working on everything and also learned a lot. The first thing was a set of bracelets inspired by the one Bella wears in the films. I also made a knitted ring box inspired by the colors of the Twilight book covers for Edward to propose to Bella with (haha). I made a cell phone case totally inspired by the character of Renée, Bella’s mom. There was a also a bracelet (big surprise, I clearly have a thing for bracelets) inspired by the colors of Edward’s eyes.
As for patterns that actually appear in the book, there is The Black Veil, a black, lacy scarf, Bloody Socks, deep red socks with a blood drop design and strands of real silver running through, Rampage Fishnet Gloves, stretchy, black, elbow-length “gloves” that look like fishnet stockings, Glamour Earrings, a pair of chandelier-style earrings with red beads that look like drops of blood, and Sangria, which, you guessed it, is a bracelet.
Who’s your favorite vampire, or what’s your favorite vampire story?
This is an impossible question. I started out as a Buffy fan, so I’m tempted to say Angel, but then there’s also Spike… I can’t forget Twilight though. Is Edward too obvious a choice? I do quite like Alice… 
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Kimberly has shared the links to her original Renee’s cell phone case and Bella’s shell bracelets. There you can find the complete patterns.
(http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/renees-cell-phone-case ) (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bellas-shell-bracelets )
Thanks, Kimberly!!
And hey – it’s the 7th of August. Just over a month from the book release!!
