Now that our store is open, we are going to continue with our meet an artisan posts on a monthly basis.  This month our featured artisan is Vita of Mon Petit Violin Designs.  Vita is a wonderfully sweet mother who’s crochet patterns caught my eye on Etsy.  I was thrilled when she accepted my offer to join the Pulling at Strings Family.

Here’s Vita:

My name is Vita. I lived in Italy for 3 years (I was born and grew up in Riga, Latvia), I am married to a French man and have an amazing 2 year old son.

2. When and why did you start designing?
Since I learned to crochet and knit – I was a child at that time. I enjoyed learning all these things.  Of course at the beginning I was using someone else’s patterns. But quickly, I found I was always trying to make it my own way.  But serious designing I started not to long ago – when I became a housewife! While I was single I always kept myself very busy.  I was working, studying, traveling and meeting friends; at the end I had very little time for crocheting and knitting. But when my life changed, I moved to another country where I didn’t have to work (thanks to my husband ) and I finished my studies (although I had to learn a new language) I finally had more time for my hobbies.

3. What do you use for inspiration?
My biggest inspiration is my little son. Of course now he is already too big for tiny baby booties, but when I think about him, how to dress him, what would be comfortable for him, I always find some good ideas for designing. 
But also inspiration can be anything I see around me. I like to walk on streets and watch shops, watch how people are dressed, what kind of accessories they have and so on… it can be just a small detail which attracts my attention and voilà – something new is born.

4. What is your favorite item you have designed and why?
The very last one. Always while I am working on new pattern and finally it is done, and I am ready to list it in my shop – it becomes my favourite… till I make new one… Probably some special feelings I still have about my very first pattern I ever wrote – Crocheted Baby Booties. Before I was designing just for myself but this was the first pattern I was ready to share with other people.

5. What are your favorite colors?
Difficult to say, it depends very much on season… in summer I love bright colours – green, lilac, orange. In winter I prefer grey, beige, brown.

6. Tell us one secret
I buy too many shoes and too much yarn…

-Vita, Mon Petit Violin Designs

http://www.etsy.com/shop/monpetitvoilindesigns

Thanks Vita!

<3 The Yarn Lark

I’d like you to meet another Irish girl, but not just any Irish girl – Sharon, aka the Yarnista.  Sharon is unarguably one of the sweetest, sincerest, and funniest women ever – and an amazing yarn dyer whose yarn I am thrilled to be carrying.

So here’s Sharon:

Married to the World’s Greatest Husband, mom to three of the World’s Most Beautiful Children, high school teacher, yarnista.

When and why did you start dyeing?

I had a custom knitting business, and a customer asked me to make something for her that we couldn’t find anywhere. You can read the whole (long story) here: http://threeirishgirls.com/blog/?p=285

What do you use for inspiration?

I keep huge files of things for inspiration. I will often see the colors in an image before seeing the image itself, and I draw from different types of print publications, art books, and textiles. I also love working with concepts — if someone asks me to create something called “Mulled Wine,” I find it challenging to come up with something that evokes the feeling of the concept, not just the colors.

What is your favorite colorway you have dyed and why?

I can’t do that to my babies! But I will say that most things with brown and turquoise have a special place in my heart.

What are your favorite colors?

Easy. Saturated turquoises, purples, browns, pinks, and greens. I could spend the rest of my life working with that color palette.

Tell us one secret:

I love to eat with chopsticks, and actually prefer using them in many cases.