Heather Dixon’s love of knitting started early on. She says she asked her mom to teach her when she was just four or five, but her mom was too busy. Instead, Heather got a “Learn to Knit Kit” and taught herself – knitting and reknitting until she got it right.
Apparently, all that practice paid off. After spending a decade designing knitwear for some of the top names in fashion, Heather co-founded the online knitting & crochet magazine, Clotheshorse. She sells her fashion-forward patterns under the name Army of Knitters on Ravelry.
The Woodstock Dress is a great example of Heather’s fun-loving style. She used four shades of Berroco Lustra to create a colorwork pattern that’s sophisticated with a twist. My favorite part is the pop of pink and blue used to highlight the set-in pockets.
Tell us how/why you came up with this design?
Woodstock Dress is part of my Winter ‘12/’13 collection for Army of Knitters. The theme was the Catskill Mountains, my adopted home. I used the surrounding landscape as my inspiration. The stitch pattern is a representation of the rocky land surrounding my house.
Any interesting stories about the process?
The dress was originally going to be a tunic, with the colours reversed from the yoke down. I had knit the sample to the sleeve divide, top-down, when I decided that it looked too masculine. I started again and much preferred the second attempt and kept knitting until it was dress length with contrast colour pockets. The first sample is now a sweater that looks great on my fella – I’ll write up that pattern and publish the Woodstock Sweater soon!
If you could knit something for anyone in the world it would be?
Both my Grandmothers were wonderful craftswomen. They knitted, crocheted and sewed clothes and furnishings for their families. They aren’t with us anymore but I would have loved to have made them both warm and cozy sweaters to thank them for passing down their crafty genes to me.
What’s your favorite thing about knitting?
I’m a bit of a fidget and I hate not having anything to do. Knitting keeps my hands and brain busy while still enabling me to express my creative side. I’m also a bit of a chatterbox and love the social aspect of group knitting. All that plus you get a warm and wonderful product when you have finished!
Do you have a cool design you want to share? Or did you recently finish a project with Berroco yarn? You can email Ashley: apalumbo@berroco.com or post it to the Berroco Lovers forum in Ravelry.