Novel Reed had a knack for knitwear design even before she had mastered all of the basics. Her first project as an 8-year-old novice was a knitted tube dress for a Barbie doll. She couldn’t figure out how to bind off, so she slipped the tail of her yarn through the live stitches and turned it into a halter.
These days, Novel is knitting and designing clothing for herself. That includes Twigs, a seamless raglan tee knit from the top down in Berroco Weekend. The yoke and sleeves feature a beautiful lace pattern reminiscent of tiny flower buds.
How did you come up with this design?
When I design an item, the first thing I figure out is what kind of shape I want the garment to have. I designed a few sweaters last year that had ruching on the front of the sweaters and it created a really flattering shape so I knew I wanted to incorporate that into the design, but it was summer so I decided to go with short sleeves and lace. I choose the lace stitch from one of my stitch dictionaries.
Is there any story behind the name?
The lace pattern reminded me of little flower buds on a twig and I’m also a fan of the singer FKA Twigs.
How did you decide on the yarn?
I’m a vegan, so I don’t use animal fibers anymore. Initially I thought it might be really challenging to find yarn that I liked, but there really are some great vegan yarns out there and Berroco Weekend is my favorite. I love that it is a cotton and acrylic blend so it is easy to care for. It is a very soft yarn, perfect for wearing right up against the skin. It’s definitely got some squish to it, which is something I always look for in a yarn.
What’s your favorite project you’ve ever made? Why?
I have several favorite projects and they are all blankets. I gave myself a personal challenge of knitting blankets for my three siblings, my niece and my mom and I accomplished it. Now they all get to snuggle up with something I made just for each of them.
If you could knit/crochet something for anyone in the world it would be…?
If I could knit anything in the world it would be a sweater and I would knit it for a giraffe. Animals look so cute in sweaters and I think a giraffe would look amazing in a nice striped sweater to complement its natural spotted pattern.
What’s your favorite thing about knitting/crochet?
Seeing a piece of string become anything you want it to be is pretty amazing.
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.
Do you know how to get a hold of Novel Reed? I want to purchase some of her patterns and she is no longer on Raverly.
Hi Jasmin! Unfortunately we don’t have any contact information—looks like she’s been out of the design world for a few years now. Sorry about that!