Hello and welcome
I’m Julie, the designer of LoveFibres knitting patterns.
I’m so glad you’ve found my website and I hope you’ll have a browse through the patterns, perhaps check out a new technique in one of my tutorials or see what I’m up to at the moment in my blog.
A life of needlecrafting
I grew up in a family where needle crafting was second nature. My mum made most of my clothes and our home decor. She often recalled how she and my dad spent their evenings rug making whilst saving up to get married.
I was taught how to knit when I was about 4 years old by both my mum and my nan. This meant that I learned right away that there was more than one way to do things!
I’m passionate about many needlecrafts. I have always made some of my own clothes, including my wedding dress. I have worked in the Craft Industry for many years, giving demonstrations, tutoring classes and writing patterns for a variety of publications, including designing quilt patterns for Todays Quilter magazine.
Inspired by my grandchildren
Today, my grandchildren are the inspiration for my knitting patterns.
I design simple, easy to wear, often gender neutral knits that can be passed on from one sibling to the next. They’re for every day wear with practicalities like staying on wriggly heads taken into consideration. I also like adding embroidery to my designs. You can see my technique for doing this in some of my tutorials and try it for yourself with one of my patterns which include embroidery templates.
Accessible To All
My first career was as a junior school teacher. This meant that when I went to work in the craft industry, I knew how to give good demonstrations and tutor a variety of craft classes. This, along with designing patterns for magazines gave me experience in writing clear, concise instructions.
I pride myself on delivering well written patterns that pre-empt some of the questions a knitter might have.
It is important to me that my patterns are accessible to both beginner knitters and more experienced ones alike. For this reason, I include stage by stage photos so you can see and understand the construction process before you begin. Many of my patterns also have photo tutorials and links to YouTube videos included so you can see how to work any technique you may not be familiar with, without having to Roman internet search of your own
What next?
As well as continuing to write more patterns for a whole range of baby and toddler clothing, I’m also working hard on extending my range of knits with embroidery on them. Embroidering an item means even a beginner knitter can add visual interest to a simple garment. And I know from experience that once they’re a toddler many children like to wear clothing with pictures on.
