Featuring Hollyknitter

Question: How long have you been knitting and crocheting?

Reply:  I have been knitting since college and crocheting for over 50 years.  My grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was only 8 or 9 years old which is a memory I treasure.  I love to knit and have really enjoyed creating since I retired almost 3 years ago.

Question: Why did you decide to call your business Hollyknitter Creations?

Reply:  Holly knitter creations is named after the area we live in (east Texas).  Holly Lake Ranch is about 2 hours east of Dallas and has the trees and green landscape that reminds us of the east coast where I lived as a teen as that is also where my husband grew up.  Plus we are close to our children and grandchildren.  There was a coffee shop called HollyPerk in our nearest town and I played on the use of Holly from Holly Lake with my knitting.

baby Christmas hat

Question: Do you use different types of yarn as well as different colors of yarn?

Reply:  Wash cloths and dish cloths need absorbency - so I use 100% cotton for those.  There are some differences so my baby wash cloths are made with a very soft cotton and the dish cloths have a little different texture in the cotton yarn.  I like to use cotton for my towel toppers but do resort to acrylic when I have to match a specific color because cotton tends to "run" and acrylic is color fast.  My baby hats can be made in either cotton or acrylic, whichever the customer wants or whatever catches my eye.

Question: What has to be done differently to get the embossed look on your wash cloths?

The embossed look in the "picture" cloths is created with knit and purl stitches.  I just ordered a tree house pattern to make for my grandkids for a Christmas present that will go into their stockings.  It is always fun to figure out a special cloth for each grandchild's personality.  One year it was skateboards, Ninjas and ducks.

Motorcycle cloth

Question:  Where do you find your ideas for creations to make?

The towel pattern with the knit ties is my own creation because I hate to sew.  So I created a handknit topper for the dish towels that use ties rather than traditional buttons.  I also use patterns I have purchased or found online from several designers.  I feel copyright is important to respect.  Some designers have given me permission to make items from their patterns and I give them credit as the designer.

Simplify sentiment hanging house towel

Allison Barren has beautiful quilt patterns that are knitted.  The designers I use are very gracious when I order patterns and send them in MS Word format so my computer can read the lines to me audibly with a screen reader as I am legally blind.  It is awesome to have that kind of technology to be able to accomplish what I want to do as a knitter and as a business woman.

Question:  How long did it take you make and list 100 items?

I have been selling my creations on Artfire for 18 months now and I just reached 100 items a short time ago.  

Other info about Hollyknitter Creations:  I also belong to a charity knitting group and we make hats, scarves, baby items and prayer shawls for missions and local charities.  The group is called Chicks with sticks.  The group meets once a month and makes some of the most beautiful afghans, shawls and sweaters.

You can find Sharon (aka Hollyknitter) using the below links.

hollyknittercreations on Artfire
find her on pinterest
and on twitter