Saturday Spotlight introducing Jen Giuntoli

It’s Saturday Spotlight time! This weekend I am shining my light on Jen Giuntoli, the designer behind Yarnitude. I have the best fiber friends ever! I have met, virtually, the coolest creatives in these cyber streets. If my memory serves me, I think I met Jen in the Knit & Chat group on Facebook. Her smile got me first and then that talent smacked me in the face. Are you ready to meet her?

the knitting story

Tell me your knitting story. How long have you been knitting and who taught you? I was a dental assistant for 10 years, in the middle of 3 pre-req’s for dental hygiene school, and only one to more to go, when I picked up yarn. My boys were 6 & 1, I was a full time student, wife, and mother. I was also a 3-sport high school athlete and 2-sport college athlete. With that said, I LOVE BEANIES!!! I was so tired of buying them just to have them fall apart in no time. From grades, to sports, to dentistry, to motherhood, and my career, I do everything with such detail and precision. I just knew I could KNIT myself a much better quality beanie. And, once I set my mind on something, it’s ON!

I called my mom to see if she wanted to meet me at Borders. If you knew us, that alone, is hysterical. She proceeded to tell me that I do not have time to learn how to knit because I have 2 boys to take care of and 3 classes to worry about: I was 33 years old. We are sassy, so I said: I didn’t call for permission. Are you meeting me there or not? Needless to say, we spent almost an hour on the floors of Borders books, a moment I won’t forget, pouring ourselves over amazing knitting books. I, finally, grabbed Itty Bitty Hats by Susan B Anderson, and went across the street to JoAnn Fabrics, and bought what her book told me to.

I am left-handed! I’ve had to translate things my entire life. But, I just needed a tiny visual. I went to YouTube and watched a one-minute and two-second video, on how to cast on left-handed. That is the only video I’ve ever watched in my 6 years and 4 months of knitting (February, 2011). I am 100% self-taught and I haven’t taken a single class, yet.

The designs

Not a single class? Wow just wow!! Ok ok, your designs are amazing, how did that part start? I have loved fashion since a very young age. I was raised in a family of seamstresses. Before I touched yarn, I loved sewing. This was great for me because I use my sewing machine WITH my knitting. Mostly, for buttons in the past, but bigger things are coming. Almost instantly, I was drastically changing patterns that I was following. I’m into details. So, as I made each hat or item, there were notes in my notebook for them. After posting my first hat on social media I had people asking to buy hats.

Every person, for 4 1/2 years, got a custom beanie or whatever they ordered. I would ask for their measurements and get started. My favorite thing, still, is seeing others’ reactions when they see their stuff. My goal was always to create what they envisioned. But my real goal was always to take it to a level that never even crossed their mind. Not far into reading patterns, I started seeing the garment as I would look at them, not the rounds, rows, or words, necessarily.

Math is also one of my biggest strengths! Numbers have ALWAYS been my game. (If you are good at math, you would make a fabulous designer) With this lens that I look through, and sizing up the big picture, I, naturally and instantly, begin to tweak the details that most knitters see in a pattern: the stitch design/placement/stitch amounts/sizes/needle size/yarn weight/shaping/techniques used etc. After struggling through some horribly written patterns, learning a lot about head sizes, yarn weights, needle sizes, etc. I stopped using patterns for guidelines, completely. That was within months of learning how to knit. Needless to say,  I have notebook after notebook of designs that need to be published!

yarnitude

Let’s talk Yarnitude, what made you start the group? Oh, Yarnitude. As I began to join knitting groups, share my work, talk design details, help others…people began to remember me. As my knitting progressed it seemed like rules started to change in almost every group I was in. I am one of the kindest and most respectful people I know. Who always respected rules, people, etc? Me.  An admin would delete my post and remove me. Then, they would let me back in. I started to realize, on a deeper level, what was going on. It was stressful and I wasn’t able to freely express my passion, love, knowledge, or stories that I was bursting at the seams with.

I needed a place where I could share every detail about my journey with yarn. My whole life revolves around my 3 children and yarn.

The group started out as “Hattitude Or Bust” because my business name was Hattitude and at that point (March 2017 I started the group). After adding my favorite knitters and crocheters, we were at the start of something so AMAZING. I wanted a group with no drama, no negativity, no disrespect, and no bullying. I created a wonderful group filled with passion, positivity, respect, love, camaraderie, talent, and immense inspiration. This is what I’ve been looking for my entire knitting career. Yarnitude is my baby, my happy place, and my family! Nothing but amazing things happen there. With that said, OF COURSE, my yarn label is going to be “Yarnitude”. I’m Yarnitude LLC!

Wow Jen thank you for spending time with me. Anything else you want to share? Yes, the one thing I hope to be known for is: fashion-forward, fashion-driven beautiful knitting.

I am sure that won’t be a problem. Last question, what’s next for Jen & Yarnitude? Yarnitude yarn and one other BIG thing that I can’t quite talk about yet…but it’s going to be HUGE!

Connect with Jen

Ravelry:
http://www.ravelry.com/designers/jen-giuntoli

Business page:
https://m.facebook.com/JenGiuntoliDesigns

Instagram:
http://instagram.com/jengiuntolidesigns

There you have it guys, please comment like and share

Knit on my fiber friends….knit on

GG