The Creative Process of Turning Inspiration into a Pattern | Podcast Episode #133

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You don’t have to be a designer to use your surroundings to inspire beautiful projects.

Truth is, you can inject little aspects of yourself, your likes, and your world into anything you make. This episode and my chat with Vincent from Visuvios Crafts opened up my eyes to unique ways to find inspiration for projects and I’m even more energized to start something new.

Special Guest

So whether you publish your designs or you just like to freestyle projects for yourself or others, we can all benefit from Vincent’s unique perspective on finding inspiration from the world around you.

Episode Transcript

Brittany: 0:00
You’re listening to the Be Hooked Podcast, episode 133, with Brittany.

Well, hello there and welcome to episode 133 of the Be Hooked Podcast. You know, the place where we just love yarn, we love to learn, and we truly believe yarn can do more for us than just make pretty things. And we’re sort of talking along those lines again today, specifically addressing designing and where you draw inspiration from. And I have a really special guest who can share that with us in such a different perspective.

Now, we talk a lot about designing here. We talk a lot about inspiration. I find it really interesting to see where designers get their inspiration from. So even if an episode isn’t about designing, I like to add that in there just to see where they get their inspiration because I know it can help you not just as a designer, but even as a creator. Well, I was just completely surprised by Vincent’s responses to where he gets his inspiration from. It’s completely innovative. It’s different and it’s actionable. He knows I’m a steps kind of gal. I love to break things down step by step. He was able to do that perfectly. So this is one of those episodes where if you are a designer, you’re trying to find your place in the creative community, you probably want to take notes.

Now, before we get to all things inspiration and how to translate that into a design with Vincent from Vesuvius Crafts, I want to let you know that the show notes can be found at behooked.com/133. I’ll have the links to Vincent’s website and his Instagram handle so you can connect with him there. But it’s also a really great place for you to leave your comments and your questions. Down at the bottom of that page, there’s a comment section, and that’s where we can continue the conversation after this episode happens. We can talk about our inspiration for where we get our designs, and you’ll hear me add some of my design inspiration little tidbits in there as well. But I’m really more interested in where you get your inspiration from.

So after listening to the show, if you want to head over to the show notes, behooked.com/133, scroll down to the show notes page, tell me where you get your inspiration from as a designer or just as somebody who’s creating something from nothing. You don’t have to be a designer and publish them to really utilize these tips for where to find inspiration from.

All right, now this is a good one. I’m super excited about it. Here’s my chat with Vincent.

Vincent, hi, welcome to the show. I have been waiting for this one for so long. I’m excited you’re here.

Vincent: 3:06
I’m so glad to be here as well, Brittany. Thank you for having me.

Brittany: 3:11
Yes, it’s been a long time coming. You and I met in Chicago last year at the Our Maker Life event. And I think we talked at that point about having you on the show and, you know, how life just gets a little bit crazy. And here we are, like, actually over a year later, and we finally have you here. So I’m excited about it.

Vincent: 3:31
Yeah, me too. I’m very excited. I was like, a little starstruck. I was like, oh my gosh, it’s Brittany. Like she’s here at Our Maker Life and I’m getting to meet her in person. So yeah, it was a lovely experience for me as well.

Brittany: 3:45
Oh my gosh. And that’s so funny. That’s so funny to hear because I’m just me, you know, just little old me. I don’t really feel like special or anything like that. But it’s really interesting when you’re in people’s feeds, you know, on Instagram and when you’re on YouTube and that sort of thing. You do sort of develop that feeling or that sense for people. I know I have that as well. There’s a couple of YouTube channels that I really watch. There are a couple of entrepreneurs that I really admire. And I think if I ever saw any of them in person, I would be so geeky and would probably make a fool of myself. So I get it. Yes.

Vincent: 4:29
Yes.

Brittany: 4:30
Well, what have you been up to in a year? It’s been a long time. I know you’re designing a lot of things. So what have you done since Our Maker Life?

Vincent: 4:39
Oh, gosh. So within this past year, I’ve pretty much designed and released about 10 different patterns between that Our Maker Life and this year’s Our Maker Life. Sadly, I was not able to get a ticket, but that’s okay. That brought about one of my most recent designs that was inspired by the speakers who were there. So that’s what I’ve been doing, and it’s been a real joy to create and collaborate with all the other makers and big businesses within the fiber industry. When I say big businesses, I mean like Lion Brand or Lovecrafts—people like that—as well as Jessica of The Hook Nook. I did a design for her blog that was really fun. It was like 50% knitting and 50% crochet all in one design. So it was really cool to teeter-totter between the two crafts in one piece of fabric. And then I collaborated with Claire of Ottoman Indigo, whose yarns I had loved for many, many moons, and Jake of Is That Ken Yarn?

Brittany: 5:50
Oh, cool. Okay. That’s really interesting. You know, for the first time I started knitting and crocheting in the same project—that was so much fun. It was a challenge because when you’re knitting stitches, it’s so much thinner and the drape is a lot better than it is with crochet. So I found it really challenging, but it was a fun challenge.

Vincent: 6:14
Yeah. I’m glad to hear that other people are starting to do that because I hadn’t seen it in any other designs. And I was like, I wonder how this will work out if you place them together in one object—and it’s not just like a crochet edging on an entire knit garment. So I agree.

Brittany: 6:37
I have been challenged by my YouTube community to create a garment or some kind of wearable that blends knitting and crochet. And I’m like, oh gosh, you guys would suggest that. I’m really happy, but at the same time I’m like, wow, that is going to be really challenging for me as a designer and as a creator. Just because there’s so much that goes into garments and making them fit properly for different body types and sizes—and then you’ve got different gauge to work with. I don’t know if it will be anytime soon, but I’m certainly accepting the challenge from them. So I do plan to do more knitting and crochet projects in one. I feel like for me, it’s a really good way to blend those two things. Like, I’ve been crocheting for a long time and doing the patterns for a long time. And I really added the knitting part—wow—I was like, oh my gosh, I have to share this with other people because I can’t possibly be the only one who totally gets crochet but does not get knitting. And when it clicked, I’m like, man, I got to share that.

But it’s a little bit tricky because they’re two very different things. And it can be a little bit confusing for people coming in. They’re like, oh, you’re the crochet person. You do a lot of that stuff, but here you are knitting, and that’s kind of confusing. So I think putting the two into one project is a good way to—

Vincent: 8:39
Yes, I completely agree.

Brittany: 8:42
Yeah. So I don’t want to get too off track with that. I know we’re going to talk a lot about designing and your inspiration. You’ve done a lot of—you said you’ve done 10 designs in a year. That’s a lot. That’s a ton of work. I know so much goes into that. So you have done this sort of creative process over and over, and we’ll get there. But I really want to know a little bit about your backstory. How long you’ve been crocheting and how did you learn?

Vincent: 9:11
So I’ve been crocheting for about nine, almost ten years now. Granted, I was making little swatches on and off for the first few years, so it wasn’t like big completed garments in those early years, but nine to ten years. And I originally got started because my grandma taught me the chain when I was really little, but I didn’t take it further than that. It was just the initial chain, and then I was like, “Okay, I’m going to go outside now.”

Then years later, I learned the bare bones basics from some old books. They had these kind of crappy black-and-white photos that didn’t really help me get from photo A to photo B, but I somehow pieced it together and learned what “yarn over” and “pull through” meant, and that you had three live loops on your hook. I eventually learned all of that.

It really was tricky learning from a book, because having a person there to tell you, “No, that’s wrong,” in the middle of those steps is so helpful. Then eventually, I learned from YouTube—which was so much more helpful than books. I had been scouring the internet, and I eventually came across your YouTube channel.

Brittany: 11:19
Oh hey!

Vincent:
Yeah, and so I had watched a lot of YouTubes before that, but in that stumble down the YouTube black hole, I came across your beginner crochet series—I want to say maybe four or five years ago—and that really helped solidify all the little skills I thought I knew. It really helped.

Brittany: 11:45
Yeah, I think that’s the best of both worlds. I was never one to really learn through books and still am not today. I would really love to try macrame and that sort of thing. My mom did that many, many years ago. She let me borrow some of her books and was like, “This is how I learned—you can make some really cool things.” I had the books for a while, but man, I just couldn’t connect the dots. My brain just doesn’t work that way. So thank God for YouTube.

But I think that’s cool that you were able to do the hardest part first. Learning through the books is definitely more difficult, and then you were able to have confidence in what you taught yourself that you were doing it right through the videos.

Vincent: 12:00
Yes.

Brittany: 12:02
Now I want to go to knitting too, because you also knit. Did you knit first or crochet first?

Vincent: 12:12
So I crocheted first, and I would see these gorgeous patterns and think, “Oh, I want to make that.” Then I’d click the link and find out—it’s a knit pattern. And I didn’t know how to knit. So after hitting that wall a couple of times with patterns I was set on making, I decided it was time to learn to knit.

I saw this heavily cabled wrap and thought, “That’s a me-sized scarf.” I wanted to be able to go outside in the morning with the horses—because I was studying animal science in school—and mornings in Georgia are pretty icy. Not snowy, but icy. So I started learning to knit. It was tricky coming from one hook to two needles. The mechanics are just really different.

I learned continental knitting first, where you tension the yarn in your left hand, because all the videos originally used English style and I didn’t even know there was a difference. I just saw people holding the yarn in their right hand and wrapping, and I was like, “What is this sorcery?”

Brittany: 13:51
That’s funny. So did you learn through YouTube or did you go to books for that?

Vincent: 13:55
YouTube. Immediately YouTube. As soon as I started learning from YouTube, I never went back to books. The only thing I would consider “book-ish” now is maybe going to websites that have patterns or techniques. So kind of written word, but not a physical book. Just more informative.

Brittany: 14:25
Yeah, yeah. I did the same thing. I gravitated towards continental knitting first because coming from crochet, that’s what I knew. I knew how to tension the yarn in my left hand or my non-dominant hand.

Vincent: 14:37
Yes.

Brittany: 14:38
And I don’t know when the shift happened—it was pretty early on. I was watching another YouTube channel, Very Pink Knits. Her name is Stacey. I’m sure so many people have heard of her. I watched a lot of her videos and she is a flick knitter. And I thought, “Ooh, that looks really cool—I want to try that.” So I did an entire project with that style and I haven’t gone back.

It probably looks pretty weird to see me tension the yarn in my left hand with crochet, and then in my knitting videos I’m holding it with my right hand. But for me, it just feels more natural now. I try to go back and forth, though, because I know a lot of my audience are crocheters. But I’m much slower and clunkier with continental knitting now—especially the purl stitch. That one gets me. I’m super slow at purling continental.

Vincent: 15:34
Oh, wow.

Brittany: 15:37
Yeah. Also—I heard that you have horses and that you love horses. I have to geek out about that because my childhood was completely involved with horses. I started taking riding lessons when I was six or seven, and I stuck with it all the way until I was about 23. Basically until I went to college a little later than most people. Around that time, I couldn’t keep up with it anymore. I sold my horse then, and gosh—I would do anything to have him back. Right now, as we’re recording this, he would be 22 if he’s still alive. He was just the sweetest, most beautiful boy ever.

Vincent: 16:34
That’s so cool. It’s always awesome when you can connect with makers on, yes, the yarn level—but once you have connections outside of that, it’s even more exciting. It’s so cool to know you’re a horse person too!

Brittany: 17:15
Oh yeah! They’re so majestic and beautiful. If you’re listening and you’re like, what on earth are you talking about?—if you’ve ever seen any knight-style movies, you know those big, black, beautiful horses with longer hair around their feet, and the really long manes and tails? That’s a Friesian. They’re just gorgeous.

Vincent: 17:39
Yes. Perfect description.

Brittany: 17:41
My horse was an Appaloosa and he had one blue eye and one brown eye—it was so cool. I bought him as a two-year-old. He came through the barn I worked at during the summer. Let’s see… that would’ve been in 2000 (I’m aging myself a bit here). I trained him, showed him—we did it all together. He was actually the only horse that didn’t throw me off and step on me, which I think is why it was a match made in heaven.

Vincent: 18:25
Yeah.

Brittany: 18:27
His name was Brother Dunn. Or Bubba. I would do anything to have him back.

Vincent: 18:33
That’s awesome.

Brittany: 18:38
Okay, I’m going down a rabbit trail again. So at some point, your crocheting and knitting turned into more than just something to occupy your hands. These days, you’re designing and publishing your own patterns. When did that start? What did that journey look like? Let’s start shifting into how your design process works—how you go from nothing to something.

Vincent: 19:05
Yeah. So, like you said, originally I turned to knitting and crochet as a way to relax and decompress from my college studies. Chemistry and all of that were pretty heavy—lots of mental work. Making little swatches was a nice break.

Once I got the hang of it, I started making physical products like a lot of people do—stuff for markets and for my own website. Eventually, I started designing, and I published my first pattern in 2017. That was really exciting, but also really nerve-wracking. Like, will people like this? Will I get good reviews? Will anyone who isn’t related to me actually buy it?

I mean, even if it’s just your mom buying your pattern, that’s still something to be grateful for. My mom doesn’t knit or crochet yet—yet—but I’m going to teach her how to knit. I think she’s going to get it pretty quickly.

But it’s a really great feeling when other makers resonate with your work. That first pattern in 2017 was a cable knit scarf—so I didn’t have to deal with tricky stuff like garments, shaping, or sizing. It was a great entry point. And honestly, at the time, I didn’t really know anyone else who knit or crocheted, so it was just me… until I found the Instagram maker community. That’s when I realized, oh—it’s not just me!

Brittany: 21:38
That’s really cool. And honestly, that’s a great tip: starting with something simple when you’re just getting into designing.

I didn’t follow that advice with my first published pattern—it was a flower worked in the round using popcorn stitches. It felt simple to me at the time because I’d made so many, but something like a scarf, wrap, or even a shawl really can be a great place to start. You’re not dealing with shaping or sizing, which makes it a lot less overwhelming.

And you’re right—the designer and maker community is so unique. Each person’s individual style really shapes what they create. That’s why there’s such a great variety of patterns and styles out there for people to enjoy.

Vincent: 22:41
Yes.

Brittany: 22:43
So you started with that scarf because it was simple and useful—probably something you wanted for yourself. Did you stick with accessories? Or did your focus shift a bit? What kinds of things do you like to design now?

Vincent: 23:04
Yeah, I agree—it’s so cool to see everyone’s unique style. And I try to do that too—blend my own style with what I think other people will connect with.

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of bags. I love that you can use them year-round, and they’re so functional—but still beautiful. I think my aesthetic is kind of a mix of texture, cable-knit deliciousness, and tapestry crochet—all wrapped in an earthy color palette. That’s my wheelhouse right now.

I’ve also done some shawls and I’m working on some sweaters—sneak peek! But yeah, bags, shawls, and sweaters are kind of my bread and butter these days.

Brittany: 24:16
Okay, so I have to ask this because my episode with Ron brought up something I hadn’t thought about before. He’s known for really bright, colorful designs—but he said in real life, you’ll probably find him wearing a green shirt every day.

So is your design style different from your personal style, or do they kind of match?

Vincent: 25:01
I’d say it’s a little bit of both. I really love a neutral palette—grays, taupes, basics you can mix and match. You know, the kind of staples you wear often without people noticing you’re repeating.

But as a designer, I also realize how fun it is to switch up your palette. You want to appeal to different people. Some folks are all about the neutrals—others love bold, bright colors. I feel like I sit somewhere in between.

My favorite color is green, and I use it a lot. But I’ve pushed myself out of my comfort zone, too. For example, the Twilight at Calgary bag I made was in a purpley colorway. That was inspired by Chantal of Nittitude—her hair! And the blue was inspired by her husband Todd’s shirt. That color combo isn’t something I would normally gravitate toward, but it was really fun to work with. It pushed me creatively in a good way.

Brittany: 27:13
That makes a lot of sense—and I totally relate. I feel like I’m in a transition period where I’m really figuring out what I like. Maybe that’s something that happens in your 30s—you suddenly start to know who you are.

Like, the color of my office is a silvery powder-blue, and I just love it. When you pair that with a blush tone or a muted coppery orange… ah, it just makes me happy. So I find myself choosing yarn in those colors more often now.

But I still love a bright pop, and every once in a while I’ll throw in a vibrant, variegated yarn with long sweeping color changes. I feel like those big shifts help keep things interesting.

Now—I think your source of inspiration is really unique, and I want to shift in that direction. When you sit down to create something new, where do you start? You mentioned using other makers as inspiration, but what else?

Vincent: 28:50
Yeah. When I start designing, I usually begin by deciding what I want to make—is it a shawl, a bag, a sweater? I’m not really a hat person, to be honest. I used to avoid hats like the plague because they’re so personal—some people like them snug, some like them slouchy. But I’ve come around to them.

Once I’ve picked the type of project, I pull inspiration from all over. I’m a big nature kid—I love colors you find in flowers, trees, water, landscapes.

But I also love architectural details from around the world. I’ll look at the little motifs and shapes in buildings and think, how can I bring that into my designs?

Even music inspires me. I’m always listening to something—if you see me without my headphones on, you’re in for a surprise. But sometimes, it’s not even the music itself—it’s the feeling it creates. Like that peaceful, joyful moment when you’re on vacation and you wake up early to catch the sunrise, birds chirping… that mood can turn into a design idea.

So yeah, I know some designers go to stores or malls to see what’s trending, but I pull mostly from how I feel and what I see and hear around me.

Brittany: 31:31
That’s such a unique answer! I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say they were inspired by a feeling or by music. That’s really cool. Do you have any advice on how to translate a feeling into a design? Do you think that’s something anyone can do—or is it more of a personality thing?

Vincent: 31:57
I think it depends on the person. Some people just want to follow a pattern and don’t feel the urge to design—and that’s totally okay.

But I do believe everyone can design if they want to. It’s not as hard as it seems.

Take music, for example. Just looking at a piano—you’ve got long white keys and short black keys. That contrast could inspire a striped motif—short, dark lines and long, light ones. You could literally translate that into the bottom of a blanket. Like a row of sound wave-inspired lines.

It doesn’t have to be abstract or emotional. It can be a literal translation—I saw this thing, and I’m going to recreate it in yarn.

And the cool part is, it can be timeless. It doesn’t have to be seasonal like a Santa hat or holiday motif. It can be something you keep in your home year-round, something personal and beautiful.

So yeah—I think anyone can find inspiration if they know where to look.

Brittany: 34:17
I think it is. It sounds like it’s more of a perspective shift. It’s not that you can’t open your eyes or maybe you just don’t realize these things, but you’re just maybe not trained to think that way. So I think if there’s anybody who’s struggling with pulling inspiration from around them, just open your eyes a little bit more and realize that literally anything that you see, you could potentially turn, you know, turn that into something. You could, like you said, seeing the waveforms—I feel like I totally missed it on that one because as a podcaster, I see those waveforms every single week. But I never thought to put that into a project. So it’s just, I think someone needed to hear that in order for them to say, oh, yeah, I could totally do that.

Vincent: 35:11
Yeah. Good.

Brittany: 35:13
I’m excited. Yes, I think it was very helpful. So from there, what does your design process look like? Like from start to finish, you’ve got the inspiration. What do you do next?

Vincent: 35:26
Okay, so I’ve got my inspiration and we’re going to go with this like piano blanket idea. So I’ve got the inspiration. I saw the piano and I want to create something from that motif. I’ll start brainstorming the idea next. So I’ll write down as much information as I can immediately in my little design journal so that I don’t forget any parts of my example. So I’ll just draw out the rectangle really quickly and that will work. represent my blanket. I don’t have to write dimensions right now; I’ll just draw that out. Then I’ll draw lines representing the waveform waveforms on like the bottom and the top of the blanket, and then now I have like a rough sketch of the blanket. Then I’ll write down what kind of yarn do I want to use. Do I want to use like an acrylic for a baby blanket because you want like a new mom to not have to worry about spit up and other kinds of things that end up on blankets? So you can choose that. Or if you want to make this like a super luxe blanket that’s like cashmere or just like a super superwash merino that you want to like last generations as like something for someone who’s not a baby, then you can write that down.

Then after what type of yarn, I would think about like what hook size is or if you’re knitting, what needle size is because that will also impact your fabric. So think of like your yarn weights and then the combination of what hook size or needle size you’re using with that yarn weight. So if you have a larger than what is recommended hook size with hooks, that yarn weight—let’s say worsted weight—and you go up a hook size or two, that’ll give you a nice squishy fabric that has a little bit more air in between the stitches. And then that way you can envision like, do I want this a really dense fabric or do I want it like a very squishy fabric that’ll keep me warm, but it’s still like really soft next to the skin? That’s what I write down with like the hook size, the yarn, my inspiration.

Then I would start to focus on the color palette and the dimensions. There we go. The hook size. And then I would focus on the color palette and your dimensions. So if you want the blanket to be like a twin size blanket or you want it to be a throw or Afghan, or if you want it to be like a me-size blanket as a six-foot-two man—like if you want to be able to wrap yourself up in a burrito and that sort of size blanket—you can write those sorts of things down. So those are like all of the things that I do in terms of brainstorming.

Then I’ll take this rough pencil sketch and then I’ll sketch it out digitally so that I can draw my color combinations on the actual sketch. If you’ve seen any of the things that I’ve done before, like maybe my green whack-a-mole bag, it’s a color work bag. So I really want it to be able to draw out my colors on the bag so that I can see, no, actually I don’t like this as much as I thought I would like it in my head. So I would do that for the piano blanket, sketch it out with the colors. And that way you don’t buy all of this yarn and then you don’t like the colors together.

So that’s inspiration, then brainstorming, and then the sketch. I would draw my sketches on paper and digitally, but you can just draw them out on paper with colored pencils. That’s A-OK, too. I think either way, just sketching it out and planning before really helps your wallet thank you instead of wanting to fight you because you’ve bought all this yarn and now you don’t like the colors together. But then when you actually do buy the yarn, I’d swatch it because if you want your hook—if you envisioned a hook size and you start working with it and you don’t like that fabric, then you can adjust it with your swatch. And then you’re off to the races. Then you’re done. That’s what I would consider my design process from inspiration to actually starting the sample.

Brittany: 39:45
Yeah. I like that you put so much preparation into it because—yeah. And then you realize these things and you’re like, huh. Okay, so if I would have spent like an hour every day or so for a few days to plan this out beforehand, I now wouldn’t have to frog 10 hours’ worth of work because you’re talking about a blanket year. So that’s a lot of work that you’re investing, a lot of time that you’re investing. I think that’s a really good tip too as a designer because especially if you’re a maker, if you’re selling your patterns online, and you’re depending on that income, you know, time is money. Yes. So a business is there to make money. Yes. As dirty as that might sound, you know, that’s—that’s the reality of it. People need to make money to earn a living, and some of us do that with creating our designs, whether it’s a full-time income or a part-time income or something like that. So you really do have to think about the time that you’re investing into it to make sure that you are profitable because you need to be profitable.

Vincent: 41:13
Yes, very important. At the end of the day, we are all—yes, we are all makers, but we are also all business people and we need to take that side of our business into account as well. So I agree, it’s very important.

Brittany: 41:29
Yes. Well, I like that you used the example of a blanket here too because that leads me perfectly into a question that somebody had for you on Instagram. And that’s how do you not lose steam when you’re working on a big project? Like do you think it’s enjoyable the entire time or is it more realistic to say that you have to push yourself and kick yourself through that a little bit?

Vincent: 41:56
Yeah. Yeah. Well, that’s a good question. So I’ve made like a couple of huge blankets, just like the one we’re envisioning now. Like I did a Harry Potter blanket that was like crochet color work for my brother who is like almost as tall as me. So it definitely took a long time to make that. Or my like Black Panther blanket that was like little intricate details of like crosses and triangles and things like that, where it’s like repeating and it’s so small and it slows you. But I really try to make it an enjoyable experience, especially when you’re designing, when you are designing something, you have to make it enjoyable for you so that the people who work your pattern can also enjoy the make it an enjoyable experience. So I try to design things that have interesting milestones to reach—whether it’s a motif or a colorway difference, or like a difference in techniques. Like I try to make it interesting.

So like our piano blanket you’ll start off with maybe just like a little wedge at the bottom, a little wedge of maybe all black, so this is just mindless double crochets and this is just to get the blanket started and you can see how wide it is and you’re just working up like a wedge of black. Then you’ll be excited to reach the point where you’re actually doing like the thinking section of the blanket when you’re doing like a background of white and then a line of black that’s gonna be eventually turning into your piano key. But right now, as we’re working in like a printer fashion, so row by row, it’s just like a little bit of white, a little bit of black, a little bit of white, a little bit of black, a little bit of white, and so on and so forth.

So now you’ve gone from just having a double crochet background of black to now doing some fun math of just making sure you have the picture working up properly. And that’s where the fun really comes in for me. I get to see the picture come to life or the motif print up like a printer and it’s cool to just watch that and experience that part. So I really enjoyed that milestone.

And then after that little wedge of the piano keys is done, maybe in the center, you’ll switch back to just solid white for the big chunk of the blanket, but we’ll do some fun texture stitches there. And that’ll keep it fresh and you won’t think, “Okay, I’ve been working on this piano key section for two, three weeks and I don’t know if I can finish this blanket.” But then you get excited about the next section.

And then from the center I would just do everything in reverse, so you have your texture stitches in the middle, then you have your piano key focus on the math section, and then you finish off the blanket coasting downhill with a black double crochet wedge at the end. So that’s how I like to keep it interesting. Switch things up, keep milestones, keep it fun, make it interesting with color.

Even when you work with variegated yarn or hand-dyed yarn, just seeing the color stitch for stitch, seeing colors fly through your fingers is such a special experience. So I would not even discount looking at the difference in each of your stitches, not focusing on the overall picture at first, but… it can be like a stitch by stitch experience.

Brittany: 45:39
I love this tip. I think it is so great for somebody to think that way when they’re designing to have different milestones. I always sort of joke about this, but there’s so much truth to it that when you’re working on something and you start to get bored, change colors because it feels like a completely different project at that point. And those milestones are powering you through those bigger projects.

Vincent: 46:05
Yep, for sure.

Brittany: 46:06
Now, I also know that it’s really important for you personally to highlight the beauty of being yourself through your designs. And I think that is one way that we can really set ourselves apart as designers and really find what we have to offer this community. So how are you able to accomplish this? And how would you suggest somebody accomplish this for themselves in their own designs?

Vincent: 46:33
Okay, awesome. So yes, I love telling people to like appreciate who you are, highlight who you are through your designs. And for me, I think the best example of highlighting my personal style or just my personality would be maybe my, one of my yoga mat bags that I did last year. There’s this, there’s, like a gold and black bag that I’ve done that has like a lotus flower on it. And I love the colors. The colors are very me. And I feel like that’s one way to translate your personal style into your work. It’s work with colors that you enjoy because without even talking to you, someone just passing by can sort of create their own story. Yes, stereotypes. We don’t want to fall into stereotypes, but they can create their own story of who you might be based on the colors that you’re wearing in a sweater that you’ve made or the colors that you’re wearing in a bag that you’ve made. Someone can just get a story from just the colors.

So that’s one way you can translate who you are into your work. Another way that I translated myself into that specific bag was the motifs that I used. So as a little kid, I used to really, really enjoy X-Men, like the cartoon X-Men, version of X-Men. Yeah, and then I also really enjoyed—my parents took me to like Disney when I was small and we got to see Lion King like the play…

Brittany: 48:18
Oh yeah, that was my favorite movie.

Vincent: 48:20
Powerful. Oh yay!

Brittany: 48:21
I love Lion King. I still know every single word.

Vincent: 48:25
Yes.

Brittany: 48:27
But I haven’t seen the play.

Vincent: 48:28
Be Prepared was my favorite.

Brittany: 48:29
Yes.

Vincent: 48:31
I don’t know. I think the villains, like the Disney villains, had so much soul. They were just so misunderstood. But yes, that was a really powerful moment for me, seeing the play and the actors actually coming out into the audience and interacting with me. That was very powerful for me. So I combined both of those things that I enjoyed into my design by… combining like this X motif on the bottom to translate X-Men and then also have like an African mud cloth motif sort of in the body of the bag to translate sort of my connection to being an African American as well as… the love of Lion King and just the things that I saw, the fabrics, the textures, all of the colors. I translated all of that and tried to combine that into one project. And that’s how I just highlighted me as a person. Like I love the African mud cloth vibe, but it’s a yoga mat bag because we’re focusing on health and just trying to, you know, do self-care. Um, and then X-Men just having fun with enjoying yourself on a Saturday morning. So that’s how I highlighted myself. And that’s how I like to encourage other people to highlight themselves—like put things that are special to you and your design, be it like a motif or just like a texture or colors. You can get those things to translate and create a story without even having to speak to someone.

Brittany: 50:11
Yeah. Yeah. Now, I’m also curious about your experience as a man in the maker community. That’s something I don’t really get to talk about a whole lot because there seem to be a lot more women who crochet than knit, or at least that’s how it looks on the surface. I would love to have more men on the show and just hear their experience and that sort of thing. Do you think that has any influence on your designs, your inspiration and that sort of thing?

Vincent: 51:00
I would say yes, yes and no sometimes. So being a man in the maker industry is very interesting because from the outside perspective, it does look like a heavily female-dominated industry. Wow, is that the word? Using a heavily female-dominated industry. Yes, that was correct. It looks like a heavily female-dominated industry, but it’s not that men aren’t here. So it was, for me, when I first started knitting and crocheting, I too thought men didn’t just make their own things when really, in reality… if you needed to make something out of necessity, you were going to learn how to knit or learn how to crochet. So there’s always been men making things for themselves if you needed to make something. You just don’t see that as heavily promoted nowadays. And I don’t know why that is. Maybe going back to gender stereotypes and things like that. But I feel like it’s… not only is it creative, but it can also be very functional and utilitarian to be able to make something for yourself. So I don’t look at it as something that’s like girly. It’s like, this is cool. I get to express myself. I get to share my creativity with other people.

And so as a man, it’s very interesting to be able to, like I explained with my yoga mat bag, it’s cool to be able to put the things that I relate to as a six foot two black man with long locks, like put that into my creations and the creation be able to still resonate with somebody who doesn’t look like me, who doesn’t live in the same area as me, or who doesn’t have the same background as me. It’s… things that I would have to worry about in terms of making sure a lady feels comfortable with my presence. All of that discomfort or nervousness automatically goes out of the window because we can connect with yarn.

So my experience as a man has been interesting because I have to… I have to honestly always think about making sure someone feels comfortable with my presence, not necessarily my crafts or my creativity, but just my being is something that I’ve learned to navigate so that not only I feel welcome and comfortable and excited about being in the crafting space, but that you learn how to connect with other people and make them feel comfortable. So I think as a man, I felt welcome to begin with. I didn’t feel shameful about crocheting or embarrassed that I crocheted or knit, but it was more so understanding how to navigate and make other people feel safe and comfortable in your space so that you can connect on a deeper level. And it’s not anything like… I am trying to go on a date with you or like I’m trying to get your phone number. It’s literally like we’re all here to talk about yarn and have fun with that. So that’s my experience as a man in the making industry and it’s been very interesting.

Brittany: 54:44
Yeah, I appreciate the perspective. I think it’s really interesting to hear but, you know, at the end of the day crocheting and knitting, it’s an art form. And we’re all artists. We all share that. We all share our love of yarn. And I don’t think it matters if you’re male or female. If you dig yarn and that’s how you like to express yourself, the more the merrier. I really want there to be more male designers because… we need more patterns for things for men. I know for me, it’s difficult for me to design men’s things because although I can use my husband as sort of like my dress form to take measurements and that sort of thing, that’s one body type. So I feel less qualified, I guess, or less able to design practical, fitting clothes, male things, and I really do feel like there’s a shortage of male hat patterns, male sweater patterns, and that sort of thing. And I think we could really use that because I know that if there were more of those resources available to me, I would be more likely to make those things. So I love it when we have a male designer in the community.

Vincent: 56:01
Yeah, me too. I also noticed that there was, or still sort of is, a shortage of men’s patterns. So I’m very excited to try to offer those things to the maker community because in the past, I realized I actually used to modify women’s sweater patterns so that I could wear them. Yes, because I couldn’t find men’s sweater patterns that I liked. So of course there were designers that I love, like Jared Flood, I love Michelle Wang, but I didn’t feel like there were the same number of various offerings as there are for women’s patterns. So I would take a women’s sweater pattern and I would pull the motif from the sweater pattern. And then I would put it on a silhouette that is flattering to me. Like I don’t necessarily need any waist shaping or I don’t need any like shaping for darts or like bust or anything like that. Like I don’t need that. Like it’s kind of a boring tube sometimes, but like you can still create things that flatter the silhouette because I know nowadays people like that broad shoulders look and then sort of a taper from the chest to the waistline. That’s the general silhouette that you would see on most male garments. And so I would knit that shape for myself, but then pop in the motif so that I could still have my little piece of fun and join in on the excitement of the pattern, but still wear something that does not actually look like I just… bought like a lady’s sweater and put it on and they’re like, “Oh, okay, that waist shaping looks real lovely on, yes sir.”

Brittany: 58:03
Yeah, and that’s another just creative representation of how you find inspiration and turn that into something that’s useful for you.

Vincent: 58:12
Yeah.

Brittany: 58:14
Well, bringing it all together, you have given us so many good tips about where to find inspiration, how to turn that into a design in like a step-by-step fashion. I love that because I am a steps kind of gal, so you’re really speaking to my heart with that one. But out of all of the good stuff that we’ve talked about and all the tips that you’ve given, what’s your number one tip for a listener to turn an inspiration into a design?

Vincent: 58:41
Okay, that’s a great question. My number one tip for all of you listeners to turn your inspiration into a design at the end of the day is to live your life and soak in the magic of everything around you, be it the minute moments of the mundane or the soul-shaking moments that will live as cherished memories for lifetimes or generations. You can have inspiration in a puppy, a happy puppy greeting you as you come home from work, or like when you wake up, the sun shining through the leaves, or like being proposed to in a special way where you’re in the forest and on a hike and you get proposed to and you’ll remember that forever. Like you can find the magic in all of those moments and turn that into a design. So live your life and soak in the magic of everything around you.

Brittany: 59:38
I love it. I love it. That was so eloquent and I think that will really stick with us. So thank you for that, and Vincent, this has been so amazing. I really don’t want this conversation to end but I do want to give people a chance to connect with you because obviously you have a lot of really great advice to give, you’ve got a lot of good designs to share. So where is the best place for a listener to go right now to just connect with you after hearing the show?

Vincent: 1:00:06
Okay, so I’m always available to connect with and speak with via my Instagram of Vesuvius Crafts. My business is Vesuvius Crafts, even though my name is Vincent, and you can connect with me on Instagram and my website. I’ll be having, at this point, you should see sneak peeks and teasers for my upcoming fall and winter collection of pattern designs. So that’s where you can connect and join in, in my little crafty corner of the—

Brittany: 1:00:40
Love it. Your crafty corner of the internet. I will have those linked in the show notes so you don’t have to remember those or try to figure out how to spell that. I’ll have it linked in the show notes so it’s right there and ready for you.

And Vincent, thank you seriously on behalf of all of my listeners. This has been so wonderful. I’m so glad we were finally able to get this worked out. Thank you.

Vincent: 1:01:02
Yes. Thank you, too. I really appreciate it. And I feel very honored and humbled to be here with you and your audience.

Brittany: 1:01:10
All right. Once again, that was Vincent from Vesuvius Crafts. I encourage you to check him out on Instagram so you can see what he has going on and bring what he just said to life. It’s really cool to see his designs now after hearing where he gets his inspiration from. It’s like a completely different perspective for me. So again, you can find his Instagram handle: Vesuvius Crafts, but I’ll have that in the show notes as well. So you don’t have to worry about remembering that or spelling it if you’re on the go or if you’re dry, I’ll have that there for you.

The show notes are at BeHooked.com/133. Also, don’t forget to share where you get your inspiration from in the comment section of that page. Or because I’m really trying to show this community the value in Twitter and how great it is for conversations, tweet me about it. My handle is @BeHookedCrochet—that’s just the letter B. And tell me where you get your design inspiration from. I can’t wait for that. I’m challenging you to do that so that we can continue the conversation on Twitter. But of course, if you’d rather leave the comment on the show notes page, that is available to you as well.

One last thing I want to mention before I go is that this episode was brought to you by my blueprint course, Tunisian Crochet for Beginners. Tunisian crochet is one of those skills that I learned as a result of having a lot of hand and wrist fatigue but still needing to craft and create. I didn’t want to let go of my hooks or yarn. And as you heard at the beginning of this episode, me and knitting were not friends for quite a while. So I found Tunisian crochet after I started doing standard crochet but before I started knitting. And it was so much fun. It opens up a whole new world of different stitches, but it also can recreate stitches from both crochet and knitting. Did you know that? You can create crochet stitches with your Tunisian hook. You can create knit-like stitches with your Tunisian hook. And you can create something completely different. So it’s like this hybrid that takes it up a notch. It can be totally unique, but it can also do other things.

So I teamed up with Blueprint, which is formerly known as Craftsy, to bring you a completely beginner course on Tunisian crochet. So I’ll run you through everything from what hook you need to get because they are a little bit different. And I’ll walk you through your first three projects because there’s really no better way to learn than to create something as you’re learning. You’re getting that instant gratification, or nearly instant gratification, and you’re learning something in the process so you’ll be more likely to stick to it. So to find out more information on Tunisian Crochet for Beginners, just head over to behooked.com/TCFB. That’s behooked.com/TCFB for Tunisian Crochet for Beginners. And I can’t wait to be a part of your learning journey and help you with Tunisian crochet.

All right, now that’ll do for this week’s episode of the Be Hooked podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. It’s been so, so much fun. I really, really enjoyed this conversation and bringing you those interesting and different perspectives for where to find inspiration and how to translate that into your designs. Or again, if you’re not a designer, into the things that you’re already making.

So let’s not forget to thank Vincent over on Instagram for his time and his wonderful wisdom here on the show. And I will see you next week, my friend. Have a wonderful weekend. Bye for now.