The magic of turning an idea into reality with Clare Mountain-Manipon

Mia Hobbs:
00:00:03
Hello and welcome back to series two of the Why I
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:06
Knit podcast. My name is Dr Mia Hobbs and I'm a clinical
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:09
psychologist who's passionate about knitting and its benefits
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:12
for our mental wellbeing. Each episode I interview a different
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:16
knitter about why they knit and how it benefits their mental
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:19
health. This week on the podcast, I'm joined by Clare
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:23
Mountain-Manipon, also known as Sister Mountain. Clare is a
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:27
pattern designer who has developed her own Sweater Design
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:30
School where she is a mentor for other people embarking on their
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:34
journey as knitting pattern designers.
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:41
Hi Clare, welcome to the podcast.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:00:43
Hello! Thank you for having me.
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:46
You're very welcome. It's really nice to see you
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:47
again! Because we met... I was trying to think how many years
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:50
ago we met at the Loop Knit Night.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:00:53
I would say maybe four... five years
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:00:55
ago. It was a while ago, I think!
Mia Hobbs:
00:00:57
It was a while ago. Yeah, I think my kids were quite
Mia Hobbs:
00:01:00
small.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:01:01
I know. And now I have my own kid!
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:01:03
[Laughs]
Mia Hobbs:
00:01:03
Yes! How many months is he?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:01:06
He is nearly nine months. He'll be
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:01:08
nine months next week. He's growing at an alarming rate.
Mia Hobbs:
00:01:13
And how has he affected your ability to do any
Mia Hobbs:
00:01:15
knitting?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:01:17
I would say it is significantly reduced,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:01:20
sadly. But obviously worth it. I would say I'm lucky if I get
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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half an hour in the evening, if that. There are some days when I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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am so absolutely exhausted and all I have energy for is just to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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flop on the couch. But I do try, because I know how much it makes
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:01:41
me feel good when I knit. I do try to make time for it every
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:01:45
evening.
Mia Hobbs:
00:01:45
Yeah, okay. So I usually start with asking where
Mia Hobbs:
00:01:49
your story with knitting began. So where did yours start, Clare?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:01:53
Well, I learnt to knit when I was a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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really young child. It was kind of that typical story. My
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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grandma knits. She taught me to knit. I knit little teddy bear
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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scarves and things like that. And then there was one Christmas
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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or New Year that my family was going on a hiking holiday, and I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:02:10
was at that age where I was like, "I don't want to go on a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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hiking holiday. I'm going to go stay with my grandma." I was in
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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my early teens, probably like 13 at the time or something. And I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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went to stay with her for about a week, and she knit a jumper
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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with me. So I chose the yarn, and it was like a chunky yarn,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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and it had intarsia on the front. Now, I had absolutely no
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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idea how to do intarsia. I'm one of those knitters (I've always
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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been that type, I think) where I'm just like, "Yeah, I'll just
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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figure it out." I've never been afraid of skill levels. I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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decided to knit this intarsia jumper. It was absolutely not
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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intarsia, in that I did it completely incorrectly. I think
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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I kind of did standard colourwork in a very strange
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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fashion on there. Not even like traditional. I think I was
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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wrapping it behind every stitch. I don't even know. But either
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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way, I ended up with a jumper, and then the love affair just
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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blossomed and I was knitting every day all throughout my
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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teens. I ended up studying fashion knitwear design at
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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university and went to work in the professional knitwear
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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industry. And now I work entirely in the handknitting
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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industry, as an indie designer but also as a knitting pattern
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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design teacher. So it's been a long journey.
Mia Hobbs:
00:03:24
Yeah! And you kept going basically from when you
Mia Hobbs:
00:03:27
were 13 and you made that amazing jumper?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:03:30
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I just
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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couldn't stop once I started. So I think was about 13 when I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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knitted that jumper, and I remember even in my English
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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class, we had to do a sort of presentation about any topic of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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our choice, and I decided I was going to do a presentation about
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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knitting to all of my class members. I'm not sure entirely
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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whether they enjoyed it or not, but yeah, I just loved knitting.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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And I've knitted almost daily ever since.
Mia Hobbs:
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Can you remember what your classmates thought of you?
Mia Hobbs:
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Because I was always the only person knitting, for example,
Mia Hobbs:
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during my doctorate, but by that point I was 25 and over so I was
Mia Hobbs:
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kind of okay with it. But I don't know whether I would have
Mia Hobbs:
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had the confidence at the age of 15, for example.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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I think I was a bit of a strange kid
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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anyway. I didn't have a great time in school. I was bullied
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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quite badly. And so I think it got to the point where I was
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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just a bit like, "Meh". So I think there were some people who
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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were interested in it, and some people who just thought it was a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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little bit lame, maybe, or a bit stupid. But I don't know... I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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didn't get any more trouble than I normally would from it, to be
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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honest. And I think, as well, there were some people who I was
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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friends with who were very creative, and I think they quite
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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liked the idea that I made my own clothes, even if it was
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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maybe through a format... I think perhaps if I was like
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:05:00
really into sewing, maybe it would have been a bit cooler in
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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their eyes. I think just generally, the fact that I could
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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make my own clothes was considered quite interesting to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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those people who were creative.
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:12
And I'm interested in the idea that the first thing
Mia Hobbs:
00:05:14
you made was an intarsia jumper, which is quite high-level!
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:05:19
Yeah! I quite like this for other
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:05:26
knitters as well. It depends on your personality type, but when
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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you're learning to knit it can be very tempting to just do a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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very plain scarf, because it's just simple. You don't have to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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deal with any shaping. But people often get bored because
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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they don't necessarily love how it looks. It's quite a long
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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project. I suppose a jumper is as well, but I really loved how
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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it looked. So that was kind of the motivation for me, that I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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really wanted to wear it and therefore I was going to do
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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whatever it took to do the project, not necessarily
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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expertly! [Laughs] It was definitely a bit rough around
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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the edges, but I was so proud of it and I wore it a ton. I think
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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that can be a really lovely way to approach knitting, in a way,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:06:11
choosing what you want to wear and then learning the skills
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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involved to do it.
Mia Hobbs:
00:06:17
Yeah, I think your motivation will be greater,
Mia Hobbs:
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won't it?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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Yeah, exactly.
Mia Hobbs:
00:06:21
I think a lot of people give up because they
Mia Hobbs:
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start knitting a scarf, and actually a scarf is just too
Mia Hobbs:
00:06:25
big. I would struggle to knit a whole scarf because I'd lose my
Mia Hobbs:
00:06:29
mojo halfway through. It'd have to be a really interesting scarf
Mia Hobbs:
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for me.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:06:34
There's no differing instructions to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:06:35
keep you going. It's all just "Do the same thing for a..."
Mia Hobbs:
00:06:38
Or a milestone, like a sleeve separation or
Mia Hobbs:
00:06:42
something.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:06:42
Yeah, exactly. I kind of need those
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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milestones to keep me, you know, "Just one more row, just one
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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more row."
Mia Hobbs:
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Yeah, and I think sometimes, I've certainly heard
Mia Hobbs:
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about and I think this is true for me, that people at the
Mia Hobbs:
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beginning, because they didn't quite know the scale of the
Mia Hobbs:
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challenge they were taking on, just kind of thought, "Oh, yeah,
Mia Hobbs:
00:07:01
I'll do that" where they needed something without a pattern.
Mia Hobbs:
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That's something I've heard about. Or knitted quite a
Mia Hobbs:
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challenging pattern because they didn't quite realise how
Mia Hobbs:
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challenging it was, and maybe now as a more experienced
Mia Hobbs:
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knitter wouldn't dive in, in the same way, which in a way is a
Mia Hobbs:
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shame!
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:07:15
Yeah, I completely agree. I think you're
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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totally right. Often as a beginner, you don't necessarily
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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realise quite how complex things can be. I was doing loads of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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cables and fully charted lace stuff, just because I didn't
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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realise that it was considered complex. And as well, this was
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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before Ravelry, even. I think Ravelry was like 2007. This was,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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you know, years before Ravelry, so I'd had nothing to compare it
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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to. I didn't know any knitters other than my Nana who was a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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great knitter and she didn't ever discourage me from doing
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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things that were complex.
Mia Hobbs:
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Yeah, she must have done a good job by saying,
Mia Hobbs:
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"Yeah, go for it with your intarsia sweater!"
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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Yeah, it's so funny to think about
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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really, in hindsight. She never made me feel like it wasn't
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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doable. I just sat on the couch with her and knitted! [Laughs].
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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It was lovely. Yeah, very nice.
Mia Hobbs:
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So that was a good choice to miss that hiking
Mia Hobbs:
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holiday, as it turns out!
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:08:13
It totally was! I mean, even to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:08:15
this day, I think I'd rather sit in a cosy pub and knit than go
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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on a hike. Is that bad?
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:21
No. It's fine. You found your zone. [Laughs] I
Mia Hobbs:
00:08:29
suppose I'm interested in why you knit now and how you feel it
Mia Hobbs:
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benefits your mental well being.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:08:35
Okay, so I think the primary reason why I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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knit in general is I love clothes. I love having an idea
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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of what I want to wear and coming up with an outfit. And
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:08:52
then also, I'm very particular about what I like to wear, hence
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:08:59
why I like making my own clothes because you have so much more
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:09:01
control over the materials that you use, the colours, the shape,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:09:07
all of that. And I think design obviously plays into that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:09:11
because I do get so much control over it. But I get a lot of joy,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:09:14
I suppose, from expressing myself through clothes. And even
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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looking back to when I was in my late teens, I remember that when
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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I finished school I moved on to college, and like I said, school
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:09:25
was not a great chapter for me. But moving on to college, I felt
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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like it was a fresh start, and I remember when I went there I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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felt like I could dress however I wanted because I didn't feel
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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like I had to fit into this idea of what the people at school
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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thought about me. I could just be this new person. I could
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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dress the way I wanted. And even to this day, it feels good to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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express myself through clothing. I definitely am a product
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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knitter as well as a process knitter. Even simply the process
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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of knitting is just so satisfying to me. I think I can
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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be a bit of an anxious person and worry about, like, "Am I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:10:06
doing enough?", feeling like I've got this endless to do list
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:10:10
and feeling like I never quite feel finished or never feel like
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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I'm making progress. And with knitting, you can knit and you
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:10:20
can see your progress. You're spending time and you get
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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something out of it. Even with long projects, you still see
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
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that you're making progress all the time, and for me that's just
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:10:31
a lovely feeling. It's reassuring, in a way.
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:35
So in a way, it isn't so much about the action. It's
Mia Hobbs:
00:10:41
about the feeling of, like, "This is a tangible, visible way
Mia Hobbs:
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of seeing what I did today, or in the last half an hour."
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:10:50
Yeah, I think that's exactly it. I love
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:10:53
the process of knitting anyway. I really enjoy making things.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:10:57
There's something lovely about having an idea, grabbing the
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:11:00
yarn, and then being able to knit it and create something
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:11:05
beautiful. I have always been into things that are kind of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:11:12
repetitive, meditative. I don't mind, for example, folding
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:11:19
clothes, just having a pile of stuff and just sitting there and
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:11:21
folding it. I kind of like the rhythm of something repetitive
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:11:25
like that. And I think knitting plays into that. I really am
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:11:29
quite happy to do these repetitive tasks. I find it
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:11:32
quite calming. But no, I think for me the primary joy that I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:11:36
get out of it, and the primary way that it helps, perhaps, with
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:11:39
my mental health, is just seeing this tangible example of what
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:11:44
I'm able to do.
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:46
So the sense of achievement of having made it
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:49
yourself, and also a demonstration of "This happened
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:52
today". And it sounds like the self-expression thing is also
Mia Hobbs:
00:11:56
important with the finished object, that it's wearable.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:12:00
Yeah, that's exactly it. I've tried
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:12:03
knitting other things. I like making things maybe for the
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:12:08
home, or I've tried doing socks, and I like the practical side of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:12:13
it, but I must admit I'm really drawn to sweaters and jumpers
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:12:17
because I feel like it's a greater canvas to fit my taste
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:12:25
and my personal style into.
Mia Hobbs:
00:12:30
Is that different to it being art, like a wearable
Mia Hobbs:
00:12:34
art? Is it more about you showing "This is who I am" or is
Mia Hobbs:
00:12:39
it both, maybe?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:12:41
I think my pieces never feel like
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:12:43
wearable art to me, because I suppose I tend to err on the
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:12:48
side of practicality as well as something being beautiful. And
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:12:52
sometimes it doesn't feel practical to me if it's too
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:12:57
elaborate, or a lot of design details in there. It can be very
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:02
beautiful, but it doesn't feel like me because it doesn't feel
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:05
functional in my daily life. I'm trying to think of how I'd
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:14
describe it... I am very much into that kind of functional,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:17
beautiful knit, and so I suppose it is more just who I am. It's
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:24
about who I am. And so it may even look quite mundane to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:30
someone else, but for me it's something that I've put a lot of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:33
intention into, and thought about how do I want it to look
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:37
on me, how do I want it to feel, how comfortable do I want it to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:42
be. I'm not someone who enjoys wearing form-fitting stuff. I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:46
don't like feeling restricted when I'm moving around. I like
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:48
kind of oversized billowy stuff. And so that's the kind of thing
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:13:54
that I would knit because it feels like me.
Mia Hobbs:
00:13:57
Yeah. So it is very much self-expression.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:00
Yeah.
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:01
And you must get an even enhanced layer of that,
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:04
being a designer, and not just a knitter where you're looking at
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:06
other people's patterns and that's the pool you get to
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:10
choose from to knit.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:11
Yeah, it's just wonderful because
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:14
you're thinking about every element of the design. And I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:19
must admit, I do tend to design with myself in mind. There are
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:22
occasions where I'll design to a brief, like for a publication,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:26
and I'll design something that I wouldn't necessarily wear but I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:29
do like. A lot of the time I am thinking about what I want for
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:34
my own wardrobe. It's just lovely having control over all
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:40
of those different elements, your likes and dislikes, where
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:43
you want it to fit. Even selfishly, I'm thinking about my
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:47
wardrobe, you know. Yeah, it's so lovely to be able to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:52
essentially dream up whatever I want/desire and be able to turn
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:14:57
it into a reality.
Mia Hobbs:
00:14:58
And how much of it is to do with things like the
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:00
materials or, for example, things like colour or texture?
Mia Hobbs:
00:15:04
Does that fit into that process?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:06
Yes. So in terms of texture and colour,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:11
yes, they totally play a part, but I tend to find that most of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:14
the time my primary inspiration tends to come from silhouette,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:18
the shape of the garment, but also design detail. So for
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:21
example, if you've ever bought something ready-to-wear, and you
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:25
see something that maybe not everyone would see when you're
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:29
wearing it, like a beautiful lining or a cuff or trim detail,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:34
those are the things that really inspire me when I'm designing.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:37
I'm just looking at my design board now and I can see I've got
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:42
very simple silhouettes for most of them, but every single one of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:46
them have got maybe two to three smaller design details in there
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:50
that are very unexpected and just feel elegant and
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:15:58
intentional. Sometimes I think as a designer it can be very
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:01
tempting to maybe select an all-over stitch and then pop it
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:06
on a classic silhouette, and then maybe use a 2x2 rib trim,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:11
because you want to use that particular stitch, maybe you
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:14
have a yarn in mind. For me, I like to approach it slightly
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:18
differently and think about every single little element. And
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:21
sometimes that means that I don't use a very busy stitch on
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:27
the garment, because I want to focus on other things. Or if I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:30
were to use a busy stitch, then I would choose a more simple
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:32
option. But I do find that it is the shape of the garment and the
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:38
design details that really get me excited, and then the texture
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:41
and the colour tend to come in afterwards, and I think about
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:44
"Okay, what texture of yarn or colour of yarn can I use that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:49
will bring out the beauty in these primary elements that I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:16:52
want to emphasise?"
Mia Hobbs:
00:16:53
Okay, so the joy is in the details and the little
Mia Hobbs:
00:16:57
surprises, and that's the bit that makes your heart sing.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:03
Yeah. Honestly, I could talk about it
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:05
for ages. I teach a pullover design course and I often talk
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:12
about this with my students. And I think it really plays back
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:14
into the work that I did as a swatch designer when I worked in
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:18
the commercial knitwear industry. We would be coming up
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:22
with new designs every day, and knitting up little prototypes of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:25
them, and my boss would always talk about how... you know,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:28
choose maybe two to three design elements and focus on those, on
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:32
making them really beautiful, rather than trying to chuck
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:35
everything at this one design. And I think the way that I've
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:41
always interpreted that is it might even be that you put a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:45
functional element in your design, such as shaping, that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:48
has to be there, and so you might as well make that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:50
beautiful and turn it into a feature that you can then kind
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:17:55
of celebrate as opposed to hide away.
Mia Hobbs:
00:17:58
To me that sounds like that's harder to achieve as
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:02
a designer than, for example, putting a stitch pattern or a
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:08
colourwork motif all over something, and then using a more
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:11
standard design where the shaping... I guess you can use a
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:15
book that can tell you the maths. But turning the shaping
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:20
into a particular design feature probably is harder.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:18:23
Yeah, it can be harder but it's very
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:18:26
satisfying at the end. And I tend to find, as well, that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:18:29
people who've gone through the process of really thinking
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:18:32
through every single element of their design, rather than just
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:18:35
prioritising maybe the stitch or the pattern and then putting it
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:18:38
on almost like a template, there tends to be more satisfaction
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:18:44
with the design because they really have chosen everything
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:18:46
rather than going into automatic pilot and just choosing their
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:18:49
defaults.
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:51
That's amazing. In terms of you as a knitter, it
Mia Hobbs:
00:18:57
sounds like a lot of your design process is about the end product
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:00
rather than the process of knitting it. How about you as a
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:04
knitter? Are there particular things you gravitate towards? Do
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:08
you prefer the more rhythmical stitch patterns that are more
Mia Hobbs:
00:19:15
simple (if that's not a rude term to use)?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:19:17
No, that is absolutely what I gravitate
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:19:20
towards. I love a beautiful-feeling yarn. I am
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:19:27
very tactile. I love working with patterns where I get to use
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:19:32
a lovely yarn. I'm not too worried about patterns and
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:19:38
variegated yarns, that kind of thing. It's not necessarily my
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:19:41
vibe. But a really beautiful texture yarn or something in a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:19:46
really special colour, I'm totally drawn to that. And then
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:19:49
in terms of the actual stitch patterns, I'm much more of a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:19:53
knit-purl kind of texture person. I do enjoy knitting
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:19:59
cables but it's not my favourite. I really am very
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:20:02
basic. I can do colourwork, I can do cables, but I've realised
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:20:08
that what I enjoy knitting the most, what I find most relaxing,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:20:11
and in the end what I find more wearable at the end, is the
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:20:15
simple stuff.
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:16
Yeah. That's good that they all match together
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:18
though. It'd be tricky if you were someone who wanted to spend
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:21
time knitting colourwork, but actually it wasn't what you
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:24
wanted to wear.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:20:25
Yeah, that's so true.
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:28
And I think the main thing is that we all figure out
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:30
what we need, isn't it? I was writing something about how do
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:34
you make knitting more therapeutic for you, and I think
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:37
that's the ideal thing, isn't it? That you find that those
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:40
rhythmical stitch patterns of knits and purls, that's what
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:44
floats your boat and you do that. And maybe I need some
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:47
colourwork to engage my brain to stop it freelancing and thinking
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:51
about other things. But it's perfect that knitting can give
Mia Hobbs:
00:20:54
both of us those things, even though they're different.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:20:56
Yeah, that's absolutely the beauty of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:20:59
knitting is there are so many routes you can take it, so many
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:21:04
options. You can go super, super complex and really just
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:21:08
intricate stuff that is, to be honest, very fun to knit
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:21:12
actually, if you're in the right mood. And for some people that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:21:16
is their thing. They love doing that. Or you can spend still get
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:21:21
hours of enjoyment from knitting a stockinette sweater. It can
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:21:26
still be equally as enjoyable and therapeutic.
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:30
Yeah, and I think a lot of people I've talked to and
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:33
certainly something I found for myself is I need a number of
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:35
projects on the go. I do need a complicated one, I think, for my
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:39
brain, and also actually because I think if I knit something very
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:44
easy, I can knit too quickly and get pain, like RSI. I think I
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:49
need something that slows me down so that I can engage my
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:53
brain in it but not hurt my shoulder. basically. But I also
Mia Hobbs:
00:21:58
need (like for yesterday supervising two children
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:02
homeschooling!) a plain sock on the go, so that I can see I may
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:06
not have had access to my laptop or ticked anything off my to do
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:08
list, but I did knit an inch of a sock. A mitten, actually, it
Mia Hobbs:
00:22:13
was.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:14
Exactly. I think that's so true. I never
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:17
used to be someone who had multiple projects on the go. I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:22
think possibly budget reasons as well, like I'd buy a yarn, I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:26
would knit the project intended for that yarn, and then once I'd
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:29
finished that project, I'd buy a new yarn, new project. Now, as
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:33
an adult, I have a bit more expendable income and I'm able
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:37
to have maybe two/three projects on the go. I do find though
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:41
that, interestingly, I tend to favour one project, and the
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:45
other two tend to be at the bottom of the pile and I really
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:49
almost have to force myself to work on them. So I wonder if I'm
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:53
possibly a monogamous knitter that is attempting to branch out
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:22:59
into having multiple projects on the go. But yeah, I do like that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:04
single-tasking thing because, again, perhaps it's the sign of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:07
progress for me. Sometimes I feel like when I'm working on so
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:09
many things at once, I don't get as much done on a single
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:12
project. I have to wait longer for the final result.
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:15
It dilutes it, doesn't it, I suppose.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:16
Yeah, exactly. So I wonder if that's
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:17
maybe why, actually, thinking about it.
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:20
Are there times your work forces you into polygamy
Mia Hobbs:
00:23:23
with a knitting project?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:25
Yeah. [Laughs] Totally. Yeah, I'll
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:27
have multiple things on the go, and then normally I'll have
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:30
maybe a personal project as well, and then now with Nico I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:34
tend to have a little something on the go for him as well. I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:40
think I do find it more relaxing, actually, to just have
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:43
a single thing. I think I'm like that in daily life. I like just
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:46
doing one single thing. I'm not a big fan of multi-tasking. I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:49
feel a bit overwhelmed by it. And there is a bit of that that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:52
can creep in if I have too many things in my knitting basket. I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:23:57
do like having a bit more focus.
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:00
Do you think you've learnt more about what you need
Mia Hobbs:
00:24:02
as a knitter over time, and how you work best?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:07
Yeah, I definitely do. Probably in the
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:11
last five years, I would say, I've really started being very,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:18
very... what's the word... I think through my... I'd be more
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:22
impulsive in the past about what I was going to knit. So I'd be
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:26
more impulsive with yarn purchasing, but also with
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:29
projects that I was casting on. I'd always find a project that I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:31
liked and a yarn that I liked and cast on, which sounds
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:36
fantastic, right? But my experience is that sometimes
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:40
with the end project, I feel disappointed because it's maybe
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:43
not something that I'm going to regularly use. I'm not going to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:46
wear it as much. And I've realised that for myself, I need
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:51
to consider all of that. And so it's really only in the last
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:54
five years that I've kind of discovered that about myself,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:24:58
and I find that these days I have much less situations where
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:25:02
I knitted something and I realised, "Oh, this isn't quite
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:25:06
what I wanted it to be." In the past, there'd be a few more
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:25:10
where I'd knit a sweater and I'm like, "Oh, I like it, but it's
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:25:12
not..." I don't use it very often.
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:15
So it's more intentional now.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:25:17
Yeah, it's more intentional now for
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:25:19
sure.
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:23
I was just going to ask about colour - about whether
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:27
colour makes a difference in terms of... it sounds like
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:30
you're very much a tactile, texture person in terms of the
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:35
knitting feeling. I don't know if that's a comfort thing?
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:38
That's probably my word, not yours.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:25:40
I think it could be a comfort thing,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:25:42
yeah. When I'm saying it has to feel great, I don't necessarily
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:25:48
mean that it has to be soft as well. I really love a woolly one
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:25:52
as well.
Mia Hobbs:
00:25:53
But it's a texture experience for you?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:25:57
A texture experience, yeah.
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:00
And how about the colour? Does it matter what
Mia Hobbs:
00:26:01
colour you're knitting with?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:02
Yes. I have... I call it my internal
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:06
colour palette, because I find that I'm drawn to the same
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:09
colours all the time. I went through a stage... So the time I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:13
was talking about when I was in college, and I was exploring
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:16
what I wanted to wear, was very colourful and I really enjoyed
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:20
playing with colour. And then when I went to fashion school, I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:24
actually found that I pushed that down because I wanted to be
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:29
cool [laughs] and I wanted to wear black like all the other
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:31
fashion students. And I think I didn't allow myself to have fun
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:36
with colour in the way that I should have at the time. And so
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:40
it took a little bit of undoing after fashion school, and
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:43
leaving the commercial knitwear industry, because again you do
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:48
feel maybe that peer pressure to look a certain way or wear what
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:26:55
is considered fashionable. Now, I've tapped into what colours I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:01
really enjoy wearing. I'm just drawn to them. I can literally
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:11
just like picture them in front of me, the colours I'm drawn to.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:14
And I suppose I don't tend to veer away from them too much,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:19
because there are times when I've done that: I like a colour,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:22
but then I find that I don't tend to wear it. So I think
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:27
colour for me is something I love playing with. I love
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:31
exploring it in the home. I love exploring it in art, things like
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:35
that. When it comes to my knitwear, whether I'm designing
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:40
or whether I'm knitting for myself, it's a bit more boxed in
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:45
just because I suppose I'm thinking about that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:47
functionality myself. And also, when you're designing, colour is
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:52
a little bit limited by photography as well. You can't
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:54
go too dark, because it could be hard to photograph the details
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:27:58
and things like that, so it can be a bit more limited. But no,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:00
certainly with knitwear, I get excited by it but it's within
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:06
limits, to a certain extent. It's within these boundaries of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:10
my mind where I'm like, "Okay, this has got to be functional
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:12
too. How's it going to fit a certain wardrobe?"
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:14
And how would you describe your kind of comfort
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:16
palette, your internal palette?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:18
It is neutrals with pops of more
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:22
earthy pinks and clays and turquoise and olives, that kind
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:28
of things. I've got plenty of navy and camel and grey,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:34
charcoal, cream, that kind of thing, in my wardrobe. But in
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:37
terms of pops of colour, they tend to be more accents, and it
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:41
will be blush pinks, clays, turquoises, olives, that kind of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:47
thing. It feels feminine but quite natural.
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:52
And it sounds like it feels like it's not a fashion
Mia Hobbs:
00:28:55
school hangover. It's you.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:28:57
No. It feels very true to myself. And
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:01
what's really interesting is now, Nico is nonverbal at the
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:06
moment, and I must admit I find myself buying him clothes in my
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:11
internal colour palette because it's just what I'm drawn to. But
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:16
it's hilarious because often we'll go out and people will
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:18
say, "Oh, you're matching today!" I really have such a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:21
formed colour palette.
Mia Hobbs:
00:29:25
I wondered whether you're knitting for Nico,
Mia Hobbs:
00:29:27
actually thinking, "Oh, I'm going to knit in a bright yellow
Mia Hobbs:
00:29:30
because it's not for me and it's different and it's fun." But it
Mia Hobbs:
00:29:36
sounds like he's been assimilated into your palette
Mia Hobbs:
00:29:38
currently.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:38
I know, he has. It's quite bad. [Laughs]
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:40
I do have certain colours though that I knit for him that I love,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:44
that don't look good on me. I'm very, very pale. Mustard yellow
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:48
is not the best colour on me. It can make me look a bit sallow.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:51
But I really love mustard yellow and he looks amazing in it, so I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:54
do knit things or buy him things in mustard yellow because he
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:29:57
just looks great in it. But I put him in loads of pinks and
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:00
people are just like, "Oh, it's a girl!" But I'm a strong
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:04
believer that colour is colour, and anyone can wear colour. And
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:09
yeah, he does tend to wear my internal colour palette.
Mia Hobbs:
00:30:12
I'd love for you to tell me about a significant
Mia Hobbs:
00:30:15
knitting project, Clare, if you've got one in mind.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:18
A significant knitting project...
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:20
I suppose it would be a design project that I did knit, and I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:29
believe it was my first published project. And it was on
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:34
the cover of Laine Magazine. It was years ago, I think 2017. It
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:39
was one of the early issues. And I remember the magazine coming
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:44
out and I thought, "Oh, I'd like to design something in this
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:46
style." It felt quite connected to my own personal style. I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:52
designed in The Fibre Co's Road to China Light. It's actually a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:30:57
yarn that I picked up just a sample of, to knit my sister
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:01
something, not that long beforehand at a little Christmas
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:05
market. And I thought it was a beautiful yarn. And when I came
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:09
up with this design idea (it's a drop shoulder sweater) it had
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:12
this kind of gridded lace pattern that went up the side
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:15
panels of the sweater and then kind of draped over the
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:17
shoulder. I just wanted something really light but cosy
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:22
to knit it in, that would have good drape, because it had a bit
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:24
of positive ease in there, and I'd had a feeling that this Road
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:27
to China Light would be beautiful for it. And yeah, I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:31
was just shocked, to be honest, that they would even include me
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:34
in the magazine as a new designer, but also the fact that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:38
it was eventually on the cover, which just blew my mind. And I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:41
can remember calling my sister saying, "You won't believe
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:45
this!" You know, I never would have imagined it because I still
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:49
felt very new in the handknitting industry. Yes, I've
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:52
got this experience working in the commercial industry, but
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:31:57
no-one knew me. I'm still not a fully-fledged established
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:01
designer in the way that a lot of designers are. But to me that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:05
just felt like a huge milestone, and it made me think, "Maybe I
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:09
can do this. Maybe I can design things that people will want to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:13
knit."
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:14
Did that change things for you, that kind of
Mia Hobbs:
00:32:17
belief? Or did being on the cover open doors?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:19
I think I started taking myself more
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:20
seriously. I think I gave myself a bit more trust that I was
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:29
capable. In terms of whether other people maybe took me more
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:33
seriously, a little bit of that maybe as well. I did get
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:37
published again by other people, and maybe they saw that as a bit
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:42
of proof that I could do it. But I think the biggest thing that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:47
changed really, from having knitted that... and it was a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:50
lovely knitting experience, and I went on to work for the Fibre
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:54
Co as well. So in a way, even just yarn choice was so
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:32:57
significant. They were a lovely company. I no longer work for
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:00
them, but they were a lovely company to work for and a really
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:03
important part of who I am now, as a person working in the
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:09
knitting industry. It just felt significant on a lot of
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:14
different levels. I still have that sample under my bed. It's
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:18
one of those kind of sweaters that I'll often pull out if I go
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:20
to a knitting festival or something, because I have a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:24
happy feeling related to it.
Mia Hobbs:
00:33:26
So it sounds like that design was really important
Mia Hobbs:
00:33:29
for you in terms of your mindset as well.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:33
Yeah, 100%. It created self-belief,
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:36
really. In the beginning, I was very much figuring out things as
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:41
I went along and feeling an amateur, in a way. Even though
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:46
it's funny because obviously I had a lot of training. I'm
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:49
trained as a knitwear designer, I've done pattern cutting, I can
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:52
work with machine-knitting, handknitting. I have this
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:33:55
history of skills that I've learnt over the years, not to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:00
mention the hand-knitting that I'd done for years and years
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:04
beforehand. But I still went into it very much feeling unsure
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:11
of myself and my capabilities. And I think for me, being able
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:15
to go through that process... and it really was so different
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:19
to anything I'd done before, because I'd only ever
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:21
self-published previous to that, and I wasn't working to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:24
deadlines in the same way. I wasn't working within someone
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:27
else's process. I had my own ways of doing things that I had
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:31
to adapt. But having come out of it, I realised that I was more
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:35
than capable of doing it, and it gave me that self belief to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:38
continue.
Mia Hobbs:
00:34:40
And now you have your own design school where you're
Mia Hobbs:
00:34:43
teaching other people to design?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:45
Yeah, I do. So I have a school called
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:50
Sweater Design School. In the past, it's opened up once a
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:54
year; now I'm doing it twice a year, now that Nico is in
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:34:59
part-time childcare, so I have a bit more bandwidth to offer to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:02
it. I teach beginner designers how to design their first
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:07
pullover. And I suppose for me, it echoes back to that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:12
experience with that pullover that I designed for Laine. It
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:15
was that thing of learning that I'm capable, and that confidence
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:18
that comes from having done it and gone through the process.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:21
What I find with my students is that that first jumper that they
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:25
design, there's so much umming and ahhing, feeling uncertain.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:32
It's a very complex process, especially when you're grading
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:35
into multiple sizes. There can be a lot of anxiety around
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:38
whether you're going to be able to achieve it. But once they
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:42
come through the end, and they get to the end of the process
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:45
and they've got that final pattern designed, there's so
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:48
much confidence that comes from it. And then they go on to do
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:50
another one and another one, and it just builds confidence more
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:35:53
and more as they go through it. So I absolutely love doing that
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:00
with them.
Mia Hobbs:
00:36:00
So it sounds like you get a lot of joy from taking
Mia Hobbs:
00:36:02
other people through that process, that you remember was
Mia Hobbs:
00:36:05
pivotal for you.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:06
Yeah. It's so exciting because I'm
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:09
there with them from the very beginning. So we are coming up
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:13
with mood boards, then turning them into sketches, and then
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:16
swatches, and grading it out in a spreadsheet, so you really do
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:20
see every part of the process and you can see your students
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:24
transform this early idea into a fully fledged garment that they
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:29
publish, and then other people knit it! It's such a rewarding
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:36
experience, not only for the student, but also for me to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:38
observe it. I feel so delighted for them, because I know how
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:41
proud they must feel.
Mia Hobbs:
00:36:42
Yeah. I don't think you mentioned the name of your
Mia Hobbs:
00:36:46
pullover.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:47
Oh! The name of my pullover is the Hay
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:50
sweater.
Mia Hobbs:
00:36:51
Hay sweater. Oh yeah, I do remember seeing it on the
Mia Hobbs:
00:36:54
front cover, because I think that was around the time we met
Mia Hobbs:
00:36:57
each other.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:36:57
Yes, I think it probably was.
Mia Hobbs:
00:36:59
But I'll obviously put a link to it in the show
notes. I always end by asking:
Speaker:
00:37:01
what's the greatest gift that
notes. I always end by asking:
Speaker:
00:37:06
knitting has given you for the rest of your life?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:37:09
Oh my goodness. I would say the
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:37:11
greatest gift that it has given me is that feeling of being able
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:37:18
to turn my ideas into reality. That is the most wonderful
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:37:24
thing. I love being able to dream something up and then
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:37:27
execute on it. And it's this tangible thing.
Mia Hobbs:
00:37:32
So there's a certain magic in that process from idea
Mia Hobbs:
00:37:35
to a creation.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:37:36
Magical. Yeah.
Mia Hobbs:
00:37:39
That's amazing! That's a really interesting and
Mia Hobbs:
00:37:41
different answer than I've heard before. Thank you so much for
Mia Hobbs:
00:37:47
joining me on the podcast. It's been an absolute pleasure to
Mia Hobbs:
00:37:50
hear about all your ideas. And I think you're the first designer
Mia Hobbs:
00:37:54
actually, so it's really interesting to hear your
Mia Hobbs:
00:37:57
designer perspective.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:37:58
Wonderful!
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:03
If people want to find out more about you and your
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:05
sweater school, how would they do that?
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:38:08
So all they need to do is head to
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:38:10
www.sistermountain.com and there you'll find my blog. I update it
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:38:14
regularly with tips on knitting pattern design and resources.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:38:19
And also there is a section all about Sweater Design School. So
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:38:22
if you are interested in hearing more about it when it opens up
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:38:25
again, which should be sort of late August time, then you can
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:38:29
sign up to be notified in that area.
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:32
Super. Clare, thank you so much.
Clare Mountain-Manipon:
00:38:35
That was wonderful! Thank you.
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:42
Thank you so much for listening to the Why I Knit
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:44
podcast. If you'd like to find out more about therapeutic
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:46
knitting, you can follow me on Instagram @knittingistherapeutic
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:50
or at my website www.therapeuticknitting.org. If
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:53
you're enjoying the podcast, I would really appreciate it if
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:56
you could leave a rating and a review on your podcast app. This
Mia Hobbs:
00:38:59
will help grow the podcast and let more people know about the
Mia Hobbs:
00:39:02
therapeutic benefits of knitting. And don't forget to