Unwind with Asa Tricosa

Today's featured teacher is Asa, the energetic designer who publishes intricate knitting designs by the name of Asa Tricosa. Asa has a passion for interesting and seamless construction and has been perfecting a specific technique to enable her (and knitters) to work seamless top down constructions. Asa will be teaching her 'Ziggurat’ Method on the afternoon of Saturday 12^th July 2014. She will also be teaching Flip Your Top Mittens on the morning of Saturday 12^th July and Sideways Shawl Design on the Sunday.

I asked Asa to answer a few questions and share some of her crafting experiences with us...

What was your first knitting project?

I was so little, I can’t remember. Wait! Apparently I crocheted a loooooong string which I confidently told my dad would become shorts for him. Several years later there was the reindeer incident freeform vest I “designed” or at least knitted, after reading some article about how one could just cast on and knit without any pattern. I wore it a lot. Despite the unfortunately placed reindeer. And wonky shaping.


What’s your favourite thing to knit?

Oh, that’s easy! Ziggurat sweaters. 

(c) Asa Tricosa

And gloves...

(c) Asa Tricosa

And shawls, lacy or with striking colours. And…

(c) Asa Tricosa

What was your most (or least) successful project?

That reindeer vest, I think… oh, and a striped sweater made from wildly varying thicknesses of yarn- I figured I could just will them into submission. I don’t think I’d even heard of gauge back then. The colours were great.

Do you have a favourite knitting tip to share?

Knit with abandon!

And then inspect your knitting every few rows, critically. Hold it up, pull on it to detect any oddities. It’s much easier to reweave a dropped stitch, an accidentally slipped stitch, or make a forgotten decrease after the fact, if it’s only a few rows down.

Do you have any other crafty hobbies?

I used to do pottery. Would love to again, but like knitting it tends to take over and leave time for nothing else. Plus it requires a bit more than just some wool and needles.

Is there anything you’d never, ever make (or technique you’ll never try)?

A knitted bedspread. A knitted blanket. Knitted home textiles give me the heebie jeebies. They just do.

Would you say you are a process or product knitter?

Yes!

I can get truly excited about figuring out a new technique or construction and to see if it can be made to work in action, but always with a finished THING in mind, a wearable, funky, fun or beautiful finished THING.

What are you working on right now?

Oh, about five things… I’m lucky my tech editors (Stephanie Boardman and Rachel Atkinson) let me tack my WIPs and ideas to their virtual refrigerator doors, and they dutifully say ‘ooh’ and ‘aaah’. I’m always dying to show everyone my latest project or idea regardless of whether anyone is dying to see it. Ravelry is good (and dangerous) that way.

A big thank you to Asa for taking the time to share some insight into her knitting world. You can find all of Asa’s designs by visiting her design page on Ravelry. Once there, you will also find her design, Simple Ziggurat, her seamless top down sweater that showcases her technique.

(c) Asa Trico