Hi Ravelry! I’m Vashte – and I started a company called makeone.

As for me, I’m a knitwear designer & teacher, ex-engineer, and generally good human being.

When did I start knitting? Wellll… it began in ’04 while window-shopping at The Grove. I saw a lot of cute knitted hats, though none that were exactly what I wanted - and definitely none that I could afford on an undergrad non-salary.

So, I decided that I should try to make my own to (i) have exactly what I wanted and (ii) save money. If only I knew what an expensive hobby I was about to get into…

I asked my grandma to teach me how to knit. Turns out, she hadn’t picked up her needles in years, so we sat in her living room - me on the floor - and figured it out together. It was a really sweet moment, and seriously the beginning of everything for me. From there, I proceeded to jump directly into making a lace afghan (!) and leg warmers. I wanted to be advanced INSTANTLY, and I got there - it was only a year or two before I was designing my own patterns and teaching others to knit.

However, I walked a twisty meandering path to get to knitwear design as a full-timer. I’ve been:

1. An artist. I’ve been painting, drawing, and crafting for as long as I can remember. When I’m doing those things, I am truly myself. When I’m not, I’m not so happy. Which brings us to…

2. A geek. I don’t remember a time before video games; growing up, I’m pretty sure I was an addict, but no one ever called Dr. Drew for an intervention. I spent my lunch money on comic books (sorry mom!) and fantasized about being a comic book artist - I still do, although I don’t think I could ever top Watchmen. My favorite shows are usually of the dorky animated variety. I’m pretty likely to spout random quotes from The Simpsons, Futurama, or Portal, so I apologize in advance.

3. An engineer. I love to tinker with stuff, fix things, and wrench on my car. My education is in Mechanical Engineering, and I did that for a short while. I learned a lot about mechanical design, testing, and fabrication, and I liked it OK, but I definitely didn’t love it. Also, cubicles aren’t the most inspiring of spaces.

4. A market researcher. I sort of just fell into this one – I was a focus group respondent who was hired more or less on the spot by the research company. I spent the last 5 years or so creating marketing messages, product plans, and brand strategy for video games, retail, fashion, and most recently, a large automotive company. And again, I learned a lot and liked it OK, but definitely didn’t love it. Also – again – cubicles ain’t my thang.

I recently quit my Office Space job to commit to design and teaching full-time, and I think it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. At this point,
everything I do comes from my passion to create and help others through their own creative process.

Bam. Further, makeone, I believe, is what the knitting world needs right now. Check out the manifesto here.

If you’re interested in what we’re doing, feel free to subscribe or shoot us an e-mail. We’ll hook you up with free patterns and content as often as we can without being spammy.

I look forward to meeting you!

Love,

makeone