JENY STAIMAN

The Wild West of Knitting With Color

Yes, I am “that Jeny” from JSSBO. I love to tinker and solve problems, and I am fascinated by all the different ways that people think and learn. I challenge conventions. Not because it’s fun (although it is), but because existing knitting conventions don’t serve me well. Standard row by row instructions read to my brain like noise. I’m not dyslexic; I can comprehend the words and abbreviations just fine. But they are, for me, an obstacle to visualizing my path forward. And that makes my knitting experience much less fun.

Standards and conventions are important because they are a shared language. But their existence need not stop us from seeking other ways to do things. For me, coming up with my own formats is not a rejection of conventions, it is a form of self-advocacy. I generate and express my designs in my native visual language, the one I speak fluently. The one I dream in. To accommodate others I also provide the standard format, even though that language does not come naturally to me.

Not everyone thinks like me, and that’s ok. In fact, it’s awesome. The patterns I write are my offerings to the fiber community. They are my labors of love. My formats are not necessarily better, they are simply different. Like me. And maybe like you. ❤️