Origins

For the first few years after Kit opened Churchmouse Yarns & Teas in 2000, she would create patterns to show her customers what they could do with the yarns she carried. They were free with purchase. Eventually, the finished samples started showing up at other yarn shops who began asking if they could buy them. Kit was game to publish and resell, but she was looking for just the right photographer.

Around 2007 at TNNA, people kept telling Kit that she needed to meet Jared Flood. They told Jared that he needed to meet Kit. After two or three TNNAs, they finally met. Jared had just graduated from Columbia with and advanced degree in photography and yes, he would be pleased to shoot Kit’s new pattern collection. In 2009, Churchmouse Classics was born.

Since then, Kit and her talented team have published more than 120 patterns that are sold in nearly 500 yarn stores around the world.

As you might guess, patterns designed by people in a yarn shop are going to be pretty thorough. From experience, we have a hunch what customers will ask if it’s not expressly stated in the instructions. So we tend to go deep. We’re not always perfect -- sometimes a customer will point out something that could be taken either of two ways! But that’s more and more rare.

Early on, much to our delight, a shop owner told us how she taught a class using the Turkish Bed Socks pattern: “I hand the pattern around the table and tell students to do exactly what is says. Then I sit back and knit.”

Besides laying on the details in the instructions, Kit’s team designs classic, timeless pieces that have a modern interpretation. They create patterns people will want to knit again and again. One of our long-standing Mice, Pam, always knits things twice: “Once to figure out how, and once again for pleasure.” And then some: She’s got 10 Modern Wrappers in her sweater drawer.

to be continued - stay tuned