Designer of the Month:
Laura Bryant

• Laura Bryant

Laura Bryant is the woman behind the astonishing and beautiful range of yarns and designs known as Prism. Bryant launched Prism in 1984, hand dyeing yarn for Tahki and within two years she developed her own line of patterns in response to retailers and knitters who wanted dedicated patterns for her for specific yarns. She was happy to oblige and has been doing so for almost 30 years with wit and enthusiasm.

Bryant is one busy person. She is hands-on at Prism. Every piece of yarn that leaves her studio has been dyed by her. She does all the writing, layout, photography, illustrations, website, not to mention the designing.The bad news for her is that it doesn’t leave as much time for knitting or weaving as she would like. "Imagine what I could do with more time!"

When did you begin designing? I had really been designing since I began knitting, as I often didn’t rely on patterns, but I began writing them down in the mid-80’s. It has been quite an education through the years. Writing patterns is not easy. Like most technical writing, the best patterns are a blueprint of exactly how to do something, but they do assume that you know how to read the blueprint, how to cut a piece of wood, nail it up, and install the electric. I value clarity and brevity, and strive for that.

What inspires you? What are you passionate about? Colour, colour, colour…and did I mention colour? I trained as an artist and I really enjoy challenging myself to use colour in unexpected ways; I am always trying for that wow factor.

I am also passionate about fit, style and clothing architecture. I bring a lot of dressmaking skills and approach to my knitwear.

Which is your customers’ favourite design? Any surprises?

Dana Matuskey’s Theme and Variation has become a favourite very quickly on Patternfish. It’s a great example of my design process.

We purchased Dana’s pattern and interpreted it with Prism yarns. We hope to give knitters confidence that they can take a great design and put their own spin on it. Just as Theme and Variation became a collaboration between me and Dana, tweaking a pattern to suit your own taste is a collaboration between the knitter and the original designer. How great is that?

A design that has surprised me the most is the Spring Swing. It one has some neat details—big lush collar, great swing and drape, and is easily adaptable to lots of different yarn types. It has been so popular we keep re-inventing it in different styles, changing gauge, texture and even adding sleeves: Collared Sweater, Color Whirl and Dahlia.

Which is your favourite design?

I’m going to sound like everyone else here, but they are all my children (since I didn’t have any) and I love them all. That being said, some have stood the test of time better than others, my Technicolor Jacket, for example, which is lush in color and very flattering in style.

Also, the Landscape Swing Jacket has unexpected color and again, flattering style.

I like the Waterfall Vest and Niagara Falls Jacket very much, too, and they are a good example of my process: I bought a commercial jacket made in this style, then pinned & draped, eliminating the long drip in front that basic rectangles will give you. Once I had the jacket fitting the way I liked, I laid it flat and took the measurements from the jacket pieces. I angled the front edge for a more flattering, tailored fit. Then it was simple to find great yarns and a slightly textured pattern stitch. I added a little lettuce-edged ruffle to finish off.

Prism Yarn Landscape Swing WEB EXCLUSIVE

Prism Yarn Waterfall Vest WEB EXCLUSIVE

Prism Yarn Niagara Falls Jacket WEB EXCLUSIVE

How would you describe the way you knit and/or crochet? I am a very unorthodox knitter: Mom taught our whole brownie troop throwing and I knit quite a bit in that style until my early teens. Then I taught myself crochet. At the time, crochet was all the rage: granny squares, jumpers, skirts, afghans—all with huge hooks and triple or quadruple strands of worsted. Crocheting was much faster, and I actually made and sold miniskirts and purses to the local boutique at age 14!

In my late teens I decided that I liked knitted fabric better, and so took up needles again. As soon as I began throwing I thought “Ugh! This is so slow, no wonder I started crocheting. Gee, why can’t I knit just like I crochet?” So I tossed the yarn into my left hand and began using the right needle as if it were a hook, teaching myself a type of Continental knitting. This resulted in stitches that present backwards, but it meant nothing to me at the time…I simply adjusted and knit into the back of the stitches. Over the years I have become very fast and I have extremely even tension, so I’m not tempted to change, but there are adjustments that have to be made, including switching ssk’s and k2tog’s.

I write patterns, however, for the accepted way, not my own.

What’s your design process? It always starts either with an idea or with the yarn and the intended purpose: every season I have to do designs for new yarns for Prism. That begins with swatching, swatching, swatching…I’m not known as the swatch queen for nothing! Often I will have been pondering a certain look or detail for a while, and will incorporate that into the mental process. For example, I have been enamored of swing shaping for quite some time as it is very flattering to so many body types, and I have some lovely yarns with great drape. In art school I learned the value of working in a series, so I often make modifications to something I have previously done, until I get it to some level of perfection. Then we can interpret it in different gauges and textures. Although I use pattern stitches, I would have to say that overall colour stories and architecture (structure and details) is of more interest to me.

I don’t feel I have to produce every design uniquely full-blown from my head. Using what is available in the market is very helpful. I often say there is a reason art and design students have to study art and design history! The couture designers are constantly mining archives for inspiration, then re-interpreting with a modern twist. I love that approach.

Where have your designs appeared? Patternfish is my exclusive on-line source for patterns, but I have published in most of the knitting magazines: Vogue, Knitter’s, Interweave Knits, Knit n Style, Creative Knitting, Love of Knitting, Cast On… and have written five books, four of them co-authored with Barry Klein. Prism self-publishes several booklets of 5-6 patterns every season and they are carried by stores who also carry Prism yarns.

Do you teach? I love teaching knitting. With my crazy knitting style, I am not a good one to teach basic knitting techniques, but I do teach colour and design courses as well as more advanced technical things like Short Rows for Graphic Design and Shaping, also lots of classes on hand dyed yarns and how to work with them successfully.

I adore teaching adults—they are there because they want to be, and are absolute sponges, which makes it very gratifying.

Which designers do you admire? Well, I don’t think anyone can love colour and not admire Kaffe Fassett—he was an early influence on me. I like Mari Lyn Patrick, Shirley Paden, Norah Gaughan, Nicki Epstein and Deborah Newton for their interesting approaches to construction and attention to detail. I love Barry Klein, who often collaborates with Fayla Reiss, for their free hand with wild and crazy texture applied to simple, wearable shapes.

Describe your perfect day. I’m a true lark—I arise early, go for a 45 minute walk with my dear husband Matt. A light breakfast and then off to the studio by 8:00, where I would love to swatch, think, sketch and listen to audio books for the work day, carving out a few hours in the weaving studio with my loom. I’m still dedicated as an artist, but there isn’t much time for art these days.

If the weather is grand, then it’s off on the boat for the day, with knitting tagging along.

Where do you think the knitting/crocheting/fibre world will be in 10 years? Having been around through the desert years of the early 80’s and watched that boom and bust, I expect we’ll keep going through them. I don’t see it ever dying out. I believe knitting and crocheting fulfill a fundamental, hard-wired need within us to create. We are tool makers—makers of things; it is a big part of what makes us human. Too much information orientation throws us on overload. Fibre related activities, with their simple but skill-requiring repetition, are rather perfect antidotes. Add to that the community/social aspects, and I think the fibre world is in safe hands.

Where do you think you and your business will be in 10 years? I don’t imagine I’ll still be hands-on dying yarn in my mid-sixties, but I do expect I’ll still be designing, maybe more than ever. Matt & I would like to do some long term cruising and other travel, and knitting is so portable I don’t think I’ll ever stop. I would like to find time to return to art-making, however, and hope in the next few years to carve out some time for the studio that isn’t Prism–centric. We are definitely staying in Florida, which is heaven on earth to us after growing up in the great white north!

How did you come to the decision to list your patterns with Patternfish? Ah, the relentless and divine Miss Julia! She was after me for quite some time for my back catalog—which still has not really been addressed. I paid attention; the site is beautifully done and professionally run. So, now every new pattern is formatted and sent off to Patternfish, along with as many good photos as we managed to take.

You will find Laura Bryant’s Prism collection here.