My name is Val Pierce and my  passion for knitting and crochet began as a little girl when I used to sit and watch my mother busy clicking away. At age five my Dad sat and patiently taught me to knit and from that day on I don’t think a day has passed without me doing some kind of needle work.

As I only had pocket money to use for yarns at that time I used to go to the local yarn store and have them put aside sufficient wool for me to complete the garment I had on the go. I used to knit away till it had all gone then wait and wait till I could afford to go and buy some more !!!

Later on I began doing home knitting for yarn manufacturers, making test garments and checking their patterns for mistakes.  The pay was quite poor but I did get to use all the latest yarns at no cost to myself.  I taught myself to crochet, and after many disasters and problems I perfected the craft. In fact the very first garment I ever made was for a yarn company!!  It HAD to be correct, no mistakes and perfect tension. I love a challenge and will not be beaten by any project. 

I progressed to making many projects,both large and small, evening dresses, fine baby shawls and complicated fairisle sweaters and cardigans knitted from hand spun and hand dyed yarns.

After some years I began to wonder if I could actually design my own garments and found that it wasn’t that difficult after all.

I approached a National Knitting Magazine and asked if they would like to see some of my work, they agreed and began to commission me to design projects for them.

It was a dream come true indeed, here I was, just ordinary me, with my designs sitting on the page next to big time designers!  But, everyone has to start somewhere and there is a lovely saying, “from little acorns, mighty oaks grow“ !   Three years on I now am regularly asked to submit sketches and swatches for designs that are published in no less than three national knitting and crochet magazines.

People tend to think that a huge amount of money is paid to designers, it certainly isn’t small, but when you take into consideration the hours of work, thought, sketching, trying out yarns and writing patterns that actually go into taking a project from paper to an actual garment its not the most highly paid job in the world either. Designers just love their work, its part of them, they love to create. 

I look around Gods beautiful world for inspiration, colours and textures, and try to add these dimensions to designs that I make.

My home is full of projects and I have to admit my stash of yarns is enough to stock a HUGE wool store. I just can’t pass by a wool store without going in and searching through for a bargain, just in case I might need it. My next goal is to write a book, something I am already working on. I will get there, I won’t give up until I do. 

I hope that you have enjoyed reading a little about me, and will return here again to share your news and views on your knitting and crochet projects. I will post designs and free patterns from time to time too. I also hope to sell my patterns and even perhaps some of my sample designs.

Happy Crafting to One and All