Rita in 2000

Rita at computer in 2006, typing a college lecture, but wearing a garden maze pullover (no, pattern is too complex & will never be written)

Rita O'Connell, designer

ME?  What?  You're interested in me?  Well, if you really would like to know about me, my knitting and design history, my future design plans, or just want to check out another page, please click one of the buttons at the left and/or read below.

KNITTING BIOGRAPHY

I learned to knit and crochet at age 12 from the Red Heart Yarn booklet named something like “Learn how to Knit, Crochet, and Tat” -- I had to learn it from watching my younger sister and reading the book upside down across the table from her as she taught herself from the book (sibling rivalry -- she wouldn’t let me read her book).  So I was essentially self-taught, too, and I had no knitting mentors (except my sister) until I was well into my adult years.  But I became an advanced knitter and soon could follow any pattern, often by just looking at the picture.

I began designing Barbie doll clothes as a young teen.  I was designing sweaters, scarves, hats, etc. by the time I was in high school (mostly because of an early pattern-reading disaster where the printed directions were wrong for a Scandinavian-style sweater in a magazine -- I found a neighbor who knit and she agreed that the pattern was wrong, so I was suspicious of any written pattern from then on).

After moving from my native Minnesota to Los Angeles after college, I began knitting with fibers other than wool and “winter” fibers -- and found that knitting with cotton, rayon, etc. can be fun!  And I also started knitting lace when I discovered that it was much more delicate than crocheted lace, and more fun to make.

 After moving back to Minnesota,  I joined the Minnesota Knitter’s Guild (MKG) and my skills really skyrocketed -- having experts around to call on for advice or to just watch them doing “their thing” is a real benefit!  But I must admit that it was really intimidating (and refreshing!) to walk into that first meeting and see a room full of people who were all knitting!!

I worked part-time in a yarn shop for 5 years or so (to pay for my obsession and to give me a discount!) and began to teach knitting classes in Minnesota in the 1980s -- teaching at local shops, at most of the spring workshops held by the MKG, and a few classes in Wisconsin.

I began publishing some of my designs about the time I began teaching.  Some are available only through the classes I teach,  some through a few retail outlets, some have been published in the MKG newsletter, and some are available nationally (Sam the Ram and Sue the Ewe were the first of these).

I moved to the Four Corners area of Colorado in late 1999 and for almost 5 years lived in the small town of Pagosa Springs at 7,000+ feet at the base of the San Juan Mountains.  While there I joined Alpacas Magazine as their knitting designer (premiere pattern appeared in January 2001) and continued in that role for a while after I moved on to Minnesota and the editor and his family have moved to Nova Scotia.  I started Earth Heart Designs while I lived there in Colorado.

I’m currently putting considerable effort into my design business -- creating and publishing my own knitting patterns and selling them through mail order.  While in Colorado, I sold my patterns via booths at fiber and knitting shows (e.g., Pagosa Springs' fiber fest, Stitches Midwest 2001, Bayfield Heritage Days, the Taos Wool Festival, and the Estes Park Wool Market), as well as wholesaling them to retailers.  Now that I'm back in Minnesota, I've changed my show focus to Midwestern events, including the Minnesota Knitters Guild Spring Yarnover market and the Shepherd's Harvest Wool Festival.  I'm currently too busy to put much effort into submitting patterns to knitting magazines, but I may have more time in the future.  I do, however, enjoy including a few free patterns through this website (click on Free Patterns), and designing and teaching classes and workshops both locally and nationally.

Although I design and knit lots of sweaters and wearables, I have the most fun designing & publishing patterns for pillows, afghans, and small projects to learn new techniques with -- especially stuffed animals & various sizes of bags, pouches, and other containers.  I particularly enjoy knitting seamless three-dimensional shapes.  I also have accumulated a lot of baby relatives in my life lately, so I’m designing children's items, too.  And I love teaching new perspectives on or aspects of knitting to beginning and experienced knitters in classes, lectures, and knitting camps.