Enjoy an interview with Karen Templer, whose Camellia Tank is included in Making No. 2 / FAUNA.  The yarn for this project is now back in stock at the Camellia Fiber Company if you are interested!

What is unique about your designs?

I tend to design things so simple they don't even seem like "designs." But what I attempt to bring to them is a keen eye for the details that make the simplicity work — proportions and techniques and such — as well as choosing the right materials. It's like with cooking: If you're making something as spare as a BLT, the bread better be really fresh, the bacon perfectly crisped, the tomato right off the vine. The simpler something is, the more critical the components and details are.

Why are you excited about the project you designed for Making?

For that reason! The minute I laid eyes on Camellia Fiber Company's black-and-white handspun, I wanted to see it in a garment. The tank I designed is super simple, but especially with the thick-and-thin handspun and the density of the fabric, the treatment of the edges and whether it was knitted flat or in the round ... all of those details were really important in making it work.

Share a project, either past present or future that you are especially proud of.

Just as a knitter, I'm really proud of everything that's on my needles at this particular moment because I feel like I've come to a place in my knitting where I'm really choosing the right shapes and colors and yarns, and creating pieces that really work for me and how I dress.

Thank you, Karen!