Collaborations

A note from Ainur:

If you’ve reached this page, you may be interested in collaborating with me on a project — welcome, and thanks so much for being here! I love collaborating with other creatives and believe the sum is greater than its parts. Collaborations are about win-win relationships between two or more creators, each of whom bring a unique perspective and personal goal. 

I believe the success of a collaboration depends on two simple factors: earnest commitment and transparency. Respect, consideration for each other’s work, and reciprocity of efforts put into a project are all essential ingredients. To aid in clear communication, a written agreement that outlines both parties’ expectations is crucial for successful collaboration. Ahead of beginning  any collaborative project, agreements are determined to clearly  outline the scope of the work, including details such as photography , promotional obligations for both parties, publishing rights and channels, post-publication support, etc. 

There are different types of collaboration, tailored to the creators’ size and access to resources. Here are a few scenarios:

  1. Are you an indie dyer newly starting out or a one-person, small yarn company and would like to showcase one of my existing designs in your yarn? In this type of collab, a dyer would provide photographs and details about their sample, and the project and details about the yarn would be featured in my bi-monthly newsletter and social media channels.

  2. Are you an indie dyer or a one-person, small yarn company who would like to see one of my new designs in your yarn? Send me an email with all the details, and we’ll discuss how to fit this project into both of our schedules.

  3. Are you an established yarn company or a publication? Let’s work together on the parameters for a specific design to be released at a particular time.

Here are a few examples of the different kinds of collaborations I have been part of:

1. Giulia and Stefania of Lanivendole

Giulia and Stefania knitted the Astragal Pullover in their Pure & Simple Wool and shared their project on Instagram, where I saw and fell in love with their yarn choice, styling, and photography! I reached out to Giulia if I could feature their photography in the pattern pdf itself; they gladly agreed, and now their yarn and photography is the one featured in the pattern files.

Giulia and Stefania run a small yarn company based in Italy, and all of their yarns are made with natural fibers they gather from Italian breeders. These yarns are minimally processed and custom spun in a local mill, which are then hand dyed by Giulia and Stefania.

2. Rowan Lane Fibres

Leya Williams of Rowan Lane Fibres and I collaborated on creating an e-book about botanical dyeing hand-knits. This project took a lot of planning, communication, and trust to bring forth. It took us a whole year to create this e-book from mapping out the project, deciding where each of our strengths lie, dividing our responsibilities to publishing the e-book. As we worked on our respective parts, we kept each other updated and managed our deadlines.

Leya’s strong sense of style and extensive knowledge and expertise in botanical dyeing made her the person in charge of the aesthetics of the book (photography and styling) and the book’s sections on botanical dyeing. I took on the more technical side: designing the six knitting patterns, knitting the samples, working on the layout and format of the e-book. In the end, we ended up with a beautiful e-book that neither of us could have created alone.

3. Design commissions for various yarn companies and publications

I have worked with multiple yarn companies (Purl Soho, Brooklyn Tweed, Little Skein Anne, etc.) and knitwear publications (Pom Pom, Making, Amirisu, LITLG, etc.). While the scope and timeframe varied, all of them had similarities that included:

  • strict deadlines

  • design fee

  • design exclusivity terms

  • contracts/agreements to be signed by both parties