The Designer Behind Minartment
Prepare to Qualify: Who are you and what makes you qualified to do this?
Hello! I'm Nina (she/her). I am not good at writing in the third person, even though I'm sure it would be more professional, so I won't!
I live in San Francisco with my handsome husband. I am the proud mother of two young sons. I live with them, too. I also care for and live with our 2 cats, one ancient long haired calico queen and one young spunky short haired tabby, and a snuggly labradoodle, she's a dog and probably my emotional support animal though I don't know how to get that certified.
I graduated from the Academy of Art University with an Associates degree in Knitwear Design. (Why not a bachelors, you ask? Well, that's a good story! Better told another time.) I taught myself to knit and crochet when I was 10 from a copy of "Reader's Digest: Complete Guide to Needlework". I checked it out of the library and liked it so much that I used my birthday money to buy my very own copy. I still have it! The pages are falling out, I use it so much. *love*
I studied art all through school, from drawing and painting to sculpture and weaving. If it's a kind of art, I tried it! And I'm talking like kindergarten all the way through 6 years of higher education. I had one semester without an art class and I was miserable.
I started sewing my own clothes sometime in the first couple years of college (when I went to UW-Milwaukee), though I sewed my first baby quilt while in middle school.
I am best known for the 2004 art installation, Red Sweaters. The now-defunct website and project featured thousands of hand knit and crocheted red sweaters that were hung in a tree to draw awareness to the war overseas. Each sweater was meant to represent a life lost in the battle. The project was featured on the local news, in news papers across the country, in knitting magazines, and even featured in a book titled "Knitting for Peace".
One time, I advertised my sewing skills on craigslist, offering to make halloween costumes or custom clothes. From that ad, I made a giant Totoro costume, and a harlequin jacket for a masquerade party. Oh and a night gown. And a really big quilt. I hope I can find pictures of those!
Oh and! I had a website for selling my knitwear before selling knitwear online was cool. check out the ancient kitschi.org, I made the whole site myself (with a little help from my brother)!
Before I became a full time mom and Real Housewife of Silicon Valley, I worked on the production side of the fashion industry as both a product developer and production manager. My boss, as I still refer to her even though it has been over a decade since we've worked together, was an agent for a vertical knitwear factory in Peru. (More on that later, in the blog!)
Since then, I have been making all kinds of random stuff. Hats, scarves, sweaters, blankets, mits, shawls, stuffed animals. I think I average about 2-3 complete projects a year :) Check out my gallery/portfolio for pics! (and instagram for current projects)
Ok so that's a little bit about me and my qualifications! Thanks for reading!
-nina