Meet the Novita Design Team
Novita has its own design team that designs knitting patterns and produces those in their final form.
Saara Toikka, Editor in Chief
Having originally started at Novita as a trainee, Saara's job now as Editor in Chief now involves both big plans and daily routines, as well as important responsibilities with the editorial team. Saara explains that the planning of knitwear collections starts about a year before publication. The collections are designed based on trend forecasts and Novita's own yarn ranges, among other things. The magazine's three overarching themes are carefully chosen; designs are then crafted built around each theme to provide inspiration for as many people as possible. Once the mood of the theme has been established, a location, photographer and models are found for the collection.
Saara has many memories of shootings and great locations. You get to play many roles on set, and sometimes things happen.
"In Lisboa, I had chosen a beautiful beach as the location for a crochet magazine based on a map. The only way to get to the rocky beach was by rappelling down, which was quite an adventure with all the props. On the other hand, sometimes we have shot in the pouring rain, and with child models there is always an element of excitement."
Minna Metsänen, Designer
Minna Metsänen is one of Novita's knitwear designers. She has been at Novita since before the current Novita magazine and has designed countless different types of knitwear. Her work ranges from brainstorming, knitting pattern patches to drawing sketches and proofreading patterns. Every day brings surprises and the work days are often different, which keeps the work interesting. Minna is a versatile designer who can be trusted to design all kinds of knitwear from socks to wedding dresses. Her specialties - as well as favourites - are colourwork patterns and woollen socks. Minna finds inspiration in the world of yarn and colour. With a long career in knitwear design, Minna can also tell you about the changing trends in knitwear and knitting. "The biggest difference is probably that nowadays knitwear is preferably knitted seamlessly from top to bottom. It's quite rare to knit in the traditional way of piecing and sewing together. Of course, this means that the logic of writing instructions has also changed completely."
Sisko Sälpäkivi, Designer
Sisko is one of Novita's knitwear designers and has been with Novita since 2011. At Novita, Sisko is able to fulfil her passion for handicrafts through her versatile work. She designs knitwear and draws up instructions for them, while also participating in swatching and proofreading of model knitwear. In addition, Sisko responds to customer inquiries for instructions, offering help with interpreting instructions or any other quandaries related to instructions. Each day is different and the tasks vary a lot depending on the day. Sisko enjoys working with different yarns and colours - especially experimenting with colour and yarn combinations and combining them into colourful knits. "I like stranded colourwork a lot, and I often look for inspiration in traditional patterns."
Päivi Tissari, Pattern Editor in Chief
Päivi Tissari, Pattern Editor in Chief is responsible for turning knitwear designers' ideas into clear and actionable instructions in a variety of different projects. In her job, Päivi checks the knitting gauge, draws the pattern, sets the patterns in different sizes and writes the instructions in the familiar style of the magazine. Having worked at Novita since 1994, Päivi knows the current magazine like the back of her hand. The main focus of her work is on schematics, sizing and writing. She also spends time in contact with knitters, finishing knits and proofreading. Although the work is a constant creation of patterns, it is, according to Päivi, very varied. The different surfaces of the knitwear, such as lace, braids and colourwork, have a big influence on the pattern writing, and the pattern charting is a creative problem-solving skill that Päivi particularly enjoys. "All knits are different, and charting them requires different solutions. I get to use my creativity and solve positive problems."
Piia Maria Pekkanen, Design Specialist
Piia Maria's job description includes a wide range of tasks. She mainly does knitwear design, product concepting and instructional writing, but she is also responsible for Novita's Ravelry shop, Pinterest account, knitting school videos and beginner concept design. Piia Maria started working with Novita as a freelancer about 3.5 years ago and has now been working with Novita on a permanent basis for a year. Prior to Novita, she worked as a knitwear designer for Finnish and international craft magazines and yarn manufacturers and taught product conceptualisation at the Department of Industrial Design at Delft University of Technology. Piia Maria graduated as a fashion designer from the Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague, and started her career in industrial knitwear. She has worked in a variety of industrial garment design before hand knitting and needles finally won the day. Piia Maria is inspired by wonderful yarns and the new trends of fashion. As a visionary and daring entrepreneur, she loves challenges and variety. "With Novita, the challenges and wild new ideas never end. That's good."
“One of the best things about my job is working in a creative environment with creative people. We have a top team in-house and a great bunch of freelancers. Everyone is really valuable.”
Saara ToikkaDesign Manager & Editor in Chief
