PROFIL
EIt’s the end of a productive day spent
working up the template files for a client’s
website. My fingers aren’t quite ready to call it
quits and are performing a choreographed dance
of knit-one purl-two. Beside me sits a tightly
wound ball of yarn in a bowl with a single strand
guided through a specially designed hole, giving
me that one extra hand I need while my own are
busy. There’s also a charted pattern – a grid of
symbols with a key – wireframing the design.
I first picked up a set of knitting needles as an
undergrad art student, back when web dev and
coding were not on my radar as career choices but
something fun to mess around with. I lived north
of Boston and envisioned being able to whip up an
entire wardrobe of hand-knit garments for the
low cost of Red Heart skeins found in the bargain
bin. I bought a book that taught me the basics of
knitting and declared myself ready to start
authoring my own patterns and get to work.
What followed were several years of horribly
amateur stitches, incomplete projects and
countless restarts as I fought my way through
learning the ins and outs of working with yarn. I
learned about the creativity that goes into
development: what happens when you use a
different fibre than the one the author suggests.How measuring the size of your stitches gives you
flexibility in needle size. When and how to adjust
the pattern so the end result fits better.
At the same time, I had started my career as not
just a web designer but also a web developer. Here,
too, I was learning about the creativity that goes
into development: what the best way to construct
this element is so it’s fast and accessible to users.
How different units of measure interact to give
your website a consistent, readable flow. When
and how to sacrifice pixel-perfect design in the
name of flexibility and vice-versa. My hobby as a
knitter was paralleling the journey my career was
taking, as I found a creative outlet in not just the
design but also the making of a final product.
Today, knitting remains a way for me to connect
my passion for development with my background
in design. Each stitch represents one square that
builds on those next to it to create the whole. The
same is true for web dev – whether that ‘stitch’
be measured in pixels, ems or a percentage.KNITTING
The creative process doesn’t end with design: how learning
to knit helped Jenn Soloway transition from student to devBEYOND PIXELSSoloway (@jennsuzhoy) is a
front-end developer, designer
and branding expert. Her mission:
to build your best site ever.FEED
Beyond pixels
STUFF I LIKE
MELISSA HIE
UX designer
w: http://www.melissahie.comSOURCETREE
I am a designer by trade but I
occasionally help out in
front-end development (read:
CSS) at my company when I
can. Using Sourcetree has
been vital in helping me
organise my code and
commits. It’s great for all
user levels!
https://sourcetreeapp.com/TRANSFERWISE
These days our work is not
limited by the boundaries of
the country we live in.
Sometimes I need to accept
payment in different
currencies and using
TransferWise has helped me
minimise the fees associated
with cross-border transaction
and currency exchange rates.
https://transferwise.com/sgVSCO
Everyone has their favourite
phone editing app but I’ve
used VSCO for as long as I can
remember. Its UI is the best
(aka simplest) out of all the
ones I’ve tried. Sure, I
occasionally have to go to
Snapseed or Photoshop for
more control but, for daily
editing, VSCO is fine.
https://vsco.co/