My name is Valerie Hobbs, and I am the designer behind Laughingstar Knits.

I’ve been knitting since my grandmother taught me the basics when I was a kid - she used to knit baby clothes for the gift shop at the local hospital. Then I learned the rest from books - it was before the internet! I knit off and on until my daughter was born and only rediscovered the joys of knitting in the last 11 or 12 years. I have always had an interest in the fiber arts - sewing, quilting, crocheting, needlepoint, cross stitching, and of course, knitting. I worked in costume construction and design for the theater and until recently, I was an interior designer and furniture consultant at a large university. Now I happily devote myself full time to knitting design!

My designs feature classic lines and textured fabrics, with an interesting detail or two. Cardigans are my favorite and I love to experiment with different shapes, textures, and methods of construction. Full disclosure - I'm a proponent of seams (probably comes from my sewing background) and I actually love mattress stitch!

My business started in 2010 almost by accident. I had designed Banana Tree Cardigan for myself and posted it on Ravelry. After numerous requests for a pattern, I wrote it up and posted it for free. Soon one thing led to another, and I published my first paid pattern, Stonybrooke Vest, in 2013. I hadn't really planned to start a business and since my Ravatar was laughingstar (a name very loosely based on a quote from The Little Prince that I had used for my high school yearbook - "The stars always make me laugh" - and which I picked in a moment of creative panic when I first signed up for Ravelry in 2008), I called my store laughingstar knits. I always thought I would change the name, but somehow, that never happened...

I take pride in producing  well written and well organized patterns and experience great satisfaction when my patterns are returned from the tech editor with minimal corrections! I hope you'll enjoy knitting my patterns. I love to see finished projects on Ravelry, LoveCrafts or Instagram (#laughingstarknits).