Pattern Doodling

Yesterday I said I was going to show you a swatch for a new scarf pattern I'm dreaming up, using Patons Morocco Aran in Jade/Smargd.

Well, I did have a go with the Morocco yarn but I just couldn't think up a pattern that worked well enough with it. So, getting bored I grabbed my skein of Stylecraft Special Double Knit in Raspberry, settled down in front of Larkrise to Candleford (series three, if you were wondering) and knitted away.

I tried to think about this new design as little as possible, and to just see where I went with it. Two episodes later, this is what I was left with:

I call them 'Doodle Mitts' :) 

As you can see, at the start of each cable there is a decoration of YO's, following the bend in the beginning of the cable.

They are knitted flat, then sewn up. The cable is really simple, making it perfect for a cable novice. In fact, I think this pattern would be great for beginners!

I'm going to knit up the second mitt, and then I'll release the pattern some time next week. Late last night I designed a second pair of mittens, I'll give you two clues. It is fair isle, and they are inspired by where I live...

The Non-Knittable Yarn

July of last year, when I was still in the process of learning how to knit (although to be honest, when do we ever stop learning?) I blogged about the Cable Bag I was making. I initially started knitting the bag with Patons Morocco Aran in Jade/Smaragd, a beautiful multi-textured, self-striping yarn. 

I can't get over at how messy my knitting was back then!

The first thing that struck me when knitting the bag, was that the yarn wasn't thick enough to be Aran. Sure, the dark blue aspect of of the yarn was Aran but the rest of the yarn, to me anyway, seemed slightly thinner that DK. Because of this, I realised the bag wasn't going to be strong enough to hold books etc, so I decided to frog it and try again in a different yarn.

I was then stuck with three skeins of this yarn, and no clue what to make with it. I had a flick through my book Knitty Gritty: Knitting for the Absolute Beginner, and found the pattern 'Lacy Wrap'.

When I was about halfway through knitting the shawl up, I realised that I would never wear it! So, I decided to frog that project as well.

I've had this yarn in my stash for a year now, and I desperately want to have another go with it. As I've had no luck finding the perfect pattern, I decided I would just design a pattern myself. 

I want to design something that'll not only make the yarn look great, but that is quick and easy to knit. I have a feeling I'd like cables incorporated but with a lacy twist. The only thing that I have decided on, is that it is going to be a scarf. As that is probably the simplest thing for a new knitter to create :) (plus I need another scarf!)

I'm about to start swatching for the design, and will show you my efforts tomorrow. If you have any ideas that I could incorporate into the pattern, then please let me know. Either through a comment, or a Ravelry message :)

The One Where Tink & I Design a Cardigan in Our Sleep

Last night I had a dream that Tink, from a Master of a Thousand Things, and I were designing a pattern together. It was a long sleeved black cardigan, with what I think was either fair isle, or most probably, intarsia Poppies covering the cardigan. I made a point of saying that the Poppies needed to be 'blood red' (why I said that and didn't go with something like Scarlet is beyond me).

We decided to knit the cardigan in parts and sew it up later, rather than knitting it all in one piece. I got started on the back, while Tink had a bash at the fronts. When we'd finished our little section we'd post it to the other to make sure they thought it was okay (as Tink and I live almost 4 hours apart), and whether or not anything needs to be changed.

Flower Power Cardigan by ShopBop
Purchase for £108 / $168

The dream ended with the cardigan actually finished. I had a look online to see if I could find a cardigan which matched the one in my dream, and I found a pretty much perfect match.

I promise you I had never seen this cardigan before in my life! The only thing about the cardigan that was different was that the collar was all black, the flowers were actually poppies, and that for some very strange reason the flowers were blood red.

All this got me thinking though, how much fun would it be to do a design collaboration!

Obviously it'd be best if you both lived near to each other, but I have heard of it working very well over the Internet. I think it'd be great fun! I imagine it would work out like this:

First you'd talk about what you want to design and perhaps what key elements you'd like included. Then it'd move on to preliminary sketches, you'd work out the little kinks before doing final sketches. Then of course it's time to talk about yarn! By now you've probably decided on the weight, and perhaps even the colour of the yarn you want to use. The real fun comes in when you get to knit swatches in different yarns to see which you'll use in your final design.

I'm not quite sure about what would happen next. Would both of you start knitting the design up? Or, will you wait for the other to finish and then you test the pattern? Perhaps you'd both knit different parts (like in my dream), and then get them sent to either you or your partner to sew them all together.

Hopefully in the future I'll get the chance to do a design collaboration, if I did I'd love to design socks as I'm not clever enough to design them myself!

If you could design anything, what would it be? And would you prefer to design it by yourself, or with someone?

Tulishaaa

I love reading about how designers take inspiration from the latest trends, items from books, films, TV, and then turning them into a beautiful knitted item. Now, I would never go as far to say that I myself am a designer but I get many ideas from things I've seen in the high street etc etc, and although many of them never get written up as proper patterns, some of them do.

Last Saturday night I was watching the first live shows of The X Factor (UK Edition), and while judge Tulisa was chatting to the very talented Lucy Spraggan (see that clip here), I noticed the hat she was wearing. It was a it was a simple rib Beanie, knitted in a black - white gradient yarn.

The next morning I re-watched the show (I'm like that with the X Factor, I can watch it over and over again very easily) and spent the entire time staring at Tulisa's hat. 'That's it!!' I exclaimed (fortunately I was in the room alone), 'I just have to knit that hat!' I hobbled upstairs and found two skeins of sparkly yarn hidden in the bottom of my stash. They were King Cole Galaxy in two colourways, Venus (which is plain black) and Jupiter (which is a mix of black and grey).

I settled back down on the sofa with a slip of paper and started scribbling down the design for the basic pattern, then got out my needles and set to work. That's right...

I did rather well knitting it up, I was halfway through the body when I realised I hadn't increased before starting the body, which basically means it wouldn't have enough slouch to become a Beanie. So, I ripped back to the brim, increased and then once again to halfway through the body of the hat when there was another 'D'OH!' ... I had made the brim too short. I tried to rip back to the brim but some strange things happened which meant I had to re-start the whole thing.

I am now a third of the way through the brim and I'm really liking how the sparkles are spreading themselves out. Sometimes they end up in a clump but I've found that if you simply push the sequin through the yarn it'll go onto the wrong side, and visa versa if you haven't got many sequins in one particular area on the right side.

I'm working on getting the pattern finished & published for this weekend. The pattern will be fittingly entitled 'Tulisa', is beginner friendly and will be available for free *smiles*.

If you're wondering why today's post is entitled 'Tulishaaa', you must watch this hilarious audition from this years season of The X Factor. Once you've seen the whole clip, you'll understand completely why I've named it so ;)

(Today's blog post was inspired by the 100 Days 100 Words list I compiled a while ago, you can find that list here)