Last week Franciose (or Frenchie, as she prefers to be called) over at Aroha Knits hosted a 5-day knitting design challenge. She called it Initiate Knit Design, and it was the kickoff for her new course in knitwear design: Manifest Your Inner Designer.
I participated in the 5-day challenge. I’ve been interested in designing for quite a while ago, but I didn’t know where to begin. As time has gone on I’ve found myself changing patterns and even making up my own – but the part where you write everything down to form a coherent document is challenging and very scary.
On day 1 of the challenge Frenchie challenged us to create a mood board. I chose a sea theme, specifically focusing on mermaids.
The focus of day 2 was on sketching what we wanted to create and deciding on a stitch pattern. I chose to make socks.
Day 3 was about choosing yarn and making a swatch. I had a major hang-up on this – I couldn’t find a written pattern for the stitch pattern I had decided on. 3 stitch patterns and the beginning of a swatch later, I completely changed focus. My green yarn wanted to be a forest rather than a mermaid’s tail. So I used the stitch pattern from TinCanKnits‘ Sitka Spruce Hat and Mittens. The yarn was much happier with this decision.
On day 4 we measured our swatches and started calculations for how many stitches to cast on.
Day 5 was the day we actually cast on for our finished items and simultaneously began writing the first draft of the pattern.
I really enjoyed participating in this challenge. Some days it was difficult to find time to complete the challenge, and others it was easy. But the point was to get something started. I’m working away on my Spruce socks, writing the pattern as I go. I’m hoping to be able to offer it for free or for sale on Ravelry one of these days.
Dramatic Lyric 