A Visit To Old Maiden Aunt & Other Knitting Plans

Old Maiden Aunt yarns had an open studio day/housewarming yesterday, but as I could not make it, I travelled out to West Kilbride to help Lilith set things up. Her new studio space is marvellous: there is a real shop front where she can display her yarns and host workshops with a huge, airy workshop space in the back for the dyeing and drying of yarns. Now, Lilith and I go back years (our friendship is an ace story I must remember to blog at some point) and I am over the moon that she has managed to build her business to a point where she has been able to get such a wonderful space for Old Maiden Aunt and that she has such a huge amount of support from the knitting community. It makes me so damn happy. It could not have happened to a nicer person.

Gushing over ;)

Lilith and I spoke about my Karise shawl and I realised that my inner diary was out of sync. I thought Knit Nation was this forthcoming week when it is actually the following week. I was going to release the Karise pattern tomorrow, but instead I am going to take advantage of the extra week to work out the laceweight instructions. I was always going to include laceweight instructions but thought I would have to do that with a later update. Not so .. huzzah!

My head is buzzing with shawl design ideas and I've begun using Pinterest as a way of creating micro-mood boards (Polyvore might have been more obvious, but I don't like that community all that much). I was watching a documentary on the Ballets Russes the other night and started looking through my old source books on early 20th C design. I've also been swatching a tiny bit, but I need to finish writing Karise before I let myself begin something new.

At the same time I am also yearning for a big, big project. This year has been a year of small projects that I finish relatively quickly, but I want to sink my teeth into a really juicy project. One that I won't finish in two weeks. I just have to bide my time, because I know my big juicy knit will be a colourwork project from Rowan Nordic Tweed (out on August 1st). I'm torn between three projects from that book, actually: a cardigan with intarsia reindeers(!) knitted in Rowan Colourspun and Kid Classic (it has a sort of faded, vintagey sense of glamour to it), a lusekofte-inspired jumper in Rowan Tweed (very fitted, very lovely), and a cool shrug/bolero/sleeveless cardigan with selbu-motifs done in a sort-of positive/negative colour way which is also knitted in Rowan Tweed (very, very cool looking and knitting it might hurt my brain).

Perhaps I should start by ripping out two half-sleeves and reknit them before I contemplate doing anything. A month .. I should totally be able to finish that red cardigan of mine..

Background Details

It's been that kind of morning.

"So, which textile degree did you do?"

"No textile degree, I'm afraid. I have a degree in English with a specialisation in print culture from a Danish university."

"Okaaaay, why did you move there to do your degree?"

"I'm .. Danish?"

".."

I posted this exchange on a certain social networking site and some good friends tried to reframe things for me.

Can't you just invent an explanation? "Well, I was really going to study in Rwanda, but then the plane crashed and ..."

"and after fighting of the packs of lions and the rabid wildebeests, I thought I'd..."

"... I thought I'd knit myself a fishing net so I could get some food. And then my clothes had got all tattered, so I knit myself some new ones, and that inspired me to go into designing."

"That's why most of my garnments are green. Jungle-inspiration."

Yeah, it has been that kind of morning: quite odd but very funny.

Hang on. Most of my days are quite odd but very funny. Hmm.

Weather With You

Hello. Excuse me while I pretend I constantly hang about grey wooden panels wearing a red woollen dress and a gawjus mossy green scarf/shawl. Okay, so I actually do that quite a bit but I rarely wear matching lipstick and have my photo taken whilst faffing, so there is that.

In short, we had a photo shoot for the Karise shawl yesterday. For some reason the sun came out just as I took off my cape and the sunshine just made everything so much easier. I am never comfortable in front of a camera (stand straight, suck in tummy, smile, look natural) but the photo shoot wasn't too bad.

Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you..

Hopefully that means tomorrow will be sunny too. I am heading out to West Kilbride to see Old Maiden Aunt's Lilith and her new studio. Her housewarming is on Saturday but true to form I shall be working, so instead I am heading out to lend a hand prepping the place for the hordes. Some sunshine would be most welcome as my train will have a view of the Isle of Arran - and Arran is just prettier when it is sunny.

Oh, hell. Here you go. That song. I don't actually like it, you know, but it is the sound of summer..

Thoughts on Designing

A couple of months ago, I was approached by the talented and charismatic Ben who wanted my thoughts on designing and writing knitting patterns. Seeing as I have just finished Karise (pattern up early next week), I reckon now would be a good time to post those thoughts.. 1) Define your design strategy in a word.

Intuitive.

2) In your work, what is the difference between successful and unsuccessful design?

I always design with a need in mind. A yarn to showcase or a technique to explain.

I have a really good idea about what knitters need because I meet and teach so many. I design many mini-projects that'll teach my students the techniques they need to know whilst still in context of where they'll use those techniques. (I don't release those patterns to the general public because they are so specific to my teaching but I have designed a lot).

Successful designs marry well-written instructions with a distinctive look and relative ease of knitting. Unsuccessful designs have hard-to-follow instructions or no distinct aesthetic.

I also think designs have to be authentic - I always find it unappealing if I can't see any trace of personality or obvious thought-process behind a pattern.

3)What does your review process look like?

I subscribe to the same view both in knitting and writing: keep it simple, stupid (KISS). I simplify, simplify, simplify. Kiss, kiss, kiss. Can I do without this bit? Does this shawl really need three different stitch patterns? Can I make this chart smaller without losing any information? I always take away far more than what I add.

I can't remember who said it but there is this quote about a sculptor whose job is simply to remove bits of marble to reveal the sculpture that was always within the block of marble. Chip, chip, chip..

4) As a creator, what is your biggest personal challenge.

Confidence has been a big one for me.

I am not the most confident person in the world (to say the least) and I have never really 'understood' fashion, so I did not think I had any business getting involved in designing. However, I have come to realise that there is a difference between being fashionable and being stylish - and I think I can definitely claim I have a personal style or aesthetic.. so that has played a big part in me getting involved in designing knitwear.

I had been asked to submit designs for many years now, actually, but it was not until last year that I had the confidence to put a self-designed pattern in front of other people. The response was fantastic and was a real confidence boost.

I'm now moving from teaching-related designing and small, locally-released patterns into releasing patterns, full stop.  It feels slightly daunting. But also incredibly liberating.

5) What does development look like? How does an idea move from initial concept through to finished object?

My Karise shawl is a good example. Lilith gave me two hanks of her new 4ply yarn and asked me to design her shawl. She had requirements: a) the shawl should take less than 100g of sockweight yarn and b) it had to be downloadable from Ravelry by Knit Nation. That told me two things: the size of the shawl and the type of knitter. With Ravelry knitters in mind - who tend to be adventurous and curious - I sat down to doodle some sketches.

The yarn was a gorgeous mossy green-brown with real depth to it. Showcasing that colour was a no-brainer, so I included a large stocking-stitch element. I wanted to avoid using obvious leaf stitch patterns because I see so many shawl patterns with leaves but I still wanted the shawl to have an organic feel to it (the colour name - ghillie dhu - means 'guardian spirit of the trees'). I played around with grid paper until I had achieved a stitch pattern that flowed organically from one shape into another with minimal adjustments. Karise does have a certain forest-like feel to its lace but it's quite subtle.

After the initial lace chart, I swatched to make sure that it looked like I wanted it to look and to ensure my knitter's maths was correct. Then I did more knitter's maths before starting the shawl itself. I did rip out the shawl twice (to take away surplus elements) but that was pretty much it. I modified the hand-drawn lace charts as I was knitting the sample, then transferred all my notes to Excel and refined the charts.

6) What sources feed into your work? Are there any resources you'd recommend to other designer/makers?

I am an intensely visual person and I draw upon a lot of sources which people might think random for knitting designs.

I grew up with a keen interest in fashion and art history, so I have an 'inner library' of trends that I use a lot. I'm extremely passionate about late 19th C/early 20th C art and culture (including colour palettes), so that forms a huge chunk of my design vocabulary. There is definitely some Art Noveau-influences in Karise.

Finally, having grown up in Scandinavia, I am also influenced by Scandinavian design which tends towards sparseness, minimalism and functionalism. I shoot a lot of photos of brick walls, roof tiles, paving, and other patterns I notice in my surroundings.

My best advice is to keep your eyes open. There are token stitch dictionaries out there and they are obviously great resources, but keep your eyes open for anything that might come your way.You might find your greatest idea will come from a cereal box in your local supermarket.

7) You are writing the definitive knitwear-design Bible. What is the first commandment?

Thou must write clear and concise patterns. I cannot emphasise this enough.

Even the most extraordinary design is a failure if other people cannot follow your instructions. And complex design elements can become accessible through well-written patterns (Laminaria is my favourite example). Keep the end user in mind.

--

I have thoughts on indie designers, the new Knitty and even some finished object photos but I think all those things are better left for another day.. Hope your Monday is more sun-drenched than mine..

Shawl Knitting In Progress

This shawl has been some time in the making. It is my first self-designed full-size shawl pattern and it will make its début at this year's Knit Nation in the Old Maiden Aunt booth. The yarn is absolutely gorgeous to work with. It is a new Old Maiden Aunt base which - again - will be unveiled at Knit Nation. I am sworn to secrecy, but I can say this much that this is a sockweight with some silk in the mix and that the silk soaks up the dye like you wouldn't believe. The colourway is Ghillie Dhu from Lilith's Lang-legged Beasties collection. It's one of my favourite OMA colourways and I was so, so delighted when Lilith asked me if I would design something in that colourway. Mossy green gets me every.single.time.

To the right you can see the small sample shawl I knitted yesterday to see if the charts were okay. Funnily enough I kept deviating from the charts until I told myself: "Dude! You can't just go ahead and fudge it because you think you're smarter than whoever wrote those charts..! Those are your own charts."

Yeah, I never claimed to be bright.

Quite apart from doing knitting maths until my brain hurt (thus spake the liberal arts grad), choosing a name for the pattern proved remarkably difficult. I take my hat off to people who do it for a living and I will no longer snicker at wacky names although I still think the Rowan Renew names are really funny. Naming is hard work, particularly as I know I have a slew of patterns to name and I want my naming to be somewhat coherent.

(I did eventually come up with some naming strategies, but word of advice: never ever ask Vonnie of the Life Craft for ideas. Trust me on this one.)

However, if you happen to have a great idea for a pattern name - preferably one which works in both English and other languages - or an idea for a name theme, please do leave a comment. If I end up using your idea, I'll give you a copy of the pattern as a thank you.

Foot update: I have been resting my foot a great deal these past few days and it is improving to the point that I managed an almost-pain-free Tesco run yesterday. I'm back on the sofa today with my frozen peas, crap audiobooks, and knitting. It's a hard life..

Ouch

I'm home from A&E after a small mishap this morning which unfortunately led to a teeny-weeny bone fracture in my foot. It is nothing to be concerned about and the doctor just sent me home with a "plenty of ice, some painkillers and rest" message. She should have added "and plenty of knitting, missus" because that is clearly what I am going to do over the next few days.