Once upon a time, I fancied myself a dedicated accessory knitter. I knit socks and wristwarmers and the occasional scarf and… well, actually, that was about it. Then I got bitten by the lace bug — or rather, I made the very intelligent decision that giving my bridesmaids something more versatile and wedding-wearable than a pair of socks was perhaps a better way to go and THAT was when the lace bug bit. (Nevermind that I haven’t knitted a shawl yet. Then again, it hasn’t yet been a year since my wedding and I started designing this year and my lace design skills aren’t where I want them to be just yet, at least not for the purposes of shawl design and…) Of course, after four shawls, I wanted a kind of respite from big lace projects, so I did some spinning, and then I knit a pair of socks and then I sent myself into the throes of sweater knitting.
Apparently, I haven’t looked back. While my first few pattern ideas were (more or less) for accessories, the two major ones that I’m working on this fall, in terms of new garments (patterns for old garments don’t count — that’s an entirely different part of the design process) are both garments. A shrug with a giant lace shawl collar and a squishy cabled, tie-waist open vest. I’m blaming my wanderings in Europe and perusal of window displays and department store settings for my current fashion sensibilities and for a strong desire to knit comforting, soft, squishy things for fall.
The shawl-collared shrug is called Sapphire. I’m working it up in Wollmeise Lace-Garn in an unnamed experimental colourway that I acquired via a lace grab bag sometime last spring. The colour is dark blue with some deep purple and black bits and just incredibly lovely overall. It has just enough variation to give it some depth and interest and not so much that it seems like the kind of thing it’d be hard to sneak into my wardrobe as a garment for regular wearing. I do have to admit, though that I kind of wish that I either liked a more open gauge or was using a thicker yarn… 3 mm needles make for slow going.
“Don’t limit yourself by thinking of yourself as strictly a sock or lace or sweater designer; try everything,” was the advice an older designer gave to new designers a while ago on some forum on Ravelry. I don’t think I meant to take it… but seeing as I’ve now designed mitts, socks, panties, a choker, a fascinator, a hat and am now working a sweater, well, I guess that advice sunk in deeper than I thought.
