I've heard so many people say that they "aren't creative enough" to design things, or that they "don't have ideas".
Bullshit.
-Dictionary.com
If you've ever had a thought, if you're aware of your surroundings, and if your brain works even in the slightest you have ideas. They might not be good ideas, but they're ideas.
How do you come up with good ideas? You practice by coming up with bad ones! When I was a kid I read that we all have a million bad ideas inside of us, and the sooner we can get them all out the better. So even if something seems stupid, go for it. We learn by doing, and you'll soon find that working with one idea will cause you to come up with another.
For some reason, knitters suffer from the delusion that you have to be a capital-D Designer to come up with an idea or make an original garment.
Again, bullshit.
Designers (even the famous ones) are human just like the rest of us. They sketch, they write, they knit, and I'm sure they occasionally forget to put in a lifeline and have to rip back a lot farther than they should have. What seperates a designer from a garden-variety knitter is a willingness to try new things, to experiment, and even to fail. A designer looks at a simple idea and sees potential.
I'm going to help you learn to see potentail, starting with a simple concept.
This is my sketch, just a series of rectangles I doodled. As they get bigger, the space between them gets smaller.
You could have come up with that, right? Exactly! Ideas are everywhere, and sometimes the simple ones are the most effective.
When you look at your concept, think about what it could be. I could take this as it is and make a Modernist painting. I could line up appropriately-sized objects and create a still life composition to draw, paint, or photograph.
I started out with a simple, literal interpretation: I made it into a three-dimensional form, it could be an entranceway into a building. The empty spaces gradually get smaller, transitioning a person from "outside" to "inside".
As I was drawing that, the angles made me wonder what it would look like if I took two of my concept sketch and rotated one 90 degrees. I sketched it out quickly and got a pattern that reminded me of tartan.
To refine it a little more, I made a more finalized drawing in Photoshop. I could print this out as digital art, paint it (which might be interesting with some really texturized paint), turn it into a woven or knitted fabric, or use it as a layout grid for a graphic design.
As I was thinking about how I could knit that (I know nothing near enough about colorwork to puzzle that one out, but maybe something reminiscent of the
Ball Band Dishcloth), I had another brainstorm: Lace!
This is just a quick, sketched chart I drew that alternates solid stockinette rectangles with rectangles of yarn-overs, the simplest type of lace. The rectangles change in size and frequency, just like the original concept sketch. The next step here would be to swatch this and see if the proportions work out, and to alter it if they don't.
Ideas are everywhere. And design is just a methodical approach to "playing" with ideas, moving them around and changing the color and seeing what concrete things you can make of an abstract concept.
A great way to get visual ideas into a workable format is to take a photo of something (a line of trees, spokes in a wheel, the shape of a building) and trace the important lines and forms. Then you can work with that and see what comes of it. It takes practice, but you'll find that the more you do, the easier things get.
I got the yarn to make Surface for Christmas. This is the most yarn I've ever owned at one time!
17 balls of Knitpicks Merino Style in Storm.
I am a very thorough swatcher and thus made a BIG one.
As I was swatching, I realized I wasn't crazy for the bobble pattern as written. It has purl bumps on the bobbles, with elongated dropped stitches in between. This looks silly to me, like I accidentally knit messed-up uneven garter stitch. So instead, I decided to make stockinette bobbles.
Bobbles as written in pattern:
My "new" modified bobbles:
How to Do It
The stitch pattern originally says:
Row 1 [RS]: P2, [kfbfb, p2, k1, p2] to end. Row 2 [WS]: K2, [p1, k2, (k1, yo) 4 times, k2] to end. Row 3 [RS]: P2, [(k1, drop yo from needle) 4 times, p2, k1, p2] to end. Rows 4-5: Work as for Rows 2-3. Row 6 [WS]: K2, [p1, k2, p4tog, k2] to end. Row 7 [RS]: P2, [k1, p2, kfbfb, p2] to end. Row 8 [WS]: K2, [(k1, yo) 4 times, k2, p1, k2] to end. Row 9 [RS]: P2, [k1, p2, (k1, drop yo from needle) 4 times, p2] to end. Rows 10-11: Work as for Rows 8-9. Row 12 [WS]: K2, [p4tog, k2, p1, k2] to end. Repeat Rows 1-12 for Blister Pattern.
In order to make the bobbles "stockinette", you need to purl stitches on even-numbered rows. So what you will get when the pattern is re-written is:
Row 1 [RS]: P2, [kfbfb, p2, k1, p2] to end. Row 2 [WS]: K2, [p1, k2, (p1, yo) 4 times, k2] to end. Row 3 [RS]: P2, [(drop yo from needle, k1) 4 times, p2, k1, p2] to end. Rows 4-5: Work as for Rows 2-3. Row 6 [WS]: K2, [p1, k2, p4tog, k2] to end. Row 7 [RS]: P2, [k1, p2, kfbfb, p2] to end. Row 8 [WS]: K2, [(p1, yo) 4 times, k2, p1, k2] to end. Row 9 [RS]: P2, [k1, p2, (drop yo from needle, k1) 4 times, p2] to end. Rows 10-11: Work as for Rows 8-9. Row 12 [WS]: K2, [p4tog, k2, p1, k2] to end. Repeat Rows 1-12 for Blister Pattern.I highlighted the changes stitches in purple. It's an easy modification that makes a BIG difference in the final product.
See? This is one reason why we swatch. In addition to making sure our garments come out the right size, we can identify parts of the pattern that we don't like and experiment with ways to change them.
I just realized that I charted out this stitch a really long time ago and posted it on Craftster, but never here.
This is a great pattern you can use for just about anything. My grandmother taught me how to do something like it, she uses it for afghans. It makes them super soft and cozy, even if you use slightly stiff yarn.
My technique is a little different from hers, it's a modification I designed that I've found makes things a lot better-looking.
This is what a swatch looks like un-blocked. Once it's blocked, the edges look more even. If I'm using it for a washcloth, I leave it unblocked and single crochet around the edges.
Here is what it looks like with the stitches stretched out a little:
OK, now for the instructions!
Make sure you knit more loosely than normal. You need the stitches to be nice and big so you can make the knots!
Cast on a multiple of 3 stitches, plus 1 extra, plus 2 for your edge stitches.
Row One Do whatever you do for your edge stitch. I slip the first one in each row.
**Make one knot: K into the back of the next 3 stitches but don't slip them off the left needle. Yarn over once. Knit into the front of the 3 stitches and slip them off the needle.**
Repeat ** until you have 2 stitches on your left needle. K2.
Row 2 Do the edge stitch, then P all stitches.
Row 3 Edge stitch, K2, make knots(repeat **) until you have 3 stitches on left needle. K3.
Row 4 Do the edge stitch, then P all stitches.
Row 5 Edge stitch, K1, make knots until you have 1 stitch on left needle, K1.
Row 6 Do the edge stitch, then P all stitches.
Repeat rows 1-6 until you are done!
J Says:
This post is pretty old, so I may not check comments very often. If you have a comment or question, I'd still love to answer you! Send me an e-mail (address is in my profile) or a message on Ravelry (username: Jillie).
