I started writing and publishing patterns just over a year ago and I have learned a lot from the process. It’s not just the process of creating the patterns but also a lot of techniques in knitting that I was aware of but had no particular expertise. This could be a long list but I’ll focus on a couple that I have really enjoyed exploring.

Mosaic knitting is such fun and really stretches your creative skills within a very strict regime of rules that you can’t bend or it won’t work. I did the Counterchange shawl using a pattern by Barbara G Walker and loved doing it. Since then I’ve done a few much simpler patterns of my own. These included ‘corners’ that I’ve used in a hat and cowl, ‘steps’ in the Baby Cabin blanket, and am just putting ideas together for either a cowl or a shawl – with the tentative title ‘curiouser’. The only reason for this name is that the pattern has a vague resemblance to the wavy lines on the TV screen when the character enters a dream sequence or an alternative universe. As with all my knitting plans, this is highly likely to change.

Another technique that I first used on the lovely Cria cardigan by Ysolda is short rows. In fact Cria was by re-entry into knitting back in about 2011 when I bought Little Red in the City. I am by no means an expert – that accolade would go to Woolly Wormhead whose hat designs are just fabulous. I however, enjoy the way that short rows can to some extent disrupt rules a little bit. I spent a while playing with short rows matched with fisherman’s rib. I liked the effect and the shape that it produced. One very good lesson I learned was the use of ‘German Short Rows’ that are much easier and less marked than the standard ‘wrap and turn’. Once again – The Woolly wormhead site has some great step by step instructions as well as videos so you can choose the format that’s best for you.
The first two techniques are new to me, but I have knit a few hats by Woolly Wormhead and her designs are so unique and fun to knit.
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I love mosaic knitting. It’s so much easier than stranded colour work. I also like the effect of a close pattern that becomes so much more than an simple set of stitches.
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I am going to look for a pattern suitable for a newbie. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
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[…] On the blog I shared some favourite TV shows and some of my drawings along with some insights into my own creative process. I am currently swatching for some submissions to a couple of magazines. I had stopped doing these […]
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