Wheeeeeeeee! I am so pleased! I’ve been working away like mad on my new pattern for the Knitted Shadow Scarves.
I have had a lot of letters from people who
have liked my crocheted Shadow pattern, but who don’t crochet.
They asked me to puhleeeeeeeeeeeeze design a knitted one….
which was good, because it’s something that I have wanted to do,
and knowing that people were asking for it makes it worth the work to do it.
A lot goes into designing a new pattern.
It starts with sketches, then moves on
to working out gauge. Then there’s a heap of
math for developing the stitch count
so I can translate my sketches into a shape that works.
And, usually, the shape doesn’t work at first, so there is a lot of
knitting, ripping out, and knitting again.
As I knit, I write the pattern out long hand, and then write it out in proper pattern format
on my computer.
Then, I print it out,
knit it again, and find all the errors
that I can. I edit it again,
then knit it a couple more times,
checking the pattern again each time.
I photograph it as I go,
so I can add helpful pictures to
Then I photoshop the pictures,
erasing the background, to take out
distractions and to keep the focus on the images.
The photoshopping process is long and slow,
and I end up working one pixel at a time….
yes… I know, that’s kind of obsessive, but
I want the photos to be beautiful.
Then, it’s time to put the text pattern
together with backgrounds, titles, photographs,
sidebars and whatever else it takes to make the
pattern a thing of beauty and a joy to behold. It takes a long time and a heap of hours with close focus, but it’s really worthwhile.
So, that’s a nutshell description of how a pattern comes to life – from the initial sketches right to the ‘wrap it around your neck’ stage.
And, it makes me sooooooooooo happy to do it. It’s hard work, and that’s for sure, but it’s worth it!