• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Patterns
  • Books
  • About
  • Blog
  • Newsletter
  • Classes

Mary Jane Mucklestone

Hand Knitting Blog & Knitting Patterns

What I Do

May 22, 2012 by Mary Jane 4 Comments

 

The last post got you started mixing and matching fair isle pattern motifs.
What next?

Here’s what I do. I swatch, circularly you see, for speed.

In this case I  didn’t have the yarn I would be using yet, but I needed to begin designing…deadline you know… So I went to my local yarn shop to pick up some yarn with the thickness that I was looking for, I wanted between 6 and 6.5 stitches per inch, and a good range of colors. Although I wanted a limited palette in the long run, I like to have enough colors to get some good ideas. I selected several colors of Rowan Felted Tweed. It’s a soft fluffy tweedy merino/alpaca/viscose blend, only vaguely similar to what I’ll be using, but very close in thickness. It is very pretty, has a good range of colors and values, and it’s fun to knit with.

I started with a ribbed edge, to see how long I might want it for the super secret item I am designing. Becoming bored, but with a general idea of my ribbing, I moved on to patterns. I knit up a bunch, centering the motifs as outlined in the last post. Usually I won’t rip out except when I don’t have much yarn, which was true in this case, so I ripped a few motifs out that I was sure I didn’t like, once for color placement and another time for a stodgy motif, too heavy and bulky looking for the intended use. When I was basically happy with things, I photocopied the swatch several times – first in Black & White to save ink– and then started cutting them up. Next I re-arranged the components  until I came up with something that I liked and would suit the criteria I had outlined for my project.

  • No more than 9 colors
  • Will easily translate to 2 colors
  • Repeat is suitable for many sizes
  • Begins with an easy peerie pattern
  • Includes traditional OXO motif
  • Simple enough for beginners
  • Varied enough to appeal to experts
  • Lots of room for individual variation

You’ll have to stay tuned in the coming months for the end result.

Very exciting coming attractions!

Filed Under: Knitting

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cambria Washington says

    May 22, 2012 at 12:28 pm

    that sounds like it’s going to be right up my alley 😉

    Reply
  2. Blonde says

    May 22, 2012 at 1:01 pm

    I’ve never even thought of scanning or photocopying a swatch… What a great idea! 🙂

    Reply
  3. magnusmog says

    May 22, 2012 at 1:19 pm

    oooh, this is like a knitting soap opera – I’m hooked!

    Reply
  4. Robin Allen says

    May 22, 2012 at 8:24 pm

    Thank you for this insight. I’m starting to formalize my design process, and this is very helpful. Like Blonde, I hadn’t thought of copying a swatch. Simple and genius!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Before Footer

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Mary Jane Mucklestone © 2020