The Design Process

I have been working on a new pattern in color-work. It has been giving me fits. The design process can be both a joy and a frustration and this one has been no difference! In order that you may share in my discomfort, (or maybe avoid it) below are some of the salient points so far:

I started out thinking that I would do the hat using worsted weight. I did all the necessary math to figure out how many stitches I needed for an adult head and developed my pattern with those numbers in mind. Then somewhere along the way, I changed my mind and wanted to knit the hat using a fingering weight yarn. I didn't recalculate the math until late in the design process and then had to scrap part of what I had wanted to do. Ooops!

As a result of the math change, I went from 126 stitches to 168 stitches around. This made me have to change one of the motifs in my design. Since I couldn't modify the motif, I ended up replacing it. When I replaced it, I used something that looked visually lighter. This forced me to reconsider one of the other motifs in my design and I "lightened" it up as well. That made the entire design better.

I incorporated the ribbing that I learned when doing a color work mitten back when I first started this blog. I have to admit, I never finished those mittens, but like everything else, I learned from them. Learning to knit continental has helped tremendously. It lets me knit one color with each hand and it also helps that my knitting has gotten so much more even.

I tried to place the colors into the pattern before I even got started knitting, but I think that it will work out better if I just pick those as I go.

I settled on Knit Picks Palette. With 150 colors to choose from, this is a great "palette" to choose from. I got 40 different colors by purchasing two different kits on sale and was able to get the yarn at near 50% off.