Now that it's been a little more than a year since I published my first "pay for" pattern I thought you may be interested in how I go about creating a knitting/crochet pattern. There are multiple steps and they may happen in a different order depending on whether I'm designing for a publisher/magazine or for myself, but all the steps must be incorporated into the final design.
Step 1: YARN
Choosing which yarn to use depends on a few factors.
What season am I designing this pattern for? Spring/Summer garments tend to use finer yarns DK, Sport, Fingering, Lace and may have some cotton/linen content. Fall/Winter designs will use heavier weight yarns like Worsted/Aran and also can include DK and sport weight. Wool, alpaca, cashmere, angora, and mohair yarns can all be used in the winter. Sometimes the publisher/magazine has a specific yarn they need used. In this case there really is no decision to make.
Yarn choice can also depend on the cable/lace/texture pattern I plan to use on the garment. If I'm doing cables I want a smooth yarn which will show the cables nicely, probably wool or wool/blend. For lace, I like to use finer yarns and nothing too fuzzy.
What about colour? If I'm designing for a magazine/publisher, they often have "mood boards" with lots of things to show colours they would like to see. For instance, this picture below shows a mood board for Harrisville Designs.
To me, this board says "cool", "wintery" colours. I would choose a cream/natural, grey, or maybe an ice-blue colour. Since this mood board is for a fall/winter garment I would use a wool DK/Worsted/Aran yarn.
With all these choices it can be hard to choose a yarn for a design.
Next week I will talk about stitch patterns ... sometimes I choose the stitch pattern first if I can't decide on a yarn.
Happy Knitting!
It was such a beautiful weekend at the beach! I really enjoy the pounding of the waves and the beautiful sand. It's so peaceful! And it's a great place to take pictures of my latest cardigan. My husband took some gorgeous pictures and it has been very hard to choose which ones to use for my latest design ... Grey Willow.
I have a few people testing this cardigan but am looking for a few more. If you're interested, head over to the Free Pattern Testers group on Ravelry to find out more.
And one last photo.
Happy Knitting!
I love to use wool yarn for my knitting and crocheting projects. There's just something about the feel of wool, whether it is soft/superwash or rustic and rough, that makes me go aaahh!
I recently went to an amazing used book store on vacation and picked up Pure Wool by Sue Blacker. In it she talks about 16 different breeds of sheep. Amazing! I had no idea there were so many and I suspect this is just a sampling of the many more out there.
The book has so much information on each breed such as: approximate fleece weight, staple length, micron count, crimp, natural colours, rare breed status, history, and many pictures of fleece and resulting yarn. As well as at least one knitting pattern for each breed type (some have two).
And of course many sheepy pictures!
Like my Facebook page Designs By Cheryl Chow to keep up with what I'm working on and to receive coupons for discounts on my patterns. Current promotion is a coupon code for 30% off any of my hat patterns until September 15th.
Happy Knitting!
I have another cardigan pattern ready to be tested. If you would like to knit this pattern for free, post a note in the Free Pattern Testers forum on Ravelry.
Matomoko is worked top-down with raglan shaping for the sleeves. The body is knit back and forth on a long circular needle in one piece and the sleeves are knit in the round down to the cuff. The button/buttonhole bands are picked up and knit once the body is completed.
Knit in fingering weight yarn, the sample uses a wool/silk blend from Quince & Co called Tern. 75% wool and 25% silk.
Happy Knitting!
PATTERNFISH, like Ravelry, is another website that allows a designer to sell their crafting patterns through them. I've added my collection of knitting designs there and am very excited to see my collection written about in their latest newsletter.
Gayle Clow writes "Cheryl Chow debuts with Firkant, a classic raglan-sleeved cardigan enlivened with
chequerboard lace. Chow writes a beautifully clear pattern that is structured just as
carefully as she structures her garment and accessory designs. Her hats and mitts,
particularly
Carry On,
are charming. Check them out in her collection."
Thank you so much Gayle for the kind words!
Happy Crafting!
Beautiful Buttons! I'm always on the hunt for pretty buttons to use on my cardigans. Unfortunately, JoAnn's is about the only place fairly close to me (still 40 minutes drive away) to touch and feel buttons around here.
I noticed in the Cardigan Girls Ravelry group that a few ladies had purchased buttons from Fastenation Studio so I thought I would give it a go. I had my doubts as purchasing buttons online to match an almost finished cardigan can be difficult. Colours do not always show true on different monitors.
Hannah was amazing. I picked out two different style of buttons and the colour and emailed back and forth to get the Acorn Branch buttons coloured the way I was wanting them.
What do you think? I'm leaning towards using the Acorn Branch buttons (light background) though the Geometric buttons are nice too!
I would definitely order from Hannah again.
Happy Knitting!
My Currant Hat pattern is now available on Ravelry for 50% off until the end of July. Happy Knitting!
A couple of upcoming designs will include a "wrap" or "cluster" stitch. This is where you wrap the working yarn or contrast yarn around a set of stitches. Sometimes this technique is used for smocking but I'm using it more for texture than to draw in the knitted garment.
Here's a short tutorial on how to do a wrap stitch demonstrated on my upcoming hat pattern, Currant.
WRAP TECHNIQUE
Start by slipping 3 stitches from the left hand needle onto a cable needle.
Take the working yarn or contrast yarn and wrap around the stitches on the cable needle from the back of the work to the front.
Wrap the yarn 3 times around the 3 stitches on the cable needle.
Knit the 3 stitches on the cable needle onto the right hand needle.
Carry the contrast yarn loosely behind the work until you reach the next stitches to be wrapped.
Happy Knitting!
I received some yarn from Solitude Wool, this gorgeous Border Leicester Sport, naturally dyed in Osage Orange colourway.
What will it become? That will be a surprise as I'm not allowed to say. Here's a sneak peak ...
Happy Knitting!
