Thanks for stopping in again for this week’s installment of Design Series. This past week, and as hinted at, the week before, I have been busily trying to knit this shawl pattern.

The first knitting is something I call a prototype. It may or may not end up being the final product, but rather, it’s a way for me to write the pattern as I knit it. I will probably end up knitting another. This method of knitting twice is excellent for a project like socks where you want to have two (even if they are slightly different). This time, I will just have to live with having two of the same shawl.

The first step to prototyping is taking all my swatches from the previous week and attempting to chart the stitch patterns. I like to read from charts. Most knitters have a preference of either charted or written directions, and so I try to provide both. One of the stitch patterns I have chosen came right from a stitch dictionary. Charting is then just a simple matter of translating the written instructions to picture. The other pattern is my modification on a stitch, so I need to work that out for both the written and charted versions.

I love using a notebook with graph paper as it allows me to play around with charts easily. I quickly find out that the mesh pattern, the one I just stated should be easy to chart, is really not. The stitch count varies between rows, and so the charting can be rather tricky. Here are a few attempts.

The other pattern is much easier, and I chart that one quickly. I even work out how it will appear with regular increases. For me, charting the entire repeat is important, as it allows me to analyze the pattern to establish repeats that make sense to the knitter.

All throughout the knitting of this prototype I keep copious notes. This is a huge step towards writing the final pattern. Without notes I would surely make many mistakes and no one likes errors in their patterns.

During the prototyping phase there are actually several parallel processes taking place in my head. First, as stated above is the charting procedure. The second is closely tied to the charting, thinking about how the patterns will transition into each other, stitch counts etc. I do this during the charting, taking care to note how many stitches are required for a repeat and how many stitches are increased every row. I found out I need to have transition charts as well.

Third, during the other two processes I am constantly thinking about inspiration, creating a story for this pattern. This third process really occurs at all stages of the design. Initially I was inspired by a need: cold office, springtime. Then I was inspired by stitch patterns. From those stitch patterns I start to relate to things in my life. It’s kind of strange, but I started thinking about sisters.

The stitch patterns I chose are like sisters. They are both constructed with similar components (twisted stitches), they both have details on the diagonal, and they both form little diamonds. But yet they are very different. One is organized, straight lines crisscrossing across a field of plain stockinette. The other is more wild and open.From here my mind jumps immediately to my mother and her sister. Both are strong beautiful women, but like so many other sisters, they are at once both similar and different.

My Aunt Judy lives in the city and is so organized that President Obama could drop in without her having to worry about cleaning or even tidying up. My mother, Nancy, is a country girl in heart. Living in what used to be a rural area, she is carefree and open to a little chaos. She’s not exactly disorganized, rather she has a more organic view on life.

Inspired by these women, I have decided to name the shawl for them: Nancy & Judy. I think about them continuously as I knit my prototype, it’s almost like they are here with me. Maybe having two will be nice. I will be able to give them as gifts to my muses.

Next week we will talk more in-depth about the technical pattern writing bits. The layout, the charting, the tools I use to help me. Again, please feel free to leave questions. I will post responses as special mid-week Q&A posts.

Tags: design, Design Series

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