Category: Uncategorized

So, as you know, I don’t usually go for trying to create clothes that need to ‘fit’ – shawls can be as big or as small as you want them to be and so gauge and sizing really don’t matter too much.  However, Sam contacted me as asked if I would consider writing a shrug pattern for one of her yarn boxes, and I decided that I would have a go and see if I could come up with something that I liked.  Used a skein of ‘euphoria’ which I still had left over from when I did the show and started to develop what has turned into this shrug. Apologies for the terrible pictures – I didn’t have anyone to model it for me!

It is called the Sevens Shrug because the body and the border is worked in sets of seven rows or seven stitches. I wanted something pretty but not too frilly and I am quite pleased with the result.  The gauge and sizing issue has been tackled directly because the pattern is sized individually based on the crocheter’s measurements and their own starting chain.  And it is a pretty quick make too.  It can be made in a day or a couple of evenings (less if you are making one for a child / small person).  The design is simple, as most shrug patterns are, and it would look pretty special in a graduated yarn I think.  I hope you like it!

I have finally managed to catch a few moments to tell you about the weekend.  As you know, I went to help my friend Sue Stratford on her stand over the weekend at the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show.  I normally go to the one at Alexandra Palace as a punter, but I am going through my work experience phase of trying to get some understanding of what it takes to make the shows successful, just in case I get a bit braver and contemplate doing a show myself.

Sue is brilliant on all sorts of levels.  She is a super talented pattern designer, mostly known for her books on novelty knits.  She is very modest and down-to-earth, really approachable, and has a wonderful relationship with the people who buy her books and kits.  And just on a personal level it is a pleasure to spend time in her company.

The show was great.  I love Harrogate because I am a massive fan of Betty’s tearooms (well, I am a massive fan of tea and cake…), and so it wasn’t too hard to volunteer to help Sue out when she realised she was going to be on her own over the weekend.  The days started gently but soon got busier, and it was really interesting to see what things people were drawn to and what questions they asked. Sue was selling her new book (A Bird in the Hand) and the yarn kits to make the patterns, along with some of her other books and kits.  We got a lot of positive comments about how fantastic the stall looked, and we did well.  I was treated to a fish and chip supper in front of the telly on Saturday night, where we knitted and watched daft telly until it was time for bed.  Sue was knitting Christmas presents and I was working on a pair of socks which will be a present for someone when I get them done.  The next morning we got up and had a decadent breakfast at Betty’s before getting stuck into a busy Sunday.

On the drive home we talked about Sue’s blog, and she gave me lots of good advice and ideas about how to develop what I do.  It has made me rethink my plans for knackeredpsycho.  I think I had just planned to keep on doing patterns on Ravelry, and to maybe do a book or something in future, and perhaps look at workshops at some point.  But I saw all of that as a long way off in the future.  Sue’s advice has given me more ideas and a bit more confidence to be bolder sooner.  This has come at a good time because the shieldmaiden shawl pattern has proved to be really popular, and there has been a lot of activity on my Rav page as a result.  I am starting to think that maybe I could be a bit bolder.  I just need to set some goals for myself, and work towards them instead of bumbling my way through this thing.  So am I thinking about doing a one day show next year, putting some of Sue’s advice into practice.  So over Christmas I will go into planning mode for this.  There is a lot of work to do between now and the show I have in mind, but I think I might just be able to do it.

So last week was all about roughing out some new shawl designs, but I have been trying to reflect a bit on how I go about coming up with a design.  It has been pretty hard to pin shown, as I guess most creative processes are.  It is also a pretty personal process and so this is just how I manage to do it and I am sure it is a process that I will refine as I do more of it.

I tend to start off with a bit of a concept that I am trying to explore.  Often I will sketch out (usually on a piece of scrap paper with a biro) the type of shawl (or other garment) that I want to try to achieve.  I have a think about the stitches I could use to achieve the shape or to create some texture in the pattern.  At that point I have to grab some yarn and a hook and start to play with some opening stitches.

At this point the yarn tends to inform how the pattern and shape of the shawl will develop.  Often I succeed in recreating in yarn the design I had in my head, but somehow it lacks interest once it is made up, and I will end up frogging the work to start again.  Free-styling stitches until I find a combination that pleases me seems to be the best way to develop a project.  It feels a lot like I am still sketching, but with yarn rather than with pen and paper.

Once I have a few rows nailed I can start to write up the instructions for the pattern as I go.  I have to work a few rows at a time, as sometimes you realise that Row 10 isn’t working because of something about Row 8 which needs to be tweaked.  For the shawls in particular what I am aiming for is to find a set of rows which can be repeated (and memorised) and which will maintain the shape and texture that I want to achieve.

I don’t always have a fixed shape for the shawl in my head.  I like to try out different shapes, just to see how easy they are, and sometimes I will see how the shape develops as the shawl grows  I enjoy playing with the overall shape of the shawl and the shapes I can create within it.  I try to keep the stitches fairly straightforward so that a beginner could achieve the final project. Often it is the use of hand-dyed or variegated yarn that makes a pattern look special, or the use of colours (as in the Beating Heart Wrap), rather than the complexity of the pattern.

I wish naming shawls came a little easier to me.  I find that part really hard. It is hard not to come up with something really obvious or really naff.  So here is my challenge to you:  give me some new shawl concepts to work with by suggesting some names that could inspire me to create a shawl around them.  Maybe that way it will be easier, and you can join me on my creative fumblings!