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Thursday, January 3, 2013

Knitter's Basic Design Template

I recently joined a Design Challenge on one of the groups on Ravelry.

The challenge was open to any type of design, the requirements being that it must be written up and made available to the other members of the Design Challenge.
It was a great experience and made me approach the whole design process in a very different way from the usual of messing about randomly with sticks and string :)

I am sure that deep down in all of our little knitter's hearts there lurks a budding designer that wishes for nothing more than being able to abandon the day job and spend all day doing happy things with yarn and color and adorable, magic handmade needles :) Of course the reality is such that designers have a tough time making a good living from their designs and mostly work hard to keep the yarn wolves at bay. However, whether you want to quit the nagging boss or buy the OOAK handspun mink eyelash yarn, there is really nothing to lose in designing a pattern or two and putting them up on Ravelry or Etsy or Craftsy or any of a host of other sites...after all folks, habits need feeding....so give it a try and see...you may find hidden talents you never knew you had :)


Although the design process may seem hugely daunting, all you really need to do is follow logical steps through a basic process....Sure, you may say, easy for you to say that but where the heck do I start and what if it doesn't work out, and what if no-one likes the design and what will I design and where will I get ideas from and what if tomorrow the sky falls on our heads...and...and...and...

With this understandable first time designer's angst that I want you to squash like a bug in a rug, I have put together a basic * design template that I use to go through to develop a design...this is my process, not necessarily the only/best/perfect etc, but works for me and is adaptable to different types of designs...you can download it , save it and use it for every new design you have that wants to burst it's way out of your imagination!

There are so many resources available to new designers, and so many groups on Ravelry that there is always someone willing to help and guide and troubleshoot or give tips and advice, that the only risk you run of trying is that it may become impossible for you to stop after your first design :)

I am in the process of designing several new animals for my menagerie and have found that the basic template allows for less schlepp in making sure you have covered all your bases. 

In future posts i will chat about some of the steps in the process of designing something relatively simple, perhaps a pair of fingerless mittens, a pair of socks, a simple shawl...something do-able and useable...

Do you want to be a designer? Have you designed knitting/crochet patterns? How have you approached the process? What would you like to know about designing?

Sleep tight folks!


Design Template

4 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for sharing this. I've just completed a pattern that I used for my daughter's gauntlets with finger-tips cut off. They go to her elbow and are rather form-fitting. I kept detailed notes as I went along. Good thing I did because, for various reasons, the first glove was done to top of palm 5 YEARS ago. I used DPN's. Then I did the second glove using Magic Loop. Gauge change anyone?? (by TWO sizes!). Froged and let them sit. This year, I asked if she still wanted them and she said yes. So...picked up the needles, changed needle size and went to work. Got to the same place with the second pair. Took me 7 HOURS to figure out how to do a glove finger that bound off nicely. (had a method from a usually reliable website. Turns out, that in the comments she's contradicted herself on several points. Which = bad instructions). After dumpling that method, it took another while of YouTubeing to get a bind-off that worked. I FINALLY have those gloves done!! (happy dance!) but they're fraternal twins in some ways. So...I'm doing another pair. Since I couldn't find anything out there for this type glove, I was thinking about putting it out there for a couple of bucks. (Needs testing before doing so.)

    Your post will sure help me to do this. And as I'm single and I've been unemployed for over 2 years, any little bit will help the budget. Thank you SO much for sharing this!

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  2. Is there anyway to download this without signing up for yet another website?

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  3. Hi Darlene :)
    I am so happy you are working on a design for your gloves...it sounds like you have already done most of the work...now just focus on writing it up, bit by bit :)
    I hope you'll let us know when it is up on Rav...
    ♥Heidi

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  4. Hi Savannagal,
    Unfortunately, I am not aware of any other way in which to add a doc to a blogger blogpost...if you know of another way that avoids having to use Scribd, I would really appreciate you letting me know :)

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