Sneak Peak: My First Design

Yup, you read right. I designed a thing… or am in the process of designing a thing, rather.   I’m carefully tiptoeing into the world of design!  I have decided to start off simple, with a nice scarf in a stitch I discovered recently and really loved.  This kept the design process simple and painless for me so far and has prevented me from getting completely overwhelmed.  I’ve been quite afraid up until now to even attempt to design even the most simple project, mainly due to a fear of failure, I think.  Also, I just wasn’t feeling inspired.  A friend told me that eventually an idea would come to me and once it did that the inspiration would start to flow.  She was right (as much as I hate to admit it!) because I already have a number of ideas for follow up projects.

Some of you may be able to suss out the main stitch from the photos, but shhh… don’t tell!

I won’t be showing any real detailed photos yet, because I’m still a bit nervous about this whole process and also I am working with lace which will require blocking before the real pattern will show properly.  The Alpaca Rhythm yarn by Scheepjes inspired me for this project, which you can read about the yarn here in a previous post.  I am using the colour Polka for this scarf.

Here is what I can tell you about the project so far…

It’s not your typical lace project.  When I hear about lace, I imagine a lot of intricate design with loads of yarn over holes.  That may just be me but it’s the first thing I think of whenever anyone mentions a lace scarf or shawl. They are beautiful, mind you, but a bit too ambitious for me design-wise right now.  Also, I was dying to make something using one particular stitch, which is a solid knit.  That’s not saying this scarf won’t be incredibly light and airy, I mean… it’s still lace yarn!

It’s a repetitive and easy to learn pattern.  Hollah! If you are like me and enjoy knitting in front of the TV, this will be one for you.  Once I figured out how I wanted to lay out the pattern and did the first few repeats, I was off to the races.  This is a great project for watching TV or whatever else you like to do while knitting, as it doesn’t require you to constantly be reading a pattern.

It’s got BEADS! Lots and lots of beads!  I think it’s the fact that Christmas is near because I felt the need to add a little bling to this project. Not too in your face, but just a little something extra.  I started with a larger bead that turned out to be too distracting and finally settled on a smaller, more subtle silver lined bead in the same colour as the yarn, which is perfect.

Don’t worry, though! If you aren’t a fan of beads, I will also be including instructions on how to make the scarf without it, so the choice is yours!

There are a lot of stitches!  Personally, I don’t mind this, in fact I kind of like it.  At this point I am about 300 rows in and am only half done!  They aren’t difficult stitches, so that helps make it pass by more quickly.  With such a fine yarn and a lot of stitches, it makes for a really nice solid texture that is still really light.  I expect that this scarf will take somewhere between two to three balls of yarn, which are only 25g each!  The beads are small and weigh next to nothing as well so while it will be enough to keep you warm, it also makes this a scarf that is easily rolled up and tucked in your purse!

Blocking is magic for this!  I first knitted a swatch to test the stitch with this yarn and as I was knitting it I was convinced I was going to have to scrap the entire idea.  I reminded myself that lace can be deceiving and often only reveals its true beauty after a good blocking, and that was the case with this.  As I laid it out and pinned it, it came into exactly what I had imagined it to be and it stayed that way when it was dry.  Lace is so funny like that, it’s almost like doing your own little personal mystery knit-along where you aren’t sure what you are really getting until it’s blocked.  Now, you know I’m a huge fan of blocking across the board, but when it comes to lace?  It really is magic.  I will have some good comparison photos later when I have photos of the finished project to compare it to.

So, I guess you could call this will soon be my debut as a baby, beginner designer.  Be gentle, please, I’m fragile!  I will be back shortly with the finished product and pattern.  That is, if I can ever think of a name for it!  Stay tuned!

This design is made with Sheepjes Alpaca Rhythm lace yarn.  You can find a list of retailers that sell it here on the Scheepjes website.  It is also available worldwide via Wool Warehouse*.

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