A lot of times I get asked questions about how I design. Hmmm. It’s not always the same. Sometimes I see something and it inspires a fabulous idea. If I’m on top of things I file that inspiration away in some useable form. Sometimes the ideas leave my head as quickly as they come and they never see the light of day. I found myself a little leather notebook that is filled with graph paper though, and I’ve been getting much better at throwing together a quick sketch or a chart. So less ideas are going off into the ether.
On Saturday Kimber and I worked at the yarnstore. The day was winding down and it had been a long one. We were rearranging yarn and kind of just slugging along when the owner offered up a treat. New yarn to stock on the shelves! Kimber and I are grade-A first-class yarn sniffers. And touchers, and fondlers… well if you get it, you get it, and if you don’t, there’s no way to explain it. But we were happy. A Stitch In Time now carries Lorna’s Laces in Worsted, Sock, and Helen’s Lace. All gorgeous. Plus we now have MadelineTosh Tosh Sock. There are no words for how gorgeous this, so here’s a picture of what I brought home in the Ink colorway:

I bought it for a specific purpose. There is this amazing reversible stitch pattern I’ve been wanting to use in a shawlette pattern. And I thought this would be perfect. So I brought it home and held it in my lap for a long time. And then I decided that it would not work for it’s intended purpose. I do this all. the. time. Sometimes I end up using the yarn for something else. Sometimes the yarn is forlorn and lost for a very long time. But this yarn was too pretty. So I caked it up and tried to re-purpose it.

It did not work. At all. The idea I had is a good one. But it needs some tweaking and it’s not ready for public consumption as it were. So I went back to the yarn’s original intended purpose. (This happens all the time!) Because I had abandoned the original idea without actually swatching it, I figured it wouldn’t kill me to swatch.

And I love the combination! Today I spent a few hours on SugarbeeStudios’ couch. I charted up the pattern, and I modified it with a coordinating lace edging. As soon as my household duties are done today I will swatch it all up to make sure it works. And then it will be pattern-writing time. Coming soon to a pdf near you…