It’s a little weird to me, the randomness of which patterns are instant favorites and which ones aren’t. I added three new designs to my ravelry journal, Draper, Element, and Ondula, and it was fascinating to see which one skyrocketed to the top.
The immediate winner was Draper, a triangular shawl (or scarf, I included instructions for two sizes, booyah) I designed for Shibui while really taking their design aesthetic into consideration – i.e. modern, clean lines, simple yet sophisticated. The result with a nontraditional bit of lace that is designed using the traditional top-down construction of the Shetland islands:
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love this design. I am so proud of it that I could burst. Lindsay (our cover girl) came to me many months ago with a pretty simple request – to design a triangular shawl that could be knit with two+ skeins of Staccato and look amazing in one of the handpainted colorways.
The idea I had was ‘gradient’. It seemed very modern and, well, different. Start with a little stockinette and then one repeat of the lace pattern – a geometric motif with a slight chevron, perfect for variegates- then follow it with an even larger section of stockinette and two repeats of the lace, etc etc. Strangely enough, the idea totally worked.
In fact, the result was nothing short of miraculous, considering I’d never designed a triangular lace shawl before (this did feel a little like jumping in the deep end at first) and that the design actually came out the right size and looked, to me, beautiful.
I mean, wow. How the heck did that happen?
I think I’m going to have to go with magic, since the odds were so far against the first try coming out perfectly. And, let me tell you, that sample was knit from a pattern I wrote from a swatch and it was the test knitting portion of this experiment. Talk about blind faith and a little bit of crazy.
I’m not bragging; really, I’m not. I’m just surprised that this was the favorite of the three on ravelry. I mean, if the average person had to pick between a tunic/ dress, a scarf, and a lace shawl for wearability, I’d have thought the tunic/ dress would be a shoo-in.
Apparently not. Of course, I have to admit that Draper is my favorite of the three, too. But I’m a lace fiend and probably ‘tetched’ in the head. Especially since I’ve promised myself that I can knit another one out of Staccato in ‘Poodle Skirt’ for me and me alone… once I’ve finished the other samples I have OTN (sigh).
This is all a very long and rambling way of telling you that people are surprising – and that I appreciate it. It’s nice to know that all that effort wasn’t in vain. Tomorrow I’ll try and blog a bit about the other designs; which, although not favorites, are still very much beloved by me :)
Sara Morris Design 