Where do you get your Inspiration and Excitement from?! Wow! What a question! I was asked this recently by a customer who bought several of my patterns and was interested in how I come up with my ideas. So I happy explained that inspiration comes from all sorts of things, and any time…. and I try to save the idea in my head and nurture it until it becomes and exciting plan for a pattern. I’m also constantly inspired by the work of artists and craftspeople I see at shows, Esty, Pinterest etc.
Take this yarn for example, it was dyed as “roving” by the lovely Sara of Sara’s Texture crafts (I met her first at Kelly House Woolly Weekend) and then spun by a new friend Jenn, of Jenn’s Knits ready for me to create…… My inspiration comes from the wool, the colours and the textural quality of this yarn and so the garment doesn’t need lots of fancy stitches or a complex shape as this would detract from the beauty of the yarn colours.
Sometimes I get inspired by a place I visit, a landscape, building, architecture or plants. The Oxford Wrap inspiration came from a visit to Waddesdon Manor in Oxfordshire; the plants growing up a wall as a topiary lattice fascinated me and so the design began to take shape.
I’m very excited by colour and this is often a source of inspiration for me. I went on a Kaffe Fassett quilting workshop many years ago, (he’s famous for his use of colour in his designs) and since then I have been much more confident with mixing colour and putting colours together. This is most apparent in my quilting…. but is also happening more and more as I design patterns with the fabulous hand dyed yarns Gorgeous Yarns sell.
I’m currently working on a knitted shrug design which features the delicious Bordeaux from Nurturing Fibres and is inspired by a boat trip on the Dordoigne last summer; watching the ripples on the shallow water lapping the banks. I’ll let you know when its finished, it will be soon! (The name of the yarn seems appropriate for a French inspired design!)
Do you see yarn sometimes and think…..ooh, I just love that, I must have it! Then either get it and put it in your stash because although it excites you, you don’t know what to make with it, or you leave it, because you don’t know what to make with it. Read next week’s blog for more inspiration on what to do with those yarns, how to make the best of them and enjoy the qualities of the yarn, its colour and texture.
Bye for now,
Caroline
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