The serendipity of stitch patterns
A peek into designing process, CraftDoodling Designs updates, etc.
One of the steps in knitwear design is finding the right stitch pattern to match a designer’s vision for a particular piece. Sometimes, the perfect stitch pattern is already out there, waiting to be discovered and transformed into a design. More often than not, though, stitch patterns inspire designs into existence.
But what happens when there’s no existing stitch pattern that fits your idea? The best approach is often to tweak an existing one to achieve what you need.
Tweaking a stitch pattern for aesthetic
You might be familiar with my Tuberose Cowl. For that design, I loved this stitch pattern that I had spotted in the Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible book.
But I wanted it to feel more organic—like a spray of those little tube-like florets. A slight staggering of the stitch repeats made the pattern more fluid and visually appealing. Do you agree? 💙
Tweaking a stitch pattern for math
At times, a stitch pattern may suit a design both functionally and aesthetically, but the math may not quite work for the shaping we’re trying to achieve.
Currently, I’m working on a shawl design where, after several attempts at charting and writing out the pattern rows, I decided to introduce two extra rows. This adjustment makes the repeats easier to manage, and the knitter won’t have to juggle eight different charts. 😬
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Serendipitous stitch patterns that just happen to be
For the Manzil Mitts, I was searching for an octagonal-ish stitch pattern as a nod to the inner chambers of the Taj Mahal—the theme of the collection. I felt like I had hit the jackpot when I found a stitch pattern that fit both the concept and the back of the mitts perfectly! 🤩
On another note, I loved the beauty and simplicity of both of these stitch patterns so much that I designed matching accessories: the Tuberose Mitts and Manzil Socks.
Do you enjoy these glimpses into the design process? Have you experimented with manipulating stitch placement yourself? Please share your thoughts in comments. 💙✨
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CRAFTDOODLING DESIGNS UPDATES
I am working on this one-skein design currently and absolutely love how it is turning out so far. 🥰
New design in progress I have listed the Ravelry links for designs discussed in today’s post below, just in case you want to check them out. 💙
I have picked up my spindle after a long gap. Thankfully I haven’t forgotten everything. :0) It’s some gorgeous BFL fiber from Wonderland Dyeworks and it’s mesmerizing. Any spinners out here? I would love to know what you are working on. 💙
Currently spinning..
OTHER THINGS YOU MIGHT LIKE
A fascinating article about the future of programmable fabrics: What can theoretical physics teach us about knitting?
READING UPDATES
Finished Reading 📖
The Murder of Mr.Wickham - Claudia Gray
The Midnight Feast - Lucy Foley
Wrong place Wrong time - Gillian McAllister
Currently Reading 📖
The enigma of garlic - Alexander McCall Smith
Until next time,
Kavitha. ♡
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I like what you did with either tuberose pattern- and your yarn choice transformed it too. The staggering of the pattern made it much more dynamic, moving in all directions instead of vertical and horizontal. The Manzil mitts are so pretty- you seem to have a knack for matching stitch to yarn.
I love to read about design processes, and your design process. Your patterns always have the most lush textures and the colours and yarns you pair them with are perfect. 💗
(I'm currently almost finished with writing the pattern for my knot bag, and as with previous makes, one of the things that I find most challenging but also interesting is coming up with ways of representing and explaining in words and images particular details and techical stuff that are not so standard. I don't mean it in the sense I've invented something, cause I'm sure others use these techniques and write patterns for them, but in the sense I don't know of any standards as there are for more traditional crochet. I wonder how my future written patterns will develop and look like as I become more confident in the solutions I come up with. It's one of the things I'd like to write about here on Substack. Will have to take care of that! 🤓)