Anatomy of a Sweater Pattern: Inspiration

Welcome to a new series on how I write patterns! I'm going to go through the steps that I took to write a sweater pattern. This is Part 1: Inspiration.

Something I didn't anticipate about New York that I probably should've: the winters are cold. So cold. So I've been getting a lot of use out of the Talula pullover I finished just after we moved here:

It's the first jumper I've made, and I love it. But there are only so many times I can wear it in a week without it becoming conspicuous, so I decided I needed a new one. Enter the Necessity Jumper.

I came up with the name for a couple of reasons. First off, I made it out of necessity because, well, I'm cold. Secondly, the amount of yarn I have in my apartment is reaching breaking point so I really need to use some up. Lastly, some of the design choices were made because I needed to save my sanity and not knit an entire jumper's worth of stockinette.

I made a Necessity Jumper board on Pinterest with all of the images I used for inspiration. But if you'd like more of an explanation, read on!

2016 in review

So friends, another year's over, and while 2016 was a bit gloomy I actually had a blast. It was so full of adventure and achievement, because after years and years of scheming, I finally got this little creative venture of mine off the ground!

Here are the knitting-related things I'm most proud of:

• I opened my Etsy shop.
• I published my first knitting pattern.
• I pivoted my Instagram account to focus on my knitting.
• Patterns published: 7
• Items sold on Etsy: 20
• Finished items that other people have made from my patterns (that I know of): 8
• Number of people I taught how to knit: 22

Diagonal Stripe Scarf

I love cables, but have been wanting to play with creating texture and patterns with simple knit and purl stitches for a while. After making a bunch of Seed Stitch Scarves I figured giving a different textured scarf a shot would be fun. As it turns out, diagonal ribbing is fairly straightforward but looks amazing. The yarn is nice and chunky and warm so it's a pretty quick knit, and if you can't decide between the regular and infinity version, well, why not try both? ;)

  

The Basketseed Cowl

I have a soft spot for basketweave. When my mother realised that someone had taught me how to knit, she took pity on me and taught me how to purl. After I tried it for a while I realised that the knit and the purl sides of my knitting looked different, and I figured out how to do a somewhat modified basketweave stitch for myself. The first pattern I ever designed was a basketweave scarf.

Unfortunately the edges tend to curl up, but I've been wanting to try a chunky knit cowl pattern recently and knitting in the round seemed like the perfect solution to the problem of the edges curling. I've been playing with seed stitch a lot too recently and couldn't resist throwing some in, so the Basketseed cowl was born!

 

Click through for the pattern, or if you're pressed for time you can buy the finished product on Etsy!

Blanket capers

A long time ago, I stumbled across a crazy baby blanket pattern called OpArt on Knitty. The pattern was fairly hypnotic, and I wanted to make one but really didn't have an excuse to. Fast forward to mid 2012, and when one of my best friends found out that he and his wife were having a baby boy, I knew exactly what I wanted to make as a present for him!

The Slouchy Mushroom Beanie

I love slouchy beanies. They make the perfect winter accessory - they keep you nice and warm, but they're still really stylish. I'm teaching a workshop on how to knit in the round soon, and I wanted to use beanie pattern that wasn't too complicated - just knit, purl, and some basic increases and decreases. After a bit of an internet search proved fruitless, I decided to just write my own.

I still had a ball of We Are Knitters yarn left over from my seed stitch scarves, so I decided to make a beanie that would match the scarf. This pattern doesn't use a whole ball - if you go buy yourself three balls and make the hat first, you can use the left overs to make your scarf a little longer.

  

Seed stitch scarf set

Seed stitch is a beautiful way to add some texture to a garment, and it's great as a beginner's first pattern - all it uses is knit and purl stitches. I first made this chunky infinity scarf about three years ago, and it seemed like the perfect thing to make with a batch of yarn I got from We Are Knitters. Then I decided to make a regular version too. They ended up being lovely and soft and very, very warm.

 

If you'd like a matching beanie to go with your scarf, go check out the Slouchy Mushroom Beanie pattern.