Secondly, the time limit was something that I haven’t had to really deal with in any of my knitting/crochet projects yet. In fact, I am so slow at completing things, I often get bored and start something else! My pile of WIP’s is slightly horrendous to say the least!
I thought that I would design something quite simple, that wouldn’t really need the size altering, making it perfect for a beginner to learn a new stitch or two. I chose to make a knitted item, as I have more experience with knitting, although I am a lot quicker at crocheting!
The colours of the yarn were so fabulous, and I tried out a few different stitch types to try and conjure up some inspiration! I found a scale like pattern that I loved, and it reminded me very much of the scales on a mermaids tail! Although I know that mermaids aren’t real (or are they?!) the mix of colours together made me think of a mermaid, different to the usual blue/green vibe. I found an old diary, and decided to make a notebook cover. Very basic idea i know, but I loved the idea of making something simple that could be knitted up quickly, and would make a perfect gift for someone. I love the page keepers that come with notebooks, but I wanted something a bit more bold and out there, so I decided to create a tassel shaped like a mermaids tail! Big, bold and with a lot of flare!
The colours of the yarn were so fabulous, and I tried out a few different stitch types to try and conjure up some inspiration! I found a scale like pattern that I loved, and it reminded me very much of the scales on a mermaids tail! Although I know that mermaids aren’t real (or are they?!) the mix of colours together made me think of a mermaid, different to the usual blue/green vibe. I found an old diary, and decided to make a notebook cover. Very basic idea i know, but I loved the idea of making something simple that could be knitted up quickly, and would make a perfect gift for someone. I love the page keepers that come with notebooks, but I wanted something a bit more bold and out there, so I decided to create a tassel shaped like a mermaids tail! Big, bold and with a lot of flare!
Once I had decided what to make, and the stitch that I was going to use, it was time to knit up some tension squares! I will admit that I am a terrible knitter, as I don’t think that I have ever knitted a tension square! Shock horror, I know! I never really got taught how to do them properly and what I was measuring for, and I have always just started a project using the needle size recommended. I’ve never made anything that was super fitted, so I guess that it’s never really been that much of a problem if a garment was too big or small. Publishing a pattern to be judged, and then released for other knitters to knit at home, meant that I needed to get this right! I did a lot of research online, checked and double checked my final pattern until I finally got it right!
As my pattern was quite simple, it was easy keeping track of what I was doing to write it down for the final draft. I sent the message pattern off to be judged and a couple of days later, all five entries went live to be voted for on the Facebook group.
I entered this competition as a chance to be able to design something and be judged by complete strangers, the strict time frame meant that I focused a lot more than on something I’d make for myself. It was exciting and I couldn’t wait to see what everyone else had come up with. What I didn’t expect was the underhanded voting that went on. The Facebook group was meant for knitters and crocheters to be able to vote for something that they’d like to get the pattern for to make themselves, but one of the entrants decided to add lots of their family and friends to vote for them, which made it very unfair for the rest of us, and when they eventually won and were called out by the company for doing this, they accused the company of cheating. The comments that then came through were some of the worst that I have seen, and I have never experienced anything like it in the knitting and crochet community before. It put me off for a little while, which is probably why it’s taken me so long to write this!
Overall, I really enjoyed this experience, it showed me that I can design something, that I can work to a strict time frame (!) and that it doesn’t matter whether anyone else likes it or not, because I was happy with what I created and it taught me a lot about how to design and write down a knitting pattern.
This is my design - the Mermaid Notebook Cover - it’s free to download on Ravelry!
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mermaid-notebook-cover
As my pattern was quite simple, it was easy keeping track of what I was doing to write it down for the final draft. I sent the message pattern off to be judged and a couple of days later, all five entries went live to be voted for on the Facebook group.
I entered this competition as a chance to be able to design something and be judged by complete strangers, the strict time frame meant that I focused a lot more than on something I’d make for myself. It was exciting and I couldn’t wait to see what everyone else had come up with. What I didn’t expect was the underhanded voting that went on. The Facebook group was meant for knitters and crocheters to be able to vote for something that they’d like to get the pattern for to make themselves, but one of the entrants decided to add lots of their family and friends to vote for them, which made it very unfair for the rest of us, and when they eventually won and were called out by the company for doing this, they accused the company of cheating. The comments that then came through were some of the worst that I have seen, and I have never experienced anything like it in the knitting and crochet community before. It put me off for a little while, which is probably why it’s taken me so long to write this!
Overall, I really enjoyed this experience, it showed me that I can design something, that I can work to a strict time frame (!) and that it doesn’t matter whether anyone else likes it or not, because I was happy with what I created and it taught me a lot about how to design and write down a knitting pattern.
This is my design - the Mermaid Notebook Cover - it’s free to download on Ravelry!
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mermaid-notebook-cover
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