Bex Knitty Design

  A Design refresh once in a while and back with a release... I have enjoyed a few days off this week, so not too much design work going on and therefore to talk about to be honest apart from a bit more more on my Sanctuary Space Shawl along with a whole lot of designing in my head, and preparing for this weeks release of the ' Squish Factor Cowl ' such as readying the pattern PDF, pictures, promotion and such ... Oh and reworking the 2021 release schedule to accommodate everyone better, including me, well I guess I knew it would happen... Sometimes it's nice to step away, perhaps work on a personal knitting project here and there and just refresh When Friday is a Release Day!... Today sees the release of the ' Squish Factor Cowl ', available in my Ravelry store ' Bex Knitty Design ' and shortly also on LoveCrafts.com! This is a soft cozy hug of a cowl, made in a big loop so it can be wrapped double. it's a nice rhythmic and relaxing knit which brings co...

  There's always another shaped canvas to choose from...   I started designing with one shawl in mind. It was my ' Fairfield Harvest Shawl ' and it was worked mainly in garter stitch to keep it simple, but it included some slipped stitch patterning, because as you may be able to tell from a few of my designs, I love working slipped stitch patterning. But most importantly it was a triangular shaped shawl which tends to be my most worn shawls, and probably one of my favourite way of creating triangular shawls, it was a long/shallow triangle worked side to side. I like this method of constructing a triangle shaped shawl as I feel it really allows for control over the dimensions, allowing you to modify this a bit, such as in the amount of depth to be allowed for the frontal point. Strangely, I haven't made one since, and maybe that's because it sometimes doesn't seem as simple and I am always thinking how to keep things as simple fo the lovely knitters that choose ...

  Knit, Knit, Rip, Rip, Knit, Knit ... There has been a whole lot of the part I love most about designing since the last post- the actual knitting! I knit and then ripped out and then knit again on my Worsted weight triangular shawl (I think I referred to it as DK previously?) I have been working on, due to not being happy with the way of the stitch patterning was meeting in the centre, so a bit behind in progress on it, but very happy with how it's looking now! I hope you like the look of it too from the pictures under the design  in progress section below! Also been mulling over a design that I have had in my mind but I am not too sure if I should actually make or not. It's wrap version of some patterns I already have published, and it will possibly mean some chart conversion from in the round to flat and a whole lot more planning, but I'm still not totally sure if I'll be going down that path with it or not ... will try to come to a concrete decision over the weekend...

  I wish there were just the fun parts... (Part 2) Last Sunday we spent some of the day on a rather large photo shoot in preparation for some designs that will be released throughout February and March, you can see some of these shots in the picture above. It's once again, not my most loved part of the process 😅but whilst it's not strictly necessary, I think, what I call 'Flat' pictures, of an item can be perfectly adequate and just as nice and if not more aesthetically pleasing but I like to show the item being 'worn' if possible. It's just whilst in permanent state of hibernation for 2020 they are simply something I really haven't fancied doing! 😄 So the need for doing this built up for quite a few of these future design releases, as well as some past ones that I managed to sneak some shots in for. So, I'm pleased I at least got this done, better late than never! Then comes the editing, choosing the pics that best show the item and the particular...

  I wish there were just the fun parts... This week has been all about pattern writing which is not my favourite part of the design process but is obviously very important, so if I am to keep on track with the 2021 schedule I have set myself, I needed to get this patterns written up by the end of this week … that is that box ticked.  I do tend to wish designing could be all about sourcing lovely yarns and just being immersed in the stitches but there is the more colder side like writing up patterns. I used to write each row as I knit it with a pencil and large foolscap worth of paper, but now I tend to type those rows down instead on a rough Word doc draft so at least I don't have to start, like I used to, with having to type up every faintly scrawled in pencil word, which was definitely worse than the new system. Now it's mainly copying everything over, lots of just fixing any quick typing errors, making sure everything that should be in lower / upper case is, putting everyth...

  The instant gratification of hats... This week all my design knitting time has been spent on hats, hats based on and therefore to match some of y previously released shawl designs. I have done this before as it's my favourite way to use up leftovers from the shawls that I have made. I love to use leftovers in a practical useful manner, so they tend to all go into boxes, labeled with the various yarn weights I tend to use (I'm not much of a lace weight knitter!  😂 ) and the intent is to use them as small quantities to make up colourwork sweaters for myself...that rarely tends to become a reality soon after being put in the boxes...So they more often than not, pop into my mind screaming to become a new design instead, and because they are a leftover from a design that means for me, a complimentary piece. This spark of inspiration is then followed practically instantly by working out how to take the main elements of the shawl design in question and try to break those elements ...

  Into my own little Knittiverse... I'm still in a bit of an organisational phase at the moment with the start of the New Year still quite fresh, and for me doing that helps me wrap my head around all the ideas and plans jumping out of it 😂 More about what's looming closest on the horizon for Bex Knitty Designs laid out in the Design / Tests in Progress sections coming up A few words first though on stashquisition and my love for it... Knitting, designing knitwear and all of the parts and processes in between are all looped together with one common thread - the love of yarn, and beautiful yarn which someone has poured their heart into creating will always steal my heart away. This year when it comes to yarn, has been about getting a nice little stashquisition squirreled away for future designs, which absolutely helps with my planning of 20+ designs I have scheduled for 2021/2 and so I thought I would share this yarny-heart warming pic of some of what I hav...