Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Back to the drawing board

Whenever I remember to buy the Sunday papers, I look through the colour supplements and if stuff catches my eye, I'll put it up on my knitting design board, as inspiration. Last week, I took a look and obviously, I had ruffles on my mind:


I was all ready to scope out ways to design a cardi or pullover with a deep front slit and ruffles. Then I thought to myself, hang on...does that sound familiar? Of course it does! Kim Hargreaves has already done it! I loved Rosa when I saw it ages ago. Apparently it stuck. May have to knit it. So awesome.

Anyway, this brings me to something that's been on my mind lots. It's come to the forefront because the new Knitty came out today. Throughout my designing stint, I've submitted patterns to places (though not to Knitty for more than a year now), and been accepted as well as rejected. This is fine. Except every once in a while, I'll look at publications and think: What?! They publish that, but not my genius design?! What are they smoking?! And then, of course, I look at blogs and Ravelry, and people rave about the stuff I'm least excited about, proving that the editors know what they're doing.

And then I think, Holy crap, do I just have really bad taste?

So then I think, Aha! I've got it, I shall design stuff other people seem to like! That's it! Genius.

But, in sane moments, I know that's madness. It would be the easiest way to turn something I like doing into a chore. Plus, playing the game of trying to predict what other people like would be crazy-making. I knit for me.

I definitely don't envy the people who have to pick patterns and put together a magazine that makes sense.

Having said that, I'm off to give them more work.

4 comments:

soknitpicky said...

Well, I think your work is great! I've got one queued up for this spring. Oh, and I have Rosa queued up too.

Anonymous said...

Well, i certainly don't rate this issue of Knitty, but I do like what you design!

mooncalf said...

Keep doing what you're doing. I don't rate this Knitty at all (in fact I've been a bit mystified by it for quite a while now) but some people really do seem to like it.

Detail observations of the world around me for the past 32 years has revealed that surprisingly few people think exactly the way I do. This is a disappointment to me and, I think, a shame for the world in general but I've stopped questioning it. Mostly I just sigh, shake my head a little sadly and carry on with my own mad whims and fancies!

Woolly Stuff said...

please keep designing the pieces you like. I often look at rav and see the work people seem to really like, and it's stuff I detest. Sometimes, it seems people "favourite" (can't quite get used to that as a verb) pieces that are just really complicated / complex to make (insane amounts of colour-work, for example), but are hideous (in my opinion, of course).