Sources of Ideas

In my last post, I talked about crochet as a business and the need for ideas.  A great source of inspiration for me is stitch patterns and techniques.  I take out random balls of yarn and play with the stitch patterns to see how they behave, and to find out if they are "more trouble than they're worth". I seem to be drawn to those that contain color changes as well as those that allow me to paint with yarn.  Examples are my mosaic designs-- the Mosaic Diamond Rug, the Shadow Mosaic Rug, and the Christmas Star Rug. In addition to the color possibilites, the mosaic technique results in some great texture. Contrasting colors work well with this technique.

Another technique or pattern is the use of cables. Crochet cables consist of a combination of raised stitches (i.e., the long double crochet or long treble crochet). These stitches pass over the stitches of the previous row and twist in various directions.  And example of this is my Cables and Bouquets Afghan.

The technique or stitch pattern serves me as the beginning point, the seed. Next comes the "what"; the item to apply that idea to. I gravitate toward rugs and socks, so I will usually turn to those types of items first. Or I might be in the mood for a sweater, so I will start sketching the stitch pattern with the layout of a cardigan or pullover. Here is the original sketch for the Cables and Bouquet Afghan.

From the sketch, I begin to swatch and revise the sketch if needed. If the swatch works out, then there is more high-powered thinking which involves calculations. But we can discuss that on another day!

Happy Stitching!