dear tulip

This is the sketch I submitted to Knits magazine that became the sweater "tulips" in the Fall 2006 Knitscene.
The lovely Julia from Mind of Winter had suggested that I might write something about the submission process as a topic for my sparse blog. My original swatch had been in two shades of linen, a melon and French blue. The fabric felt crisp and summery with lots of air and drape. Part of the design process when making a pattern for a magazine is working with a yarn different from what might have been originally imagined. The editor sent a tencel/alpaca blend yarn that was lovely and soft but created an entirely different garment. I don't feel that attached to things I make for hire. The process is challenging and exciting but I know from the start that my knitting will be packed up and sent off to another place to be photographed and live inside the pages of a magazine or book. And that’s cool! With that in my mind, I am up for yarn changes as part of the process and consider it an interesting aspect of making something new.
Most designs start with swatching. Where does that start? I might see a yarn that looks delicious, and say “ooh I must have”. Yes, that is the usual beginning. But sometimes I might get a picture in my head of something to make and then things start with the sketch. Occasionally, the steps are mushed together and there is no telling of what came first, the sketch, the dream, or the swatch.
While drawing this sketch my mind drifted to a countryside I have never been to but would like to visit, my appetites were tickled with the aromas and flavors of this distant land and it was a lovely experience.