The Prepping of a New Project

I’ve come to realise it is quite time-consuming to begin a new project. It starts with going into a yarn shop, browsing the shelves, falling in love with some texture and colour, and buying a few balls with some vague intent for a project in mind.

Hmm, I can knit a nice tank top with that, I’ll need 4-5 balls, probably – or – this one’s beautiful, but so expensive, perhaps I’ll just pick up one skein and knit a scarf or a wrap.

Then I take my new pets home, enter them into my stash on Ravelry, and begin to browse for patterns I can use that take into account the yarn weight, the amount of yarn I bought, the type of textile it’s made from, the time of year it seems most appropriate for, whether or not the pattern’s free, and if it’s not, how much it costs, and whether the pattern looks doable for my skill level.

I will literally spend upwards of 3 hours on this for each project. Probably a lot more than that… probably twice that.

It’s really, really hard to decide on the perfect pattern. Apart from just choosing something I enjoy, I also have to consider whether I’d wear the final product, or whom I could gift it to if not. My taste is… very simple. I don’t like overly fussy designs or lace, I don’t tend to wear any wraps right now, and accessories I keep to a minimum always. I don’t typically like sleeves, though I’ll wear them when I’m cold. So my options are limited – which in some ways is good. But on the other hand, it makes it difficult to find just that right pattern that I want to knit. Often, I’ll have some idea in my mind about what I’d like to make, but then I can find a pattern that’s even remotely close to that.

I suppose this is the trouble other knitters run into, that causes them to bridge the gap towards becoming a knitwear designer. Certainly, this interests me, but I feel my skill level is not yet at the point where I could do that and be satisfied with it. I don’t even fully understand the designs I’m currently knitting, let alone do I think I could sketch something, come up with stitch patterns for it, and then make it to the dimensions that would fit me. It seems an insurmountable task right now, though I’m sure I’ll take it on at some point.

For now, I’ll just continue to scour the Ravelry pattern database, with an eye for the perfect pattern for the yarn I’m contemplating at the moment.