Knitting patterns that fit beautifully
This week I want to say a big thank you to the knitting folk who’ve shown their support for From Needle to Needle, and to provide an index of all the resources mentioned throughout the series.
In my previous post I detailed some approaches to sustainable working practices that support designers and makers. This week I will step further back from knitting and crochet patterns to discuss how clothing production needs to get away from the market economy, and what that might mean for knitters, crocheters, and other clothes makers.
This post brings us back down to earth to talk about economies of knitting pattern production. You will have to be VERY realistic about how much you can earn from selling knitting patterns. This is a long one, so buckle up!
If you have been steadfast about the design process as a whole and held onto the integrity of your vision, at this point you look over your inspiration, innovation, and development work and make executive decisions about what is or what is not right for your design or collection. Curation is not a selection or editorial process; it is a means of opening a dialogue so that you can evaluate intentions and progress…
The development phase is one of the longest stages of the design process because it’s when you start transmuting ideas from imagination into reality.
With knitting (and crochet too), you’re aiming to speak with colour, pattern and texture; know that if you can find the words, you can find the stitches. Only the medium of communication has changed: you are learning and using a different language, that’s all.