The drop repeat is the most widely used method of tessellation symmetry in knitting and crochet. It can occur along a vertical axis – when most textile books will refer to it as a ‘drop’ repeat – or a horizontal axis, when it can also be referred to as a brick repeat.
Author: Natalie in Stitches
London-based knitting and crochet designer and qualified teacher, who also enjoys sewing and pattern cutting. Loves anything made with needles, thread and yarn.
Fortnightly blog posts from next week
A very short but sweet post to let you know that, as of next week, I’ll be posting on a fortnightly schedule.
Programmes and Patterns: Or, What Bugs Us About Knitting
“It’s like code!” is a phrase I’ve heard several times over the years when teaching people how to knit and crochet. If the physical execution is muscle memory, then the pattern itself is a programme or choreography. Another choice word, also gifted by new knitters, is “recipe”, which – although etymologically unconnected to the word…
Favourite Book: Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things
This was the book that made me see that perhaps I could be a designer after all. The focus on product design, engineering and empathy was refreshing because of the focus on people, and designing products and systems that work for the people using them, not the other way around.
Knitwear Design 101: Introduction to Surface Pattern
“Pattern” is a loaded, confusing word. It can serve as a model or aspirational figure – “If you follow the pattern, you’ll get a sweater like the one in the photo” – or, more likely in that situation, a recipe. Instructions are received and, like cooking, they are used as a base for creation, with…
The Shape of Things to Come
The size the person chooses is a starting point, not a box to fit into.