This is really part 3 of my fabrication series-within-a-series (you can read part 1 and part 2 at the links), and it’ll also be the last Knitwear Design 101 post of the year at least. Drape, loft and lustre are three properties of fabric and fibre that aren’t always understood or exemplified, and I wanted…
Category: Knitwear Design 101
Knitwear Design 101 | Fabrication, part 2
In Fabrication part 1 I discussed fibre type, staple and yarn construction. This month I’ll focus on fabric construction and how construction techniques affect knitted fabric in general terms.
Knitwear Design 101 | Fabrication, part 1
Knit and crochet designers have several duties when it comes to fabrication. As well as considering the overall shape and silhouette of a garment, there comes the question of: This post focuses on fibre type and touches on yarn construction; fabric construction, construction techniques and finishing will follow. Fibre type This is probably the most…
Knitwear Design 101: Tessellations and surface pattern design
Translations such as drop repeats and reflections relate to the details, textures or images that make up a pattern. Tessellations refer to the geometric plan of the pattern as a whole.
Knitwear Design 101: Drop repeats and surface pattern design
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.
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…