So far, I've lived my life as a 'by the rules' kind of girl (unless the rules are unfair or illogical, in which case a sense of justice prevails - I'll fight tooth and nail). I never got into trouble as a kid, I worked hard at school, worked hard in my career and at parenting, and generally did things 'right'. To use an analogy, my life has been spent colouring within the lines, even when I really didn't want to be.
Lately, I've come to realise that it's ok to scribble, in both a metaphorical and literal sense. Recent 'artistic' endeavours (blogged here, here, and here) have taught me three valuable lessons which apply to my sketching and, perhaps more importantly, to life:
a) experiment, without being afraid of mistakes,
b) have fun by adding colour, and
c) keep adding more until it "works" and feels balanced
Seeing my sketchbooks fill up with interesting patterns and colours makes me want to carry these lessons into my knitting - and with my new rebellious outlook, why not?
Last week's circles or stripes dilemma made me decide to try something more experimental for this project. I usually sit down with swatches and a sketchbook when designing anything, and indeed when I ordered this yarn there was a very definite plan (and a sketch) in place. However I've decided not to follow it. Instead, I've set myself just a few guidelines, and will keep adding colour until it feels 'right'.
The Constraints:
1. Each RS row must decrease one stitch at the beginning and one at the end
2. The stripes should not be in a regular/uniform position
3. Circles and stripes are a possibility
I'm using two lovely Scheepjes yarns - Invicta Colour (75% Wool/ 25% nylon) and Stone Washed (78% cotton/ 22% acrylic) and love the way they are working up although I honestly have no idea how it's going to turn out... I'll show you more next week.
Nice yarn, that's start. Good luck to the process. Regula
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