Inspired To Knit

Every design begins with inspiration. Knitwear designer Michele Rose Orne shares her secrets in Inspired to Knit, a collection of 21 patterns arranged by season. Michele finds inspiration in her surroundings and translates that inspiration into beautiful, original knitting projects. Her book is designed to help the reader find inspiration too. Four workshops allow you to gather ideas, create color patterns, sketch silhouettes to incorporate in future patterns. Envisioning a design is a wonderful place to begin any project, but having a sketch to look at is even better.

I personally have a sketch book in my knitting bag, my purse, and scattered throughout my house. A teacher, I had in elementary school, encouraged me to keep sketch pads around because you never know when you’ll find inspiration. Besides the sketch pad I also have a collection of inspiring photographs. These photographs can range from a sail boat to a swatch of fabric. Inspiration is everywhere.

Using the techniques in Michele’s book I created a collage of inspiration, sketches, and final design. My design is a top inspired by the feel of a sail boat on the water. It was easy to be inspired by this project. My readers will find that my sketches are far from artistic, but I hope that they will also find that the sketches don’t need to be anything special, just a general idea of the design. Getting started knitting is slightly trickier because you must decide stitch pattern, sizing, etc. But once you have decided all of this, with a little bit of planning, you can begin to try out your pattern.

I encourage you to obtain a copy of this book and allow it to feel you with creativity. I really enjoyed my nautical themed tank and I hope you will enjoy your own creations just as much.