Odds & Ends & Frustrations Turned Into Designs

The Odds & Ends
I've been collecting snippets (as Kathryn White calls them). My snippets are prototypes, color swatches, experiments (or failed attempts), and general odds & ends that I accumulate and keep. I keep them mostly because I can't throw them away--it just doesn't feel right to part with them.

I had these circles of color that I whipped up and decided to play around with joining. I might be on to something.

Experiment with joining

This motif was an experiment that didn't quite work. I kept tweaking it, of course, until I got it the way I wanted it to be. It has since been turned into a completed design that I wish I could show you, but hopefully some day you'll get to see it as a published design.

An experiment that didn't quite work

Frustrations
I do find it a bit frustrating that I shouldn't show you what I'm actually designing. If I do have a design I intend to self-publish then I will share. For now I shall vent my frustrations by showing some blurry images of the previous two pictures, as I could probably show a blurry image like these of my current and future designs.

Blurry green and gray blob

Glowy neon-like orbs

Frustrations Turned Into Designs
This past month I had my third cold of the season--an unusual experience for me as I typically do not get sick so many times. Once is typical, but three times has me wondering if my immune system hibernated. Anyhow, during the worst of my coughing fits and Nyquil-induced-mild-inebriation (it is 10% alcohol) I was having the most difficult time working out the edging for my latest accomplishment. I even resorted to geometry to assist me. (Which did help so I need to find a geometry or math teacher and let them know I finally did find a use for it.) Eventually as my brain sobered up from all of the cold medicine I found the right combination of stitches. I felt like a rube because it was pretty obvious and simple once I found the winning combo. It seems designing it all about trying, experimenting, being frustrated, and turning that frustration into a design.

Circles of Color

What color(s) do you like? I'm working on a design and can't decide which one I like best so I made up some swatches. The center variegated is just for fun--I have no intention of using it.

Which one(s) do you like best?

Breathe Into Life: My Sources of Inspiration

Shortly after I ventured into the realm of crochet designing I soon realized I was developing an almost superhero power that I shall arbitarily call "crochet vision". This unique vision, both voluntary and involuntary, is the ability to see a pattern, image, or just about anything, turned into crochet.

The involuntary form of this vision likes to strike when I'm in a restaurant or public venue. When it strikes there is the immediate need to capture that source of inspiration. There have been many times I've taken a picture of a plate, wall decoration, or sign having to use Pooky's cell phone camera because I forget to take mine.

The voluntary form of crochet vision I have manifests in seeing traditional art forms--mandalas, kolam, rangoli, and mehndi--as an endless source of translatable designs. When we last drove through Pennsylvania my crochet vision was activated by Amish hex signs.

Inspiration most recently struck while watching Downton Abbey when I spotted a beaded necklace worn by Lady Mary as being highly translatable. While searching for better images of the necklace in order to translate it, I came upon many other Victorian choker necklaces that sparked my vision.

Often I find myself overwhelmed with all of this source material. So many ideas, so little time. Hopefully I'll have many years of designing ahead of me so that I can translate a bit of all that inspires me.

When I first saw this image of a ceiling in the Taj Mahal I thought: "That's a doily!"

Collar Necklaces or Mehndi Motifs?

I'm finding that there are so many wonderful sources of inspiration for me to translate into crochet that I'm having to decide where to focus my energies and what goals I might achieve this year as an aspiring designer. Of the two possibilities, what would you be most interested in crocheting?

One possibility, inspired by seeing this necklace worn by Lady Mary on Downton Abbey, is to create a series of collar style necklaces. The designs would be inspired by Victorian beaded necklaces.

Lady Mary's necklace

The second possibility is to create a series of motifs inspired by mehndi designs. The motifs could be used for just about any project, but would be designed for thread.

Inspiration for Payal Barefoot Sandals