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NaProus
Permanent Resident
1828 Posts |
 Posted - 12/03/2004 : 7:34:10 PM
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Is it when you see fabulous yarn?
Or see an incredible stitch that you just have to use?
Or do you see a pattern of a completed garment?
Or is there something else?
I'm a stitch or yarn person, myself. I tend to pour over Barbara Walker's various treasuries of knitting patterns, and get hooked on stitches. I've gone gaga over various cables, or yaya over lace (or would that be yoyo)...
Or I see some totally wonderful yarn somewhere, and just HAVE to do SOMETHING with it. Even if I have nothing specific in mind
But I can't seem to look at a pattern, and get excited about it. Don't know why.... And when I go into a LYS, and start looking at yarns, and someone wants to know what gauge I'm looking for, I think they're lunatic, and I haven't a clue! I don't think I've "done" a pattern since my very first sweater. Probably it would be good discipline for me, but I'm not very disciplined, I guess.
How about you? |
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Knitmama
Seriously Hooked
USA
682 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2004 : 7:50:03 PM
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Stitches and yarn, definitely! Sigh... leads to quite a stash.
Rachel |
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E. Bess
Warming Up
USA
85 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2004 : 8:18:31 PM
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YARN. For me, it's all about the yarn.
I see yarn, and I try to imagine what I'd make of it. And it can be anything that attracts me about the yarn. I mean, Cascade 220 is a pretty standard workhorse yarn, but it's got so many groovy colors, I can't resist buying a lot of it when I see it. Like tonight, f'rinstance. :)
I just bought that little booklet on yarn requirements that has been making the rounds (the one by Ann Budd, I believe it is -- I don't have it right here with me) and now I'm lethal. Project? Who needs a project? :)
http://www.support-your-local-busker.com |
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Pinky Yarn
Permanent Resident
USA
1045 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2004 : 9:34:50 PM
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yarn texture and colors for me i think
- Katie
I got out of the mafia!! im a new woman!!
The next generation of knitters :-)
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ozknitter
Permanent Resident
Australia
3248 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2004 : 11:25:18 PM
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Hi what inspires me is just browsing around the wool shop, usually Sunspun or Knitters of Australia.
Any book by Kaffe Fassett.
Most Vogue Knitting Magazines.
All of the Creative Knitting Australia so far.
Poking around in garage sales, jumble sales or op shops.
Lastly, coming on to the forums and other peoples ideas of where to go and look at different web sites.
It does it for me every time.
Knit in peace and harmony.
Rose. |
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Cameellie
Honorary Angel
USA
900 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2004 : 11:46:42 PM
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Yarn that feels good is what jazzes my creativity.
Cameellie
Remember, everybody is somebody else's weirdo. |
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loral56
Chatty Knitter
USA
314 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2004 : 07:07:39 AM
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For me it is: ALL OF THE ABOVE
Right now I know how to use straight needles, stitch holders, markers, circular needles and generally I can figure out rather easy patterns. I have lots to learn and KR has made me yearn to knit and know so much more.
Lora |
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Diva Ree
Gabber Extraordinaire
537 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2004 : 07:09:54 AM
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Addiction or inspiration??
I'll buy a book if I only liked ONE pattern in it...it takes little to inspire me sometimes. LOL
Shhh, don't tell my customers, but all my cool scarves are really samplers for stitches I like. My scarves are also just a cover-up for my need to buy novelty yarns and mix them with things you'd never think about putting together.
As far as projects go, I'm inspired by a pattern first, then I hunt for suitable yarn. |
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Boogie
Permanent Resident
USA
3073 Posts |
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mindybeth
New Pal
39 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2004 : 09:06:30 AM
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First, it's a pattern. I see it, I like it, I can see myself wearing/using it...it's mine. Second, it's yarn. Pretty colors and oh so soft, I'll find a use for it. I've also noticed myself when I'm shopping or reading a magazine thinking "I can do that". This morning I saw a picture of an angora hat from the Gap in the newspaper and I thought I like that hat. Maybe I'll make it! 
Mindy
http://sharppointysticks.typepad.com |
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Wovenflame
Seriously Hooked
Canada
812 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2004 : 09:09:18 AM
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When I first began to knit (some 37 years ago) patterns were my inspiration....simply because I needed a pattern to produce anything so it was where I started.
Later, as I became more confident, the yarn itself would inspire me to create my own simple designs.
Now I would have to say that much of my inspiration comes from the internet in the form of KR posts and other knitter's blogs. I hear others gush on about this fabulous pattern or that wonderful yarn and I just have to check it out.
I love to hear of another knitter's success, especially concerning the fit of a specific pattern. Often another knitter's experience with a pattern and its fit means more to me than the artfully posed pictures in the book or magazine. Nothing quite like hearing from someone who has actually MADE and worn the article. MJM's blog entries about her Rogue are what inspired me to dive into that project....with great success. I even used her yarn supplier.
-Marlene-
Come visit me at:http://wovenflame.blogspot.com/ |
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Knit kitty
Permanent Resident
USA
1383 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2004 : 09:14:44 AM
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Once in a while it is a pattern, but mostly it is the YARN. I have a stash that was mostly acquired because of how the yarn looked or felt or was described online.....
~Rebecca
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?" |
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Schleppenheimer
Seriously Hooked
USA
627 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2004 : 09:18:34 AM
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Color and texture. I'm a wildy color-attracted person, I like colors that others would shy away from, and I'm not ashamed of it! It's funny, because I rarely wear these colors (I stick to muted stuff because of my age), but I sure love them, and that's what influences me to BUY.
On the other hand, I'm fairly picky about patterns. Not all sweaters look good on all people, so I really have to think that particular pattern is going to easily work out.
This is why I am frustrated by current knitting magazines -- although the sweater/top design is interesting, not much is colorful these days. Am I right in thinking that the twenty-something set is more into muted colors (grey, black, brown, beige) and really dislike color? That's the way it would appear in most magazines.
Kris |
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KysKnitnMom
Permanent Resident
1050 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2004 : 4:15:00 PM
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The color of a ball of yarn is what inspires me. I will come out with an arm load full and have no clue what I'm going to make with it.
Megann, in sunny San Diego.
What if the hokey pokey really is what it's all about.... |
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yarnlover
Permanent Resident
1729 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2004 : 5:48:44 PM
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It's the yarn for me too, hence my name
That's why I have so much of it, plus the numerous pounds of roving to be spun, that are part of my stash. First, it's the color, then the softness of the fiber. I prefer simple stitches with glorious, colorful yarn.
And techniques, instead of particular patterns. I'm reading the book on domino knitting now and want to use these techniques in something - don't yet know what it will be, but I will come up with an idea. I think this technique will be a great one to use for colorful yarns. |
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pqpatch
Seriously Hooked
USA
616 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2004 : 6:34:23 PM
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| Cable sweaters inspire me. However, until just a few days ago, I haven't knitted one. Beautiful cable sweater patterns get me looking for yarn to go along with it and the stash begins. |
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Figaroz
Chatty Knitter
USA
178 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2004 : 11:55:35 PM
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Usually I am inspired by the beautiful photographs in knitting books. I love the books by Erika Knight mainly because of the amazing photos. (I am a photographer, so show me a beautiful photograph and this girl is weak in the knees!) I was also recently inspired by the written discription of fingerless mittens in Weekend Knits.
Figs |
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cclough8@msn.com
Posts |
Posted - 12/05/2004 : 2:55:00 PM
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| Mostly it's the yarn. I drool over glorious yarn textures and colors and am ready to take whatever steps necessary to learn to do something fabulous with it. However, I'm so much a beginner that I must have a pattern. This is where I get bogged down. My skill level is low, so I need a pattern that isn't too complex. Sometimes that limits yarn choice. But one of these days....Cherie |
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argoknit
Seriously Hooked
USA
711 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2004 : 10:37:09 AM
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I'm in agreement with most of the group. Yarn. It's definitely the yarn. I've always been a very tactile person. I have to feel all the clothing on the racks in retail stores and I love to feel fabrics when I go the fabric store. It's kind of an obsession. I went to school to be a designer and I'm much more a form follows function kind of person so my designs are usually very simple and clean. I love it when the yarn or fabric does the talking so the design has clean lines. Yarn all the way.
I'd rather be a failure at something I enjoy, than a success at something I hate. —George Burns |
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klfrazier
Permanent Resident
1745 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2004 : 3:19:22 PM
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My inspiration to knit is something entirely different - I am inspired by the person/reason that I want to knit for or by the mood that strikes me.
This works in a couple of ways. First - and easiest to explain - is the mood. Sometimes I want to knit socks, sometimes I want to knit lace, etc. I do what strikes me and am happy.
Second - the person/reason. Very often I hear that voice in my head say, "I want to do --- for -----," or "So and so has a birthday coming up and I want to do something special for them. Recently the voice started saying, "it's time for ME!." Everytime I hear that voice I start looking through my library, my LYS or my stash with that person or reason in my mind, and I find my way to the perfect project. It's a very pleasurable way to work!
Kristin |
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truly violet
Permanent Resident
6397 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2004 : 3:32:52 PM
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I keep needing to challenge myself...... so possible it is the stitch or something I haven't learned yet....
although my BW treasury is really an enabler of the first degree
then THAT leads to yarn.....
and twisted sisters lead to spinning
vi
none of this will matter in 100 years.......except I will finally be at my goal weight...vi |
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