Prototyping

After I went on my fairisle course last year I have been wanting to incorporate fairisle into my work for sale on Etsy. Today was the day that I decided to have a play.

I took a strategy I had learnt in my full time work , that of building a prototype , something that could easily be delivered with the tools I had already and that could be shown to people to get feedback and views.

I was going to build a prototype! I always knit a swatch anyway when working with new yarn , knitting new stitches or combining colours together but this time I was going to be concentrating on colour combinations and the pattern and incorporating the whole thing in to a finished article.

I had already knit quite a few fingerless gloves so had the basic shape already in my head.

 I had purchased some yarn the other day to knit into cushion backs but it was not suitable so I decided that I could use this is in my prototype.

And most importantly two of the colours matched my new casual coat so I could knit the prototype for me to wear with my coat. I love showing off my work.

I picked up the 1st pattern book with some fairisle patterns in and quickly decided on one that had inspired me.

I liked the look of the 2 blocks of pattern at the bottom , nice and simple. So after knitting the rib I knit these rows. 

 But I had a problem straight away , the 2 colours I picked , the 2 colours that matched my coat were too similar to each other , they blended in. Not the look I was after at all.

But I continued.

Once I had knitted the thumb , I restarted the fairisle pattern. This time trying to do the top block of pattern.

I decided to incorporate another colour into the pattern, hoping that this would bring the colours to life.

so a little green has been used before finishing off in the mustard and the ribbed top.









And here's the finished prototype and I like it ! it brings my coat to life !

but there is room for improvement don't you think?


Want to see the end result , perfected a few days later?  https://www.etsy.com/listing/123611835/rustic-fairisle-handwarmers-womens