Inspiration

Hi everyone! It just occurred to me that I haven’t introduced myself yet. People call me Nonnahs and I may be found knitting (and sometimes spinning) alongside two blogmates at A Little Loopy. A little bit about me: I learned to knit almost three years ago, when my future blogmates and I decided to teach ourselves. Not the most efficient way to learn, perhaps, but it was fun. Come to think of it, that last statement pretty much sums up my knitterly learning process. I tend to learn things in a roundabout way and many times on a need-to-know basis, which is one reason I try to push myself out of my comfort zone as much as possible, to choose projects that will allow me a new experience in the process.

It wasn’t too long after I started knitting when I realized I would want to design someday. I envisioned that day being a little further in my future, but then this fabulous CAL came along, so here I go (Thanks, Julia and Marnie)! What a fantastic forum to get my feet wet! I’ve made minor modifications to patterns I’ve knit in the past, but this will be my first foray into designing from the ground up, and I’m really looking forward to it!

I’m starting off small (literally) and simple. My projects will be two semi-matching infant dresses for my twin nieces, Kyra and Ally, also affectionately known as the Peanuts. Exhibit A:

Peanutty Inspiration: A & K

The Peanuts usually don coordinating outfits (as opposed to dressing exactly alike), my goal is to create dresses along those lines. What I have in mind are coordinating a-line dresses with straps that tie up top at the shoulders. Besides the fact that I think the straps will look cute, my thought is that they will also allow for adjustment, as the girls grow. My hope is that they will able to wear these garments as dresses initially and as tops later on. (I try to be practical.) I have the general shape in mind, but want to wait until I have my yarn in hand, to see how I will be inspired when it comes to other design elements.

So, my yarn. I will be using Classic Elite Premiere. Reason? I haven’t used it yet, and I’ve heard great things. Calmer would have been my first instinct otherwise, because I love it so, but I’m already knitting with it currently and I also have another project waiting in the wings that the rest of the Calmer in my stash is earmarked for (Hi, Deciduous!). Besides, I’ve wanted to work with Premiere, and this seems to be the perfect opportunity to try it!

I really look forward to sharing what ought to be an entertaining (if nothing else) journey with you as I embark on this whole design thing, and I especially look forward to seeing everyone else’s design process as well- I’ve already been learning so much from everyone’s posts thus far. I am so inspired by you all! Team Premiere, here I come!