Where to Find Inspiration for New Knitting Patterns
Inspiration can be elusive sometimes, especially when you’re just starting out as a knitting pattern designer. Perhaps you have one idea, but how do you come up with others?!
Thankfully, if inspiration doesn’t happen to find you, you can go and find it! In this blog post, I’m going to list 9 things that could potentially inspire your next knitting pattern design and none of them are Ravelry.
Now, don’t get me wrong - I’m not opposed to you being inspired by other knitting pattern designers’ work, however, I think in order to truly find your own personal design style, you will need to dig a lot deeper than that. This will help so let’s jump in!
9 Sources of Inspiration for Knitting Pattern Designers
1. Pinterest
We will start with an obvious one! Pinterest offers a super simple way of gathering lots of varying imagery that inspires you. One of the bonuses is that, based on the images that you have already pinned, the algorithm will show you images that you might like and often, they’re right!
This is how I usually start my design process; gathering tons of inspiring images with no real theme in mind before narrowing them down to a clear theme for my mood board.
2. Out and About
I don’t know about you but I am always spotting inspiring clothing out on the street. It’s a great place to discover interesting silhouettes, textures or stitch placements.
If you get permission, you could even take a photo of it (keeping a safe distance, of course!) Otherwise, just make a quick sketch as soon as you can to help you remember what you liked about it.
The stitch inspiration for my Hay Sweater came from a fine gauge waffle-knit sweater that my mum was once wearing when I went to visit. I took a photo of it so that I could reference it later and the rest is history!
3. Books
When I say books, I don’t just mean books about knitwear or fashion (although they can be inspiring too). They can be about any subject matter. In fact, they don’t even need to be visual! It could actually be a vivid written description of something that inspires your next design.
If you own any coffee table books at home, have a flick through to see if you can find any interesting imagery or prose that sparks an idea. And once it’s safe to return to libraries in your region of the world, it can be super fun to spend a couple of hours flicking through books and making sketches based on what inspires you.
4. Textiles
This applies to any fabric, whether it’s a rug or blanket in your home or even some printed or woven fabric you might happen upon. I’ve designed a stitch inspired by one of the printed cushions on our couch! It ended up being used in my Bowman hat design.
I find handwoven fabric particularly inspiring when it comes to designing knitted stitches. The texture and pattern of the fabric make me want to find ways of interpreting it through hand knitting.
5. Tiling
Tiling can be a wonderful source of colour, pattern and texture ideas. Mary Beth, one of my students in Sweater Design School, is currently designing a sweater with a stitch inspired by stonework and it has such a beautiful geometric texture.
6. Graphic Patterns
Graphic patterns are one of my favourite references for stitch inspiration at the beginning of my design process. Annie Albers’ bold prints are particularly inspiring!
Don’t worry if you can’t find a direct way of translating an inspiring pattern into stitch - it’s more about the journey the pattern takes you on. Your knitted fabric will likely look super different but the inspiration will have opened your mind to new ideas.
7. Ready-to-wear
Ready-to-wear clothing in shops and online can be super inspiring, particularly if you’re looking for inspirational silhouette and design details that aren’t often found in hand-knits.
This isn’t about replicating existing knitwear - it’s about identifying the elements that you love about a piece of knitwear or even non-knitwear and bringing them into your own designs. My Fennel shawl was inspired by a sweater that has a travelling band of textural stitches up the front. I loved the travelling stitches and thought it would make a really beautiful (and fun to knit!) shawl idea.
8. People
It can be super fun to design with people in mind, whether it’s a friend or family member or someone you follow online. Think about their style and the type of colours, textures and silhouettes that they like to wear and start to sketch or swatch.
You could also do it with yourself! Lots of my knitting patterns are designing with my wardrobe in mind, asking myself, “What would I like to wear?”
9. Yarn
Whilst this isn’t often the case for me, many designers can look at a skein of yarn and it tells them what it wants to become. If this is you, start to swatch it up, thinking about the fabric qualities and how they might inspire a design that is perfectly suited to the yarn.
Keep an Open Mind
When you’re gathering inspiration, it’s easy to get hung up on what is “acceptable” inspiration. As I teach my students, your inspiration doesn’t just have to be literal. It can be emotional too, in that it captures a mood you want to create. Whether you’re inspired by some geometric tiling or your best friend, they both have their place in your inspiration toolbox.
Most importantly, wherever you find your inspiration, ask yourself what it is that particularly inspires you about it and then explore ways that you can capture that inspiration, directly or subtly, in your own knitting pattern design.
Where do you find inspiration for knitting pattern designs? Share your sources in the comments section below to help out other designers in the Sisterhood. I always love to hear from you!
