The Ah-HA! Moment

When my blog posts become less frequent it usually means I'm hard at work and my focus is elsewhere. This week, however, it was half because of work and half because a crazy thunderstorm knocked out my computer connection to the rest of the world.

One of the projects that is demanding my attention is a book proposal. Honestly, I had no idea I would have the inclination to attempt another book, but when my new editor sent me a note to introduce herself she signed off with "and when you have an idea for another project let me know". Right then, an idea hit me like a frying pan on the back of the head and I emailed her back. That email was followed up by another email to my husband saying "oops, I did it again" and here I am, putting together samples for the acquisitions committee.

One of the happiest moments in my job as designer is the Ah HA! moment I get when I discover the perfect stitch pattern for a project. I've been struggling with a project idea all week and this morning I woke up knowing exactly what I wanted to do with it. The next step was to make swatches to find the perfect stitch pattern. The only requirements for this particular job were tight knit stitches with a little texture. So a-swatching I did go.

This is my first swatch.

The ridges were supposed to mimic seams but ended up looking more like spokes. I'm not going for the bicycle look so I started over.

This is my second swatch.

I went for texture by alternating the height of the stitches. I didn't get what I wanted with this swatch but I felt I was getting closer.

Here is the third swatch.

I didn't find what I was looking for on the right side, but flip it over to the wrong side and...

Ah-HA!

I've contemplated whether to talk about my book progress at such an early stage but since I've received several emails about how to get a book published, I thought I would share my experience as it goes along. I'm not locked and loaded with a contract yet so you may be watching as my proposal fizzles away but...what the hell.