MUSE: the Power of the Swatch April 17, 2014

All day long 24/7 our brains are ingesting cues — into the mix pours a never-ending stream
of everywhere signals…

 
Putting together a new design takes the commitment to go down all sorts of roads.

The best itinerary is linear; draw, source, swatch, knit, etc. all the way to a modeled finished garment ready for its turn on whatever “runway” universe it is going to live.

This, however, is just like any other trip you take in life. It is never that straight of a shot. There’s always unexpected often third-party interruptions that make the road curve, change direction (or even disappear).

Consider: one of the primary essential functions of knitwear designing is matching a fiber to a style.

Chose one that is too dense and the garment is a one-man walking yurt; chose one that is too loose and drapey and the garment unintentionally goes to live only with the fairies.

And then, there is that quintessential moment: a look and feel that is not only wearable but tells a Story.

Shop any clothing site online and you will find those story categories. It would be odd indeed if all wearables were bunched together in a big closet in the sky and you only had to touch them with your magic wallet to get a match with all of the other pieces you might be putting together to make An Outfit. It takes engagement on your part.

This Outfit is your expression of the Story — where you take coverings for various parts of your body and sync them together to form a functioning whole.

Most often, An Outfit is tied to some kind of event. From your daily office wear to a walk down the aisle, there is going to be a stylized category that goes even deeper that lets you narrow your tale’s focus.

Different fabrics and styles combine together to make the statement that’s appropriate to an intended category.

Few people would wear denim to the prom or another type of touchstone elegant event; more people would wear something shiny, bright and a little more ethereal.

And when we’re knitting, we’re making those same decisions.

Ultimately, we’re creating a fabric-centric wearable that has form and function. And here’s where it gets tricky.

Above you see a trio of swatches. One (no names to protect the innocent) is something that I recycled and thought would be perfect for a new prototype lurking on the design board.

It made it through about 1/3 of the way to the destination before it met its terrifying crossroad.

Up on the mannequin, there are no lies.

And even though this was shaping up to be a successful style, it was not making a successful fabric.

So back to the drawing board (or in a knitter’s case, the stash).

Two more similar gauge yarns took their turn on the needles. Only one continued on the journey.

While few would probably say it’s a best-case scenario to take steps back, in practice most often is the best choice. And, at this point, it is not that much of a detour because that huge “swatch #1” was a fine proving ground that doesn’t have to be repeated, but now becomes a canvas to be edited and fine-tuned.

So, I embrace these changes as a fundamental part of the process.

This is a lovely round cul-de-sac not a dead end and that new momentum of having confidence in the fabric being created will boomerang a design straight towards its lovely finish.

 
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