Process and progress

One of the most common questions a designer gets asked is how do you come up with ideas?

And how do you make it work?

It's truly a process. It doesn't just happen. At least not for me.

Ideas are easy for me.

They jump on me when I least expect them to.

In bed,

In the car;

Reading a book,

Talking to people,

While working on another design.

Any time, any place an idea can happen.

That part I can't tell you how it truly happens, it just happens.

 

But the process once an idea jumps into my brain I can explain a little.

First I do a rough sketch.

and I do mean rough.

Just enough to get my idea down on paper before it drifts away or is over ridden by a new idea.

At this point it will most likely go on my post of ideas until I have time to develop it.

If I think I will be pursuing it shortly it goes onto a clipboard.

Each project gets a project clipboard. So I don't lose my notes.

Once I decide I am going to see what I can do with the idea,

then it's grab my hook, some yarn or thread and I play with it.

There can be a half dozen attempts before I get it where I think it is workable.

Sometime the whole idea morphs and it becomes something else than what I originally envisioned. That doesn't bother me in the least. It's going to be what it's meant to be in the long run.

But I am still not ready to make the piece.

There can be diagrams of motif placements.

Trials of different threads or yarns.

Will it require beads?

If so what sizes, and where.

Then if  I don't have the thread on hand I have to order and wait.

Oh this part is hard......

I hate waiting.

Now when I have everything in hand and all notes on my clipboard I can begin.

Notes include

The date started.

Size hook,

Thread used.

Beads needed

Starting ch #  if required

All information I will need to write the pattern.

Then I finally begin.

Normally it's pretty straight forward at this point.

The thinking part is done.

If I feel confident I have what I want I will write the pattern as I go. If I think there might be a lot of revisions than I will do sketches of my stitches and stitch placement in my notes.

For me it's less likely I will make a mistake on my pattern if I do this, rather than constantly revise the pattern. It's too easy to forget to change something in the pattern that way.

Even with all this it can still go south and never become something worth sharing with the world.

Then it's just move on to the next idea.

So when you use a pattern.

Think about what has gone into making it happen.

The more complicated the design the more time and effort to make it work is required.

Designers don't just sit around an crochet all day. There is lots of math, thinking, trials, errors, and energy that goes into the creative process.

And this is just getting the piece made.

There is even more to bring said pattern to you.

But I won't get into that today.
I need to get to work here
This idea is ready to crochet.