Tea Time Process

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I got my laptop back, completely repaired this time, and was happy to see that my Tea Time Hat was published and available for purchase on Knit Picks. As excited as I am about it, telling you that it is published and available doesn’t make for an interesting post so I thought I’d tell you about the process of putting this guy together.

First things first, I got the idea while in the shower. I always seem to get good ideas in the shower. After that, I fiddled around on Photoshop (because this was before I had Illustrator) and made a sample chart. I decided to submit a proposal to Knit Picks IDP because I wanted to try something new.

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I made a really terrible proposal. This was the first time I put anything together in InDesign so it turned out pretty bland looking. I also forgot to save as I worked when I was making a sketch on my computer and my computer decided to teach me a lesson. It crashed and I was angry. I decided to hand draw some crappy little sketches because paper doesn’t crash and eat all of your work. I attached my sample chart and a description and crossed my fingers. I was really nervous because I didn’t include a photo of a swatch. I didn’t think I had anything to swatch with, but in retrospect, I probably could have just used worsted weight yarn to swatch.

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My proposal was accepted, but some of my colors were discontinued so I came up with a couple alternate color schemes. I ended up with a big box of yarn to pick from. I chose my colors and got swatching!

swatches

That’s when things got a bit difficult. I had a hard time getting the colors arranged right and my sample chart was just too tall for a beret.

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I thought I had everything worked out and got to this point when I realized that the hat was way too huge. I had to frog and rework my chart. I decided to get rid of the saucer part of the chart because no one could tell that they were saucers until I explained it. Version 2.0 was a nice size and looked right to me.

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I used Marnie MacLean’s tutorial to figure out how to make charts with Illustrator. Then I put together my pattern with InDesign. I had finished Miette by this point so I had an idea of what I was doing. I needed photos to finish Tea Time’s pattern layout so I braved the heat and tried to get some decent pictures. The above picture is hilariously bad. I didn’t even get the hat in the frame, let alone in focus!

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I got the pattern test knit and edited and I e-mailed it to Knit Picks. I boxed up my sample, contract, and unused yarn and mailed it off as well. Now it is all published! It was a really pleasant process except for when I had to restart the hat after I was almost completely finished. That always sucks. I enjoyed working with Knit Picks. I would send them more proposals if they shipped to the UK but since I am moving there in a month, it will be awhile before I can work with them again.


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Comments

6 responses to “Tea Time Process”

  1. Congratulations! The whole process seems so nerve wracking, I would have been blabbering on and on about it. I’m so happy for you!

  2. Congratulations on you new pattern!

  3. Thanks for this insight into the proces. I am waiting to hear about a proposal I sent last week. 🙂

  4. Congrats! I hope it sells well on Knit Picks – and hearing about process is always fun!

  5. […] I got my Tea Time sample back from Knit Picks. That was a nice surprise because I hadn’t thought it would get […]

  6. wow! congratulations on your hat design for knitpicks =)

    i enjoy your blog. your photography is nice and clear, and your writing is concise. and, thank you for your update on the ‘oblique’ alpaca sweater. it’s good to have an honest yarn review … way better than all the comments one would find on ravelry (ie: my skein had 5 knots!) (that doesn’t tell me how the garment has performed after a year of wear).

    have a good week!

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