Skrilla Knits

Knitting has long been considered antiquated, something for grandmas and whipped little housewives. That just isn't true. Knitting is one of those minute to learn, lifetime to master deals, and I'm in it for the long haul.

11.01.2007

Grey area.

So I mentioned Fashion Plates in my last post and I've had a few questions about long sleeves on the Gallery Jacket. It was absolutely meant to be long-sleeved! I was basically trying to recreate a favorite sweater (seen here in all it's ribby wrappy glory) and ran out of time. Luckily, the time constraint forced me to cut corners (in a good way, IMHO) by picking up stitches around the armsyce and knitting down until they yelled "CUT! Put it on. Look pretty!" I plan to make mine long-sleeved and it will be easy for all of you to do so--just keep knitting! It might make sense to work some decrease rows past the elbow. I'll cast on for my version soon and share those numbers with you (and Webs, so they can put it on the pattern) soon.

About "re-interpreting" sweaters...a Ravelry thread about design/pattern theft got pretty heated recently. It's always an interesting discussion and I've even taught a colloquium about the contested nature of originality. We explored the possibility that it might not be possible anymore, and looked at it from a number of angles (planned communities like Celebration, FL, media mash-ups, iconography and semiotics, mimicry and homage, etc.). You can read my thoughts on this here. For non-Ravelers, I will just say that letting go of a fetishized notion of "originality" was the first step I had to take before engaging design and setting my creative output loose into the world.

The store-bought sweater uses a different rib pattern and of course, a different sleeve. Mine is practically seamless, which the store version isn't. It also incorporates some clunky, very visible decreases that I nixed. I would never claim to have dreamed up this sweater out of thin air--it's more like a jazz standard. Fun fact about me--I used to work at the Acton Jazz Cafe and have heard approximately 312 versions of "Stella by Starlight." Ooh, another--I still don't know the words! My mother used to sing professionally and my father is a jazz drummer but I am notoriously bad at learning lyrics.

The STR Sock Club accepts enrollments today. Hate to say, it was easy to resist signing up. I've signed up for two, yes TWO seasons of the Sundara Season's club and I have billion skeins of STR in my stash anyway. Working as a Stitches vendor is it's own little sock club...you get to shop the amazing booth before the attendees! Heck, Deb and Kaci will tell you that I shop the booth while they're UNPACKING. Yes, I am annoying. I can't help it, look at this!!

Anyhow, I'm saving my BMFA $$ for the Raven series. I'm oh-so-curious to see the BMFA non-brights, and Kaci tells me that the patterns are fantastic.

It's deliciously grey today. Does anyone else love these damp, foggy fall days? They get no love!

CR

P.S. Whoa. I just searched my blog to see if I've mentioned the colloquium before. I have--look at the title. SEE-nothing is original!

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2 Comments:

Blogger Veronique said...

I've done the same thing when designing: something about a sweater strikes my eye (the st pattern, the line...) and then I re-create it. Of course, it usually ends up looking completely different from the original inspiration!
On an unrelated note, I avoided the STR line at Rhinebeck by shopping online *smug*

10:57 AM  
Blogger Gudrun Johnston said...

Thanks for addressing this originality question! I did follow that thread on Ravelry and saw your comment there too (I'm more of a lurker on discussion forums it has to be said)...anyway...I agree that it really is near to impossible to be totally and utterly original in the design field. It bothered me too to begin with when I'd think of something only to see a 'similar'
thing somewhere else! Take my Knitty skirt for instance....I did come up with that from my own wee head however a couple of months later I got some back issues of IK and saw a very similar adult skirt by Kat Coyle...I was horrified as I had already been talking to her in the blog world and had no knowledge of that skirt! Of course I wrote to her immediately but like she says this is bound to happen with so many of us knitting/designing these days. I really believe that pretty much whatever one person has designed (maybe with the exception of some of those wackier designers)there will be some other design out there that could be seen as uncannily similar. It is a fact to be accepted. It is going on all the time in the regular fashion world. I know a person who works for a big clothing store in the UK and she gets sent on 'shopping' trips to see what other stores/designers are doing!!!! I'm not saying it's OK to rip a garment off completely but how can we avoid being influenced by what's out there? We can only strive/aim to be as amazing as the Norah Gaugans/ Wenlan Chias etc etc
Sorry...rather a long comment!

2:05 PM  

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