Working with a new designer is always intriguing. Sometimes the designer sends us a proposal, complete with schematics and a timescale. And we send yarn off to them in the firm knowledge that we know what and when it will become the design it’s destined to be.
And sometimes, the whole process is much more fluid. We meet a designer at a show or an event, they fall in love with a colour combination, and we send the yarn off with them with nothing but… well, blind faith and happy anticipation, with no idea what the designer will make with it.
And honestly, I’m never really quite sure how that will turn out… But sometimes the results are simply fantastic!
That’s exactly what happened when Tanis Gray, author of the official Star Wars and Disney knitting pattern books, came to our booth at a yarn show back in… oh let me see… all the way back in 2019. She smooshed two lovely skeins of Lyra in Thrive and That’s What She Said, and asked if she use them in a design.
And naturally, we said an enthusiastic yes and sent them home with her!
Then the pandemic happened and, I’ll admit, I completely forgot about those two skeins and the potential they held…
Until Tanis got in touch to tell us the pattern they were destined for was ready at last! And when I saw the pictures, I was over the moon! A gorgeous colourwork cowl that brings out all the very best in both colourways. And which has inspired us to create sets in three more colour combos too!
Collaborating with designers is always fun, no matter what form it takes. But sometimes, when it’s both spontaneous and heartfelt, it is just amazing.
And when the result is as beautiful as the Pixelated Trees Cowl, it’s always, always worth the wait!
