Twitter Sweater

As you may know, Vogue Knitting is sponsoring the Magic of Mohair design competition. Designs will be shown in a fashion show at Vogue Knitting LIVE in January. I've been going back and forth, round and round, trying to decide what I think about this competition. The exposure for the winning design would be invaluable, but the designer gives up all rights to their design - it becomes the property of VK, as does the knitted sample. As a self-publishing designer, I don't want to give up my rights (and I don't want to give up a sweater I've worked so hard on, either). All that's assuming I win or "place", hehe

While I'm making up my mind about submitting, I thought I'd start tweeting about my design process. I'll probably cover some of the same ground in a little more depth here on the blog. If you want to follow, be sure to check out my Twitter feed, and I'll be using the tag #kdsweater.

First question: What to design? An "original ... women's fashion garment". I've got a ton of ideas for ladies' sweaters, and my visit to the Brooklyn Museum at the beginning of the summer added even more. Especially, an amazing silk paper taffeta evening dress by Madame Grès (on the right).

Not the greatest picture, but the dress is amazing. The volume of the sleeves is crazy, in a good way. And inspiring. Isn't mohair the perfect fiber for creating that kind of volume? Tomorrow we'll talk about the yarn I'm using.

P.S. I'm going to a color workshop at Knitty City tonight with Amy Hendrix of Madeline Tosh. Time to sharpen my colored pencils!