This past year I learned a lot what it means to be a knitwear designer.
Iโve been knitting for just 10 years, and designing my own patterns from 7, but started seriously to be an official knitwear designer from a year.
And this past year has been the most educational knitting year of my life.
What I love about design is the process: sketching, swatching, calculating, knittingโฆ with a laptop to my left, a notebook to my right and yarn and needles in my hands.
Thereโs a bit of magic about the entire process.
What no one tells you as a new knitwear designer is that you have to handle your client at the end of the process.
Putting your work out there means opening up to critical, or praise, or both.
You soon will discover that happy knitters are not likely to jot down a positive comment, so โno news good news.โ But the disgruntled ones will take the time to tell you what they think. Sometimes itโs just an unhelpful opinion, but sometimes itโs a legitimate gripe.
Criticism is uncomfortable, and a powerful tool for improvement too. As a knitwear designer, you need to make changes when theyโre needed, and let the rest go.
If one person takes the time to say they had a question or a problem in your pattern, even if no one else has had an issue so far, there might be others who will struggle.
I learned some things this year.
- No matter how careful we are, sometimes a mistake gets through. And when it does, people will let you know.
- Itโs impossible to please everyone.
- Iโve learned to have as many testers as possible before a pattern goes live because everyone catches something different (shout-out to Vee, who has been testing for me from the beginning).
- I Never check email on my phone before roll out of bed, lest a negative Ravelry comment sends my heart racing before Iโve even had my tea.
- Read the disgruntled comments and respond. It means Iโll answer questions and make clarifications when necessary.
On the bright side, how proud I feel when things do go right!
When all the process works just fine and the finished product is awesome.
So, this year, I am very grateful. Iโm grateful for the comments that helped me improve, and the knitters who shared their experiences with me so I could learn from them. My designs are better.
If youโre thinking of being a designer, be brave.