Well hello there! I went and did a thing! 😀
Last night I published my first official knitting pattern on Ravelry! Hurrah for me!! Bold Inspiration is a free knitting pattern available for download on this page or through Ravelry.
But as most of us know, Rav’s got some iteration to work through to make the new design usable. I personally am lucky enough to not have had any serious issues with it excepting my professional opinion as a software developer myself. But that aside, I totally understand and accept that the site isn’t usable for a large number of people…and the response to the critique new design update was not handled gracefully, like. at. all. 😐
Yes yes, I’ve done others in the past. Two to be exact, but they’ve been lost in the shuffle of moving my domain host. 🙁 Also those other two patterns were never officially published anywhere publicly except my blog-0-sphere.
Enough of the politics of the thing! I’m here to post a celebration about my first self-published knitting pattern! 😀
Bold Inspiration Specs:
- Sizes: S M, L or 18.75”, 21”, 23.25” circumference crown.
- Fingering (14 wpi)
- 24 stitches = 4 inches
- US 3 – 3.25 mm & US 5 – 3.75 mm
- 300 – 350 yards (274 – 320 m)
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Download the Bold Inspiration free knitting pattern PDF here
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😀
The Inspiration for the Name of the Thing
I chose the name for the hat based off of a phrase I heard uttered by YouTuber Spawn Wave. I think he was talking about some video game publisher doing something, I don’t remember. haha. I’ve had the idea for this hat pattern for a while now, and I’d been hoarding the beautiful split skein matching gradient yarn for years and since I’m taking some time off work this week I figured it would be lovely as a textured beanie.
Why is it a Free?
TBH: I’m an amateur when it comes to writing patterns. I definitely fall into the trap of assuming that the maker of my pattern is going to be as proficient as I am. Which is totally the wrong mindset to have when writing instructions for creating an interactive object: I had a close friend take a look, I tried my best to make it as clear as possible so that you are able to recreate the beanie for yourself to enjoy, and really I don’t plan on becoming a professional designer. And thus, it is a free knitting pattern.
Bold Inspiration uses a cute little slip stitch and mock cabled pattern to create a project that is high in texture, yet simple to work. 🙂
My Tip for Cast-On Working in the Round
One of the things I’ve found over the year while knitting is that I sometimes cast-on 1 extra or 1 less than I need for a pattern. Since working in the round makes it inconvenient to drop a stitch or easily cast on a new one, I have a method to work around it instead of ripping back and recasting.
Step 1: place the beginning of round marker (BORM), prepare to work in the round making sure not to twist your stitches, and slip the first stitch purl wise.
1 less than needed: If I happen to be short a stitch, I’ll lift the long strand that always happens to happen between the last stitch and the first stitch and knit or purl into the back loop as needed for the pattern.
1 more than needed: If I happen to have one more stitch, I’ll slip the last stitch without knitting it, remove the BORM, move the slipped stitch back to the left hand needle, replace the BORM, and k2tog. This method is actually super handy for hiding the join/jog that can happen when working in the round.
The Bold Inspiration hat starts with 100+ stitches cast on using the German Twist method, so if that method is unknown to you and already super fiddly, sneaking in an extra stitch or k2tog to get the right number without having to redo the cast-on makes life way easier.
