VK Live 2017

What a weekend!  This was my fourth year attending Vogue Knitting Live in New York.  The annual pilgrimage to the Marriott Marquis every January has become a ritual.  It is always hugely inspiring to meet and learn from other knitters and designers.   I am reminded of how many ways there are to approach garment design, from the sculptural aspect of making a 3 dimensional object, to creating a graphic pattern using the basic motifs and building blocks of Scandinavian design. But beyond the specifics of technique, each teacher dropped little pearls of wisdom from years of searching for inspiration or finding solutions to design problems.   Below are a few unexpected treasures picked up in the classes and lectures over the weekend.

"We tend to do the same thing over and over because we like to do what's comfortable to us.  But we grow when we try new things!  Devote 1 day or even 1 hour a week to something new." - Deborah Newton, The Lively World of Scandinavian Patterning

"If you were a typeface, which would you be?  Serif? Sans-serif?  Bold? Italic?" - an exercise in defining your aesthetic from Catherine Lowe, The Principles of Design

"Lay a big swatch over your arm and you can see how a 2D fabric will become a 3D garment" - Deborah Newton

"When making a sweater, knit the sleeve first.  Most people's gauge changes from swatch to sweater.  The sleeve will act like a second swatch and you can make any adjustments before you get to the body." - Deborah Newton

"Sweaters need to be knit in a tight gauge in order to retain structure" - Amy Herzog, Sweater Nirvana

"Cut and drape sweater ideas from fleece fabric first on a dress form.  Fleece behaves in a similar way to knitted fabric" - Norah Gaughan, Designing with Simple Geometric Shapes

"Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing" - Salvador Dali as quoted in Steal Like and Artist via Norah Gaughan

Looking forward to next year already!