A Dream Within a Dream

This feels so weird. My day today consisted of taking a test knitter/new knitting friend--for one of my new designs...that's the weird part--out to lunch to give her the yarn and draft of the pattern. Then more knitting on a new piece, then some pattern writing, some wrangling of my attractive friends to model for me and scouting locations for a photo shoot, and communicating with other Pittsburgh knitters who are willing to help me with test knitting. Sure doesn't feel like work!

Apparently I am in charge of pattern support for the Jul Silver Pedestal Buttons and Closures. Our pattern line is called Barely a Pattern. There's not a whole lot of hard-core designing going on, and it's hard for me to think with a straight face that I am a designer. I guess I am afraid that if I am not sufficiently humble about these simple designs, I might make Real Designers crabby. I guess, to my credit, it has been more work than I thought it would be. Lots of swatching, a little measuring and very little math (so far!) Still I have the issue that I think something will be totally awesome in my head, and that somehow does not translate into real life. I was gratified to hear Kate and Courtney say on a recent Never Not Knitting podcast that they still have that experience--and they are for sure Real Designers. I mean, they have a gorgeous book!

So, what will it take for me to feel like I can call myself a designer? The patterns are selling. Better than I had imagined. So far the Barely a Pattern Infinity Scarf (above) is the best seller. Laura (my Jul partner) tells me people are calling her studio asking where can they buy this pattern. Really? Cool, kinda famous people who have a lot of followers took pictures of me and put them on their blogs! And I am spending quite a bit of time and effort working on this stuff. That counts for something, doesn't it?