Thursday, September 18, 2008

THE SWATCH (or how to avoid it)

A Rare Glimpse of a swatch

In my knitting life, rarely do I knit a swatch, though all those much wiser than me admonish those foolhardy enough to go forth without this trusty navigational aid. Guilty. Being basically undisciplined and weak-willed, I find swatches tedious and my well-planned efforts always erupt into something totally wild. I just can't do straight and narrow so I don't. I don't recommend you try this at home unless you have, like I do, a high tolerance for ambiguity. Adventure is just around the corner when I pick up the needles. 

But, once upon a time, I did try to conform. Above, exhibit A: a Jane swatch, knit when trying to squeeze my free-range tendencies into a standard format for a magazine submission. I followed the rules in this one instance and knit a convential swatch, submitting said item with a trusty little proposal, sketch, and yarn list twenty items long. How was I supposed to know that multiple yarns from multiple manufacturers doesn't fit the mold? 

This was before I knew that magazines make deals with yarn manufacturers, taking submissions and trawling their supplers for a good fit. My multitudinous, non-yarnogamous, approach certainly does not fit. Most yarn suppliers don't want to share the limelight with another (okay, five to ten others) so I was dismissed out of hand.  From that point on, I ceased trying to be published in any of the conventional formats and settled into publishing my own designs. I'm an adult, I can take a hint (read: my feelings were hurt). I am now what is know as an 'indy' designer (now, wouldn't it be great if my name was Anna Jones and I could be 'Indy Anna Jones'?).

This is probably the way of all publications for the future. The public, armed with powerful search engines, can now connect with little 'indy' designers like myself who are either too old to conform or too young and smart to bother. But, in the meantime, I offer this swatch in proof that once I did really try the box on for size....

From the entry 'Wild, Mysterious Australia'. Jane, it's lovely to hear my everyday world described through the eyes of a newcomer....it makes me look at things afresh. Looking forward to meeting you in Sydney shortly.

By Christine Jones on 2008 12 28