Sarah and I enjoyed Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat — and came away with both yarn and inspiration! I had been thinking of a Spring Q’mitl, something with a Scandinavian vibe that would work well with the Gudrun Sjoden styles I love.  And I had blues, purples on my mind.  We had a terrific time tromping from one yarn vendor to another to select the yarns (Sarah permitted me one sparkly skein!) and were satisfied with the collection when we were done — it included a shiny Tencel and a bright pop of “my” green to zest things up.

Since then, I have perused my more Scandinavian knitting books for ideas, marking pages with sticky notes and writing out some thoughts on graph paper — my usual process.  I found inspiration in the current Gudrun Sjoden catalogue, but among the linens and housewares photos rather than in the clothing section!  Making me realize that I wanted to celebrate all Scandinavian textiles in this piece —not just traditional knitted garments.  The design process always holds surprises 🙂

When I showed Sarah the catalog photos she suggested I cut them out and make a Mood Board!  I hesitated since I had never made one before.  But Sarah helped me hunt out some double-sided tape and a poster board — and together we chopped out some photos and then photocopied and chopped out pictures from my books.  She told me that I should be the one to choose and arrange them (since it was my project).  So (without letting myself think about it too much!) I did.  Before she left, she told me to jot notes among the pictures — and to add pieces of the yarns.  And so I did that too!

And now I have a Mood Board for my design!  It has already helped me focus on elements and details for the piece — and led me in some new directions too.  Getting it all visually in one place is amazing!  It did not take much time, really, and by sort of slapping it together intuitively (rather than getting too caught up in “arranging”), I could let my inner artist operate freely without consciously editing as I went along.  I have seen many Mood Boards over the years, but had never attempted one before.  Now that I have experienced first-hand how valuable the process is and how useful the result is, I will definitely make a Mood Board part of my design process in the future.  Thank you, Sarah!