Newport is one of the few designs that didn’t start with a stitch pattern, which is how I mostly design. I get an idea for a pattern, and then I pull the shape of the thing around it. Instead, Newport was directly inspired by Mary Jane Hall’s Cap Sleeve Top. My room mate at the time had just created one in Ty-Dy Cotton, and I responded by creating my own in Ty Dy Wool. I liked it, but I began wondering what would happen if I…?
About the same time, I had been admiring the patterns in New England Knits, specifically the pattern on the cover, the Middlefield Pullover. I loved the asymmetrical line going down the side, I loved the open neck that showed the collarbones. But… I wanted something in crochet. And I wasn’t sure I wanted something quite as warm, or quite as fitted.
You can see where this is going, right?
The clincher was I had just finished a knit-along in Classic Silk, and after I had managed to pick the right size (I had forgotten I had lost so much weight, and used old measurements… silly me), I had a ball knitting the top up. It just simply flew off the needles. I had some classic silk left over, so I worked up a swatch in that, and sent it in.
The rest? Well that’s another story that you’ll have to wait for.
