Belt Fish the design challenge

It's been three weeks now since I decided to blog about my knitting life, and I'm so happy that I did! I have made new friends, and your kind words always make me smile. Thank you.

On the knitting side, I swatched Zodiac. Many knitters have talked about how strange this thing is, and strange it is. It did not split or snag much, for I took the advice to trim my nails (and I usually remember to put lotion on my hands). However, what does this swatch look like?


Belt Fish! Thick and stiff, covered with tiny shiny silver scales.

I can not make a summer cardigan with it.

It then became a challenge--to find a good design to showcase Zodiac. I searched over the internet and decided to do a fall/winter coat. The 2007 F/W trend is quite clear in terms of coats; many are bell-shaped with dramatic collars. By the way, there are numerous dramatic cowls around; including some over-the-top ones. Maybe I should make myself a nice cowl this fall. To analyze fashion trends by oneself is fun, especially if one do not cheat by visiting Women's Wear Daily.

There are two problems now. Color, and texture.

Most coats on the runway are seriously dark, with a few exceptions, say, Balenciaga and Chanel. However, white/silver/beige is nowhere to be seen.

Then comes the structure. What interests me most is that the runway coats simply can not be called A-lined. They are three-dimensional on their own, extremely hard to capture with knitting.

I finally found two designs for further study. They are Kaffe Fassett's China Clouds from a Rowan magazine, and Tiggy by Anna, whose talent I greatly admire. But who knows, maybe I will turn to Balenciaga's lean jackets in the end. That's the fun of doing your own design, right?

Now guess: what are these?


Answer: a new design, full of fun. Hopefully I will finish it soon. Happy Knitting!