In my three-part blog series for Handwoven, I explain how I approach designing and weaving for publication. This made me reminisce about creating my first weaving pattern.

One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2020 was to use less single-use products. I intend to extend this resolution into 2021. To reduce my use of paper handkerchiefs, I bought some good old-fashioned cotton ones. However, I was only able to find them in traditional checks pattern in muted colorways. This inspired me to design some handkerchiefs myself, using a checks pattern in a more modern and playful way. I took this project as an opportunity to experiment with colors and patterns in shadow weave.

When I showed my five-year-old niece the shawls of the Stardust Collection, she said she liked them but they were far too big for her. So, I knew what I had to do: make a shawl for my niece of just the right size. Not too small, not too big but just right: like in the Goldilocks fairytale. Her mother and her two-year-old brother could use a new shawl as well, so I set ot to make three shawls in three different sizes.

There is no denying that autumn is here, the days are getting shorter and colder. This changing season motivated me to weave a blanket using the full width of my loom.

The Stardust Collection combines my love for weaving with my fascination for the universe. A binary star consists of two stars that orbit a shared center of gravity. Just like the sun, a binary star can be the center of a planetary system. Binary stars form when a star-to-be breaks into two pieces and both develop into a star. The pattern of this shawl is inspired by a binary star, as the complete shawl contains just two repeats of a large star motif.