Thinking caps on for the Knit now designer challenge: MillaMia, Cygnet and Stylecraft

Designer Challenge MillaMia, Cygnet and Stylecraft

It’s time again for the Knit Now designer challenge! Just tell us what you would do with these yarns, we’ll pick 3 ideas for each and send you the yarn out to you.

The deadline for ideas is Midday GMT on Monday 6th June (yes, that’s just next Monday – that’s what makes it a challenge!). We will pay £70 for each accepted pattern. For each idea, please send a PDF including a sketch and brief description of your idea. If you can include a swatch – even better (it doesn’t have to be in these particular yarns, just something that will convey your idea). A decision will be made by the end of the day on Monday, yarn will be sent out straight away and the deadline for final patterns and samples will be Wednesday 6th July 2016. Unfortunately due to the tight turn-around this time, this is only open to designers in the UK, but my main call will be going out next week which will be open to everyone.

I’m more than happy for you to resubmit ideas to this call which have previously been submitted to another call, so long as they can be knitted from 100g of the given yarns.

The yarn – what would you do with this?

  • Challenge 1, October: MillaMia Naturally Soft Aran, 2 balls (full details here)
  • Challenge 2, November: Cygnet Boho Spirit, 1 ball (full details here)
  • Challenge 3, December: Stylecraft Batik, 2 balls. This has not yet been released, so here’s a little photo!

These are the kind of things we’re looking for…

  • Patterns featuring cables and textured patterns
  • Seasonal designs
  • Fashionable finishing touches 
  • Adorable baby makes and toys
  • Little knitted staples – hats, mitts, scarves etc.
  • Simple knits for beginners
  • Clever patterns which can be expressed concisely (500 words or 1 side of A4 is ideal)
  • Have a look at my knitting pinboard for things which are catching my eye

The details

  • There’s a flat fee of £70 for these patterns – please take this into account when planning your idea.
  • Sorry – UK designers only this time round due to time constraints.
  • We’ve got limited page space for these designs, so patterns which can be written concisely are always a bonus – please include an estimated chart size and page count if you can.
  • Designs will be commissioned pretty much straight away, and your deadline for pattern and sample to be back with us will be 06/07/16.
  • You can suggest designs you’ve submitted previously if you think they’d work in one of these yarns.
  • A swatch is not completely necessary for this, but a sketch is.
  • You can send me as many ideas as you like – we’ll be looking to choose three quite different designs in each, to show the versatility of the yarns.
  • Please create separate files for each idea and save each one as YourName_YarnName_PatternName_KNDC6568.pdf – the YarnName should be MM (MillaMia Naturally Soft Aran), CB (Cygnet Boho Spirit) or AN (SB). For example, JennySmith_CB_PointyHat_KNDC6568.pdf

Knit now mailing address is:

Knit now

Suite G2, St. Christopher House
217 Wellington Road South

Stockport, SK2 6NG

United Kingdom