Today will get noted in my Designer Milestone Diary (no, I don't really have one, it's a figure of speech!) as the day I submitted my first pattern design to a third-party publisher! I'm excited, and just a bit scared as well.
I haven't even considered answering a call for submissions before for two reasons.
Firstly, I find it difficult to come up with pattern ideas "on-demand". I'm not short of ideas, but it seems like the ideas come to me instead of me thinking something up. I get my inspiration from all kinds of things but mostly it seems to come at random times. I don't sit down and think "OK, today I'm going to come up with a scarf idea".
Secondly, I will admit it, I'm scared of being told "What were you thinking?! That pattern idea is appalling! Call yourself a designer? If that idea sucked any more, the vacuum cleaner would be redundant, now get out of my magazine email inbox!" Or words to that effect.
For some reason, this particular submission call, well, called to me. I just happened to already have a half-baked idea for a design that I was considering putting next on my to-write list anyway, that seems (to me, at least!) to be exactly what the publisher is looking for.
So after a weekend of giving myself some stern pep-talks (and getting some good advice on Ravelry), I have written and sent off my first pattern proposal. Replies are due at the end of March, so I'll let you know. I can't give any more details, but I will put up a photo of the yummy yarn I'm using to knit my first sample with. It's Wollmeise Twin in Raku Regenbogen, and even if my design isn't chosen, I'll still end up with the finished object for myself. So I guess I win either way.
I haven't even considered answering a call for submissions before for two reasons.
Firstly, I find it difficult to come up with pattern ideas "on-demand". I'm not short of ideas, but it seems like the ideas come to me instead of me thinking something up. I get my inspiration from all kinds of things but mostly it seems to come at random times. I don't sit down and think "OK, today I'm going to come up with a scarf idea".
Secondly, I will admit it, I'm scared of being told "What were you thinking?! That pattern idea is appalling! Call yourself a designer? If that idea sucked any more, the vacuum cleaner would be redundant, now get out of my magazine email inbox!" Or words to that effect.
For some reason, this particular submission call, well, called to me. I just happened to already have a half-baked idea for a design that I was considering putting next on my to-write list anyway, that seems (to me, at least!) to be exactly what the publisher is looking for.
So after a weekend of giving myself some stern pep-talks (and getting some good advice on Ravelry), I have written and sent off my first pattern proposal. Replies are due at the end of March, so I'll let you know. I can't give any more details, but I will put up a photo of the yummy yarn I'm using to knit my first sample with. It's Wollmeise Twin in Raku Regenbogen, and even if my design isn't chosen, I'll still end up with the finished object for myself. So I guess I win either way.
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