Appreciating Patterns

For the first few decades of my knitting experience I mostly avoided using patterns.  It was fun to make stuff up as I went along, even though the resulting finished object was usually not what I intended it to be originally.  Ever since I signed on to Ravelry I've gained an appreciation for other people's designs and have been using more patterns.  It wasn't until I attempted my own that I fully appreciated the challenge of writing a pattern. I've been immersed in the Shetland Webcam Hat patterns for the past few years, and each one of those gets increasingly complicated.  So, it was with some relief that I heard of the Shetland MRI Scanner appeal hat project and got myself the materials to make Harriet's Hat.

I believe that I have enough yarn to make a second hat, and if I run out I can walk over to the Jamieson and Smith's Woolbrokers and get me some more yarn!

After working the Harriet's Hat pattern, which was nicely written and easy to follow, I am re-inspired to get back to my own designs.  I've got two brewing at the moment.  The newest is called something like "Layers of Croft" and is inspired by the typical crofting environs in Shetland.  Most crofts are near water and are bordered by some form of rocky or cliff edge and the land often includes some peat bog.  Peat is still cut and burned here--I could smell it while walking around in the cold evening yesterday.  There is also this time of year lots of flowers, my favorite being the Pinks that are all over the cliffs.

The pattern will also include some representation of the many colors of sheep that are raised here and some blue and white for the sky. 

I have a growing collection of yarn from Uradale that I plan to use for this project. The colors have a natural appearance and seem especially well-suited for what I have in mind.  This idea evolved from my experience using this yarn to make a variation of the Jubilee Hat pattern that I've been working on FOREVER.  It's been a challenge to get it right, but with some feedback from Oogy and our pal LW, I feel as though I have it nearly ready for prime time (that would be Ravelry).  Here is the yarn I plan to use on the Uradale variation, plus the hats that were made with Jamieson's of Shetland, on the right
and Jamieson and Smith, on the left: