As the weather starts cooling down and we head into fall, many knitters start ramping up their projects. If you’ve vowed that this is the year where you will wear your own handmade creations rather than store bought, let me share 4 tips for planning a season’s worth of wearable accessories.
Be real about your clothing
As you think ahead to the next season, consider your own wardrobe staples. What outfits, colors, and styles do you actually wear on a regular basis? If your style is eclectic, that’s wonderful! But, if you know you’ll probably wear the same t-shirt and pair of jeans every Saturday, don’t imagine you’ll suddenly be wearing ballerina dresses this fall instead.
On the other hand, if you’ve recently lost or gained weight, switched jobs, or have had other life changes that mean it’s time to go clothes shopping, consider building some outfits around special accessories that you’d love to wear on a regular basis.
Once you have an idea of what you’ll be wearing in the next season, you can choose accessories projects to wear with those outfits.
Select projects
With your clothing in mind, look through patterns and choose accessories that will fit in with your lifestyle and your local climate. Some options for wearable accessories include socks, hats, scarves or cowls, shawls, and bags. (At the end of this article, you can find some great pattern suggestions to get you started!) Once you have your projects chosen, you can start a shopping list of yarn and supplies you’ll need.
Choose colors carefully
To get the most wear out of your new handmade accessories collection, choose colors that compliment or contrast the staples in your wardrobe. While it’s tempting to choose neutral colors that (theoretically) match everything, if you prefer bold vibrant colors, this is not a good strategy. Think about not just the actually colors you like, but the type of color. Do you like bold colors or ones that are more faded? Are you a fan of jewel tones or pastels or earth tones? Do you like your outfits to coordinate or would you prefer your accessories to add a pop of color to the rest of what you’re wearing? Do you want your accessories to be solid, or would you prefer stripes, multicolor yarns, or color blocked projects?
If you’d like your handmade accessories to follow seasonal fashion trends, take a look at the appropriate Pantone fashion color report, which is usually available about six months in advance. Once you have a better idea of the types of colors you want to wear, you can start matching projects to yarn.
Start early
If you want to get the most use out of your accessories during the season, start knitting as early as possible. This allows you to work at a reasonable pace and still finish in time to wear your creations. If you can’t get started early, or life just gets too busy, aim to finish one versatile project that you can get a lot of wear out of during the season.
Now that you have a plan for making your own seasonal accessories collection, here are some pattern suggestions to help inspire you!
Socks
Hats
- Simple Family-Ready Hats
- When Pigs Fly Beanie
- Vibrant Colorwork Set (also includes cowl and mitts)
- Classic Cozy Beanie
Scarves and Cowls
Shawls
Bags
