Before & After: Designer Jill Draper

We often get beautiful sketches from our designers who pitch us project ideas. Jill Draper is no exception, and probably my favorite. So it is with great pleasure that I introduce her as our first Before & After subject, where we show the original sketch of a published project in Knitting Today!. Here, Jill talks about what inspiration means to her—read on and share your thoughts below!

—Editor in Chief Theresa

An often forgotten definition of “inspiration” is: to breathe in.  Thinking about this is a good reminder to stop and look around.  Put down the handheld device that is putting a wall between you and the moment, instead of making you more connected. I find inspiration all around me, sometimes in the way the trees meet the sky, the water in the river curls around the rocks, the recent art show I attended, shadows & sun dapples or in a more direct sense; something a nearby patron at the restaurant I’m eating in is wearing or the huge collection of vintage knitting books and National Geographic magazines in my studio.

When I sit down to design I consider a lot of different things. I always think first “What would I like to wear?” soon followed by “How can I make this fun (read: not boring but not mind bending)?”  Hand knits are a labor of love and should be both a pleasure to knit and wear.  I watch each season’s fashion week shows to know what is happening in design and where the trends are headed.  The NY Fall 2011 shows made me dream about the saturated colors of Libertine, the trompe l'oeil of Jeremy Scott, sumptuous textures of Nanette Lepore and the “classic” craft influences of Cynthia Rowley.  Even I am never sure what will come out of my hands after all of these influences shift through the Rube Goldberg machine in my head.

Where do you gather your inspiration from?

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