{"id":1082,"date":"2026-04-10T10:05:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stitchmarkers-nook.de\/?p=1082"},"modified":"2026-04-27T07:32:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T07:32:58","slug":"am-ende-scheint-die-sonne-einblicke-in-meinen-designprozess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stitchmarkers-nook.de\/en\/2026\/04\/10\/am-ende-scheint-die-sonne-einblicke-in-meinen-designprozess\/","title":{"rendered":"In the End, the Sun Breaks Through \u2013 Insights into My Design Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before I became a mom and a designer, I worked in software development for a long time. And if you really think about it, craft instructions and computer programs have a lot in common. (Strictly speaking, software was even invented in connection with the textile industry\u2014but that\u2019s another story.) Craft instructions and computer programs both define what needs to be done to achieve a specific result. The more clearly they are written, the more reliably the desired outcome is achieved.\n\nThat\u2019s why the actual programming in software development only makes up a small part of the process. Before any coding can begin, the desired result has to be defined very precisely\u2014this is often referred to as gathering requirements. After the programming is completed, extensive testing is necessary to verify that the software behaves as intended. In practical testing, not only do programming errors come to light, but it often turns out that the original requirements were not entirely correct. In that case, the software has to be revised. All of this only works if the requirements, the software itself, and the tests are carefully documented from the very beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can probably guess already: when I write a new pattern, there\u2019s a bit more going on behind the scenes than you might expect at first.\n
\nToday, I\u2019ll show you how a pattern like this is created, using my Kawaii Sun Lucy<\/a> as an example for a Patterns<\/a> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sketches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I had two ideas I wanted to bring to life. First, I wanted to design a face that I could incorporate into different designs, and second, I wanted to create a sun. I usually start by sketching my idea with a pencil to get a feel for how the motif should look. Then I begin figuring out how to construct the shape using rings and arcs. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Kleine<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Face<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re so used to seeing cute faces in TV shows, on our plush toys, or in advertising that many people don\u2019t realize how much work goes into a simple face made of just a few lines. As humans, we are social beings who live in groups, and reading faces is part of our survival instinct. Even babies are deeply engaged in this process: Who is smiling at me and seems friendly? Who looks stern and might be a threat? It\u2019s no coincidence that we often see faces where there actually are none (for example, in clouds or electrical outlets).\n
\nBecause our brains are so skilled at reading faces, even a millimeter of line thickness in a mouth or a single degree in the angle of an eye can make the difference between \u201caww, how cute\u201d and \u201cyikes, how creepy.\u201d That\u2019s the challenge I wanted to take on with Occhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once my first sketches were done, I started knotting to see if my ideas would actually work\u2026 well, see for yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Verschiedene<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The idea with the supporting structure in the top right and bottom left not only looked terrible, but was also far too large and inflexible to be reused in other designs. After several attempts, I ended up with a very minimal version (top left and bottom right).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you can\u2019t see here: the four threads of the light eye rings disappear directly during knotting\u2014no sewing in ends required. In the final pattern, I explain this step by step with pictures. Patterns<\/a> erkl\u00e4re ich Dir das Schritt f\u00fcr Schritt mit Bildern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sun<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who looked closely at the sketches above will have noticed that I originally had a completely different structure in mind for Lucy. Somehow I just couldn\u2019t make it work, as you can see in the next image. Maybe I\u2019ll revisit that idea for another pattern someday. In the end, I decided on a simpler circular construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Zwei<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"gelber<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now Lucy still needed to become bigger and more interesting. With a few sunbeams, she already looked quite nice\u2014but I wanted more, so I added a second circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Something about the sunbeams didn\u2019t feel right. I couldn\u2019t quite put my finger on it, so I started experimenting. In the next image, you can clearly see how I used up leftover yarn in different colors (sometimes that even leads to new ideas). If you look closely, you\u2019ll notice that I tried out different versions of the outer sun circle and only attached the final version to the inner circle afterward using blue thread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, I thought the issue with the sunbeams was the knotting technique. To save time during my experiments, I made the sunbeams shorter\u2014and in the end, that turned out to be the key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The short sunbeams<\/p>\n\n\n\n