Recap of Melanie Berg’s Visit to the Guild.
Our February 2nd guest speaker was the delightful Melanie Berg (Mairlynd on Ravelry) live from Bonn Germany. Melanie creates designs to surprise using color and texture. She currently has 158 patterns on Ravelry and two published books (Shawls and her latest Colorwork Shawls). Melanie began designing ten years ago and was able to leave her IT job for full-time design three years later. She knew how to knit before her first child was born and became more interested while on maternity leave when she discovered she liked changing patterns, so why not try designing her own? Melanie often swatches for her shawls to find out how different color combinations and pattern textures work together. Consideration is given to matching yarn with stitch pattern, drape and how the fabric feels. Her design process looks at the yarn first, what features she wants to highlight through the yarn, and then color.
There is no wrong way to wear a shawl and she demonstrated several ways to wear them. Her favorite shawl shape is asymmetrical since they usually have a border feature that can easily be displayed in the front when wearing. She does not design semi-circle shaped shawls very often since it is difficult to show off a border pattern. Triangular shaped shawls are the most popular amongst the Guild according to a virtual poll during the meeting!
Melanie helped design a yarn with Pascuali called Balayage which is her favorite! Her favorite cast on is the long tail or garter tab. Designers that inspire her are Åsa Söderman (Åsa Tricosa on Ravelry) and Thea Colman (Baby Cocktails on Ravelry).
Melanie Berg’s How to Wear Rectangular Shawls video
Melanie’s website Mairlynd
— Lou Wanna Kats, Programs
Screen shots from the February Guild meeting.
