Shrug of Many Colors Pattern and Interview with Lobug Designs

Today's free pattern is the Shrug of Many Colors in Galler Yarns Inca Eco by Lobug Designs.

This attractive striped shrug is a simple knit. Made in our soft, comfortable Inca Eco cotton, this is a perfect shrug for spring and summer nights.  

Available in eight sizes, this shrug makes a great gift.  Customize the Shrug of Many Colors with your choice of 15 low-impact, eco-friendly colors.

Download Shrug of Many Colors PDF Pattern

We had the chance to interview Lobug Designs, a self-described "Wife, Mother, Knitter, [and] Designer."  She can be found online through her website and blog, A Bug's Life, and on Ravelry as lobug and on her designer page. 

Galler Yarns (GY): How did you first get started knitting?

Lobug Designs: In October of 2003, a good friend of mine introduced me to knitting.  She convinced me it would be wonderful because I could make Christmas presents for my family.  I spent a couple hours with her learning the knit stitch, but never got back to learn how to purl.  At Thanksgiving, we drove 6 hours to spend the holiday with family, so I bought a learn to knit book and taught myself to purl on the way - I was sick of garter stitch by then!  It took me the whole 6 hours, but I figured it out, and have never looked back.

GY: What was your original inspiration for publishing your designs?

Lobug Designs: I didn’t intend to publish originally. I designed for family and friends - for gifts and for the fun of it. But in 2007, I found Ravelry and saw a call for submissions for a book. On a whim, I submitted a design and it was accepted!  Then I started designing for a small yarn company, and have been trying to publish as much as possible.

GY: Why did you choose Inca Eco for your Shrug of Many Colors?

Lobug Designs: I actually designed the Shrug specifically for the yarn. I rarely have a design first; for me, the yarn comes first. I wanted something that would show off the beautiful texture of the yarn, so it needed to be something that didn’t have a distracting stitch pattern.  But plain garter and stockinette get boring so quickly, stripes seemed necessary.  I’m really pleased with how it turned out. The stripes are vertical, so they are flattering for any figure, and the texture of the yarn makes the shrug unique.

GY: Where do you generally find your creative inspiration?

Lobug Designs: My designs are inspired by any number of things! Books (I so enjoyed doing the Lord of the Rings series!), movies (Alice in Wonderland), colors, a song, yarn color and texture, a stitch pattern I love. But, I think my best designs are inspired by people. I love working with people to make a design that they want to wear. Admittedly, sometimes that leads to designs that I personally don’t like, but it’s not necessarily meant to be about or for me.

I have to give some credit here to my husband. I’ve done several designs just because he says, “I bet you can’t do [this] with knitting.” (Yeah, I’m a little competitive.)   And there’s also been a couple where I ask, “What do you think when you see this yarn?” and his answer is all I needed to spark that design.

GY: Where are your patterns available?
Lobug Designs: At this point all the patterns I have are available on my Ravelry pattern page or The Unique Sheep web site. 

GY: What is your favorite knit?

Lobug Designs: My favorite knit is whatever I haven’t done yet!  I really don’t have a favorite item or pattern or anything like that. I love to knit. But I don’t really like knitting the same thing over and over. Once is good; then I need to knit something new. As Monty Python put it: “And now for something completely different.” I have terrible Second Sock Syndrome. I have even worse Second Sleeve Syndrome.

GY: What is your favorite knitting technique?

Lobug Designs: That’s a tough one. I will try anything in knitting, and have yet to try all the techniques that are out there - so I don’t know; maybe my favorite technique is one I haven’t tried yet!  

I keep coming back to color work. I never seem to get tired of it. I get tired of other techniques temporarily. I can only do so many cables or lace before I want to do something else. Entrelac?? I’ve done enough of that to last my lifetime. I’ve tried it - I’ll try any knitting technique at least once; but with entrelac, once was enough, thanks.

I did an entrelac beanie for a friend, then made Eunny Jang’s socks to match. Maybe I overdid it.  I can’t really say that about cables, lace, texture, or color work - those I’ll do over and over - just maybe not 2 or 3 in a row. 

GY: Tell us a bit about the book you are writing.

Lobug Designs: I’m so excited about it!  Actually, I’m working on 2 books for Charing Cross Publishers. One is exclusively socks; and I am done with the initial design work for it.  The other will have a great variety of patterns, and I have a long way to go!  

But I am loving it. I'm playing with all the things I’ve been wanting to learn and turning them into designs I love.  I’m having a great time with my test knitters and photographer. I can easily see becoming addicted to this!

GY: Where and when will your books be available?  

Lobug Designs: The sock book will be available the end of July.  The other book won’t be available until sometime in 2013. It’s a huge project -  it’s just me doing the designing; and I have to work around home schooling my kids and taking care of my family, so it’s not something I can put together in 6 months, you know?  Both books will be available anywhere we can sell them! We are planning to put them together as both e-books and print.

Thanks so much for sharing this fun pattern with us, Lobug Designs, and for stopping by for an interview!