Never in a million years did I think I would consider myself a designer, but yes I am!! Two years ago I took my first design class-design your own shawl with Stephanie Japel. This class stretched my creative juices and I've been designing ever since. Check out my Knitting Designs page. Currently, I'm designing two shawls, one is a smaller shawlette, and the other is a larger shawl, both worked from the top-down with a lace center and edge. I also have a scarf pattern being technically edited this week. I'll post pictures and links to the patterns when they are available.
Sometimes I find a specific yarn that is calling for a specific pattern and design. I found this luscious pink yarn with a blend of wool, cashmere and nylon, (from Neighborhood fiber company,) and it called to be knit into a chunky scarf. Other times I need an item, for example a wrap that I can take when the weather turns cooler later in the day, hence the larger shawl that I'm in the middle of designing. 
