Yesterday, a designer friend asked me on Instagram to talk about the design inspiration for Silence Tee. I got excited, since that’s something I love talking about but didn’t necessarily think others would be interested in. This info will be dispensed in smaller chunks on Instagram later, but I thought it would be fun to have a full writeup here.
Silence Tee is named after a favorite Mozart quote of mine: “Music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.” Mozart’s music has a deeply thoughtful and rich simplicity that’s surprisingly difficult to pull off as an interpreter (trust me, I know) and I’ve wanted to do a design inspired by it for a long time now.
My initial concept when I requested yarn support last year was a three-color stranded tee with bobbles. The colorwork motif was ornate and organic, based on the textures and scrollwork of neoclassical interior design, Mozart’s time period. But when the yarn arrived, I started second-guessing, since I wasn’t sure if the colors would have enough contrast for colorwork. I also started to question the concept itself; since the inspiration quote was about simplicity, something highly decorative might be out of place. (As a side note, I normally will not significantly change a concept that I’ve proposed to a publisher or yarn company; in this case, SweetGeorgia gave me free rein.)
I moved to neoclassical fashion instead, trying to start again and find other period details to work with. For some reason the idea of trying to mimic epaulettes kept cropping up in my mind, probably because of the gold color of the yarn. The scrollwork idea came back too, this time as lace panels, which were much more understated than my original idea for colorwork. As you might remember, I swatched quite a bit to get the arrangement of lace and twisted rib just right.
When I realized I could create epaulettes using saddle shoulder construction, a square neckline was the obvious way to go. Not only would be it be easy to shape and grade, but it was another nice nod to period fashion. I’ve always though the square necklines of 18th century dresses were very flattering. Not sure I could say the same for the panniers (the hip padding in this dress below) but ah, well.
The first gown is from the 1750s, when Mozart was born, and the second one is from the 1790s, shortly after he died. As you can see, silhouettes were getting simpler and less structured as time went on. While this wasn’t deliberate, I love how the simple, boxy shape of Silence kind of continues this train of thought with further streamlining.
Another detail that unintentionally ties in with the period is the contrasting bindoff around the neckline. Tabetha, my mentor from SweetGeorgia, mentioned to me that she really liked the bright blue provisional cast-on of my Barocco sweater from last year against the Lichen lace yoke. Ever since then, I’d wanted to incorporate blue neckline trim with Lichen (the gold colorway I used for Silence). Later I realized that it framed the neck and face in a similar way to the neckline trims that were popular in the 18th century. (The dress below is from the 1770s.)
All in all, I’m quite happy with the results. I had a blast translating a few distinctives from another time period into something wearable for today, and it was so much fun to discover more details that wriggled their way in organically throughout the process, and to lean into those. Period-inspired garments are definitely a niche I want to explore more in the future. What should I do next—the Regency era? The Roaring 20s? The 30s? The Middle Ages? Or maybe some historical Vietnamese clothing as a nod to my heritage…I could see this becoming a real rabbit hole!
Silence Tee is available for preorder now on Ravelry and Payhip. Use the code SILENCE at checkout for 15% off until May 18, release day. Preordering will get you a pdf with swatching info, fit tips, and guidance for choosing yarn; the full pattern will be delivered to you on the 18th. Oh, and there’s going to be a knitalong after release day, so just be ready for that…
