STARRY NIGHTS DOUBLE-PENDANT LAMP SHADE

‘Starry Nights’ is a knitted double-pendant lamp shade accented with silver seed beads and hanging Swarovski® crystals set against a black lace stitch pattern.

The design was submitted to the Creativ Festival's Designer Style Challenge as part of their 25th Silver Anniversary celebration.  The theme of the challenge was a touch of silver (from minimal to maximum) which was required as the continuous thread to the challenge. Otherwise, the challenge was open-ended to encourage creativity.

As I began the design process, I was inspired by the evening sun shining through the horizontal blinds and the way the light reflected on the living room wall. I wanted to translate that light effect by designing a lamp shade embellished with silver seed beads and Swarovski® crystals and felt that it would create the illusion of light  ‘dancing’ on the walls. 

The design was created using the following methods:

The outer shade of the double-pendant lamp shade is knit in a lace pattern using circular needles and is accented with 525 silver seed beads which were used at the top and bottom edging and throughout the lace pattern. The silver seed beads were knit into the lace pattern integrating them into the fabric. 

The inner shade is knit in stockinette stitch using circular needles and is embellished at the bottom edging with a crocheted edge and Swarovski® crystals dangling pendants adding a touch of ‘jewellery’ to the shade.  

I was told that there were over 450 submissions in 9 different categories. I was so excited to have the lampshade make it through to the finalist round which featured the top three designs in each category with the lamp shade in the knit/crochet category. The designs were featured during an Awards Ceremony that was held on Saturday, October 13th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The model came down the runway wearing a black leotard and had the lampshade on her head inspired by a recent Paris runway show (a photo of the model will be posted once it's been released).  he winners were announced during the ceremony where the lampshade came in as a runner up in its category.

It was a very exciting moment in my design career to be on stage and have my name on the big screen! Thanks to the Creativ Festival as well as Swarovski® and Red Heart yarns who sponsored the event for knitting/crochet. Special thanks to my family and friends for all their support.