Plastic exploration - an artist residency

 Well it's finally started. Delayed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic but finally, I'm installed in the Mungga artist studio 1  at the Ivanhoe Library and Cultural Hub. Mungga means 'to make' in the Woiwurrung language, so nice to be part of the whole exciting hub.

The idea is to continue weaving with plastic, creating new works, but in particular, 3D works. I'm going to collect materials from the local Ivanhoe shopping precinct. I'll be there for the whole of July and propose to work Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, with the alternating Saturdays and Sundays. There are workshops planned. In addition, as a bonus, my big work 'Water' is to be part of the exhibition 'Change' which is in the Loft exhibition space. It should be an exciting install.

Day 1 was really about shifting in and trying to make the space look interesting. I did some repair work on 'Water' and just found my way around. It feels nice to have a space to myself where there are big tables to work on and space for the looms and materials.

Day 2 I spent adding more 2m woven plastic lengths to the already 8m of 'Water'. Big takeaway of the day was how slow I'm working! Did get faster though, so it's probably just early days, but I do want to achieve something this week.

I love the people that have dropped in already, it's lovely seeing how people perceive your work. Also interesting what you learn from them. My never-ending nylon thread was probably used for the hems in garments....why didn't I think of that!

The Best Colourwork Pattern book I've ever seen

 I found a reference to a beautiful sweater by Kirsti Braein and found it on Ravelry where I discovered I could on get the pattern in a book....so I bought it...

There are so many interesting patterns. The problem with the book is that while the photographs are beautiful they don't always give you the best view of the jumper. 

These are some of the beautiful patterns, that have reasonable pictures. Many have very elaborate trims like peplums which can be removed and the main body extended, making very wearable garments.

The big issue with them for me, or perhaps the challenge, is that many of them use steeking for necks and armholes. (Steek: knit a tube and CUT holes for the neck and armholes!!!) I've never done this before, so I might do a simpler one first, using up some of my red wool.

Starting more projects: recycling this time

 I just seem to need to keep moving, so I've started two new projects. They involve me sorting out my wardrobe and seeing if I can come up with new garments from things that are worn out, no longer fit or no longer feel good to wear. I've picked up two pairs of jeans and some brown pants. 

The idea is to unpick them, cut them into squares and sew them up into a new piece of fabric and make them into a new pair of pants. So far all I've done is unpick them, I'm on the last pair of jeans. I just unpick the inside leg and the crotch. This gives me a flat fabric. I've also removed the waste bands, maybe to make a waistband for the pants. The next phase is to cut them into squares, at the moment I'm thinking about 10cm square.

The second project means creating a brand new piece of clothing from weaving thrums. These are the waste ends of a warp. I've had a warp from since I graduated from RMIT and my studio textiles course, that's 15 years ago. But it was a great warp and there was alot left. 

Someone mentioned that there's a Japanese technique called 'Zanshi'. I googled it and basically it is tying the warp ends together and using them to weave a new fabric. Trust the Japanese to come up with a beautiful technique to use what we would call waste. Anyway, I've started winding into balls, this warp.

I'm about half way through. Fortunately, when I took the warp off, I did it so it is in sections. When I've finished I'll be winding a sample length warp in fine black wool and see what will work best with this yarn as weft. I'm looking at twills, the more complex the better. I'll warp up my 16-shaft table loom and see what I can get.

Unfinished projects

So many unfinished projects, I seem to start and stop losing my mojo....until now. 

Have finally caught up with Stuart and Shannon in the park with an afternoon picnic lunch with all the others also picnicing. I remembered the jumper I started, having done the back and one sleeve. Because of the rib, I couldn't decide if it was too big or too small......All's good, it fits exactly as he would like it.

It's a pattern from 'The Knitter' magazine. (Issue 150) One of the magazines I bought during 2020 to add to the pile. That's how I passed the time, buying magazines. Now they sit at the front door, ready to take to my local knitting group to give away, when we can meet again. I didn't really want them all. At least I found this jumper for Stuart.

I did have to make several adjustments. The main adjustment was not to use the 10ply yarn recommended and select an 8 ply from the Bendigo Woollen Mills range. 10ply is just to hot for our climate and for my hot running boys.

It's a simple calculation if you do a tension swatch and have all the measurements.

I'm happy to be back knitting for Stuart. After that's finished there's an exciting challenge for Michael's next jumper.

Weaving with Plastic

 So... I'm supposed to start my residency at the Ivanhoe Library and Cultural Hub in October. Even though vaccinations are progressing, our 'road map' doesn't seem to provide for enough opening for me to be able to do that. It's still not confirmed in any way and I don't expect it to for a little while. However, I need to do a little weaving 'just in case'. It also means that I get the current warp off my loom and I can think of a new project for October.

So I've started weaving my little plastic rugs. These are to form an installation that, basically, echoes the rugs used in a yurt and I hoped to figure out a way to hang them in a circle. I was to do two off the current nylon warp and then collect materials from the shops in Ivanhoe for the remaining completed during my residency.

So I started on the first one, which is a simple tabby weave with whatever plastic I have to hand.

And, I've finished...

Plastic is difficult to handle and the finished piece was cut-off before starting the next. This was mostly because of the bulk, but I wanted to reset the warp so that it wove easily.

The second 'rug' is using rya knots to create a rug with more texture. It's slower, but is interesting to weave. You certainly work out why, down the centuries, young small fingers have been exploited to weave these type of rugs.

Each one is only a metre long, so hopefully I can finish this, this week. 

Using up leftovers

This month (September) we experimented with 4ply cable yarns for our online Experimental Spinning session. Four ply cable yarns are basically two singles overplyed together,  twice, then the two resulting overplyed yarns are plyed together in the opposite direction.

A video that was recommended on the day is Wool n' Spinning presents Cabled Yarn by Rachel Smith. Lots of good information and hints.

I decided to use up some leftovers and came up with these yarns.

I was quite happy, so did a bit of a deep dive into my leftovers and came up with these:

And I finished with these yarns:

I made mostly 4ply cable yarns, but I did have a S spun single that I added to the end bits of my plying creating a few 3ply yarns. All sorts of matching yarns. They do need washing as the singles I've used are quite old.

I'm very happy with all of these and they'll end up being used in the mitred square rug that I've been working on. I've stopped that for the moment as I've run out of little bits of handspun yarn and I really should be moving on to other projects. It has been a bit of a distraction, however pleasant, and I should get on with Stuart's jumper and weaving the plastic rugs for my residency in Ivanhoe.

 

Side-tracked by leftover handspun

 I don't really know why, but whilst working on Stuart's jumper, I decided to stop and wait until I can measure it against him. I think it's way too big, but he is big and I might be underestimating his size. It's been awhile since I knit the last jumper.

Anyway, I decided I would do some more stash busting, this time with all those leftover bits of handspun that I can't bear to throw away.

I decided to do mitred squares as they're easy to do, can take small amounts of yarn and look pretty effective. My squares are 20 sts sides (work on 40sts) on 4mm needles and measure 9.5cm square.

There are all sorts of different yarns and even though some are a bit fine and a bit thick, it seems to be working ok.

I did sort them into colours: broadly blue, purple, red, orange, yellow and green. I think if I did it again, I would be much more random. The effect gets better as it gets larger. I'm aiming for a Queen size blanket for the spare bedroom. Just right for our Western Australian guests who feel the cold!

I've still got the green to go, then I've got all the natural coloured yarn and then I'll probably have to wait for more yarn. I'm thinking of edging it in cream with half size mitres.

Weaving on cardboard

 I'm booked in for my Artists' Residency at the Ivanhoe Arts and Cultural Hub. I am so excited! Though, at the moment, it's not necessarily sure, as we're currently in lockdown. I can't see that changing till sometime in September, which will change how much I can do during the residency. And it means, that the residency is by no means certain as there are those that have missed out on their residencies. We'll see....

As part of the residency, there needs to be 'community engagement' which, for me will take the form of simple weaving workshops. Cutting out cards to weave something very simple like a coaster or a little more complex like a mobile phone cover.

These are really very simple, and all it takes is cardboard and yarn. I drew around my objects, cut slits at a distance I thought suitable and warped.

Very simple and reasonably quick. I've used three yarns together for the weft and it gives a nice feel. First the coaster.

The second piece, I tried to warp both sides and create a pocket. Worked reasonably well for a phone cover.

There are more options I might play with:

- using two pieces of cardboard to make a flap

- trying to attach a strap down the side, while weaving.

It's interesting to go back to something so simple, but which is very effective and useful.

A house warming present

It's nearly finished. All I have to do is wash and block it.

 It's called a Safe at Home blanket by Margaret Holzman (2020) and I purchased it off Ravelry. (Ravelry.com) The design is done in Tunisian crochet and all the yarn used was from my stash! 

(For a nice tutorial on Tunisian crochet see: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/tunisian-crochet-stitches-979408)

I have only one hint. Pick your colours and then put each colour in a labelled bag. It's makes the colour you want easy to find, lessens tangles and you can easily add more yarn by just adding to the appropriate bag. This made life a lot easier!

It's a gift to some young friends of ours who have just purchased their first home. They're in Architecture and Heritage and it should be suitably appropriate. I started back in July and here I am in the middle of August and it's finished. 

And, in case, anyone is wondering, I'm going to start trying to blog more regularly. The reason I wanted to do this blog, originally, was to just write. For some reason I've always liked the idea of writing, but I'm not a good writer and I thought a blog might be the way to do it. 

I was inspired by a podcast I listen to. It's the 'Creative Pep Talk' by Andy J. Pizza. He's a little over the top but has alot of ideas and loves to share them. Episode 328 was 'If you only listen to One Episode of this show Make it This One'. In it he talked about the idea of creating a habit. Just do it, don't worry about how good it is, just get in the habit. So that's what I'm doing.

We'll see if it lasts!

Tree Hugger

 With the possibility of a solo exhibition and how the fill a gallery space, I've been thinking about themes. It seems that 'Everything is Plastic' is looming as a distinct possibility. So far, there's 'Water', then I'll do something to do with home, but I'm focusing on having another large piece and I think it should be trees.

Trees...I do love trees. There's something older and wiser about trees, a solidity. 

I've a small collection of books about trees, either with the emphasis on the native trees of Australia or a growing wisdom around the connectedness and intelligence of trees.

'The Hidden Life of Trees' by Peter Wohlleben. 

'The Life & Love of Trees' by Lewis Blackwell

'Wise Trees' by Diane Cook and Len Jenshel

'Eucalypts: a celebration' by John Wrigley and Murray Fagg

Old Growth: Australia's Remaining Ancient Forests' by Peter McConchie

Beautiful pictures of trees and their lives. Already I'm thinking about the possibilities. 

From my Window - BCC Window Installation project - the start

 I'm embarking on an exciting new project for the month of October. Banyule City Council put a call out to artists to create work for windows of businesses all over the city of Banyule. They wanted to reflect the business and also use materials from the business, right up my alley. I put in a proposal for one window.

I was asked to do two, and then when another artist pulled out, I was asked to do more. So I went from one window to three! I am a little alarmed and hope I can finish all three windows to a good level. The three businesses I have are:

1. Eastern Vitality in Heidelberg where I'm going to focus on their plants and add flowers, phoenix and a background weaving.

2. Rosanna Heating and Cooling in Rosanna where I'm using their ducting to do some off-loom weaving and some origami houses and furniture. It's should be shiny and fun, I haven't done this sort of off-loom weaving for quite some time.

3. The Dish Cafe in Eaglemont was my third business and when I met them I was determined to use some coffee cups in their work. It was a sad story of good intentions unfulfilled, so I sort of feel that I'm mending them. I'll also do a weaving for next to their door incorporating no longer used plastic utensils.

These are all my first successful trials and I'm sure that they will develop further. I also have yet to do enough weaving for photos. There is a warp on the loom, though. The end of October is my nominal deadline with some leeway after that. Should be a busy month.

Liminal//A Shared Distance - the videos

Two videos were made for the exhibition. The first was a trial but I liked it so much that I asked if I could include it as well and they agreed. 

I think they're a little boring, but happily reflect the stillness of my art practice and the way I work.

 

Liminal // A Shared Distance - the works

Way back in February, the Banyule Artists group put out an expression of interest for the last exhbition to be held at the Hatch Contemporary Arts Space. I really wanted to be part of this as I'd been involved with Hatch since the start of the Ivanhoe Makers Market, a long time ago, so I responded.

As Covid-19 changed their exhibition and also changed the works I was going to produce. As part of the experience we were required to produce a video. Armed with my camera and discovering how it worked in regards to video I managed to do this.

I did produce three works. I couldn't narrow my focus so these reflect various aspects of Climate Change, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests.

1. Safe (2020) 

        Are we safe in our own homes, reflections on the effect of Climate change and the pandemic and how we might view the safety that our homes give us and how deceptive that might be.

2. June, 29 of 423 (2020)

        A difficult topic to try and respond to was the Black Lives Matter protests and how they were reflected here. The Guardian have an excellent website documenting some of the indigenous lives that have been lost in custody, a total of 423 since the Royal Commission in 1990. Each day of the year someone mourns a loss, 29 in June.

3. Global (2020)

        Global warming or the pandemic, these are my places of shelter around the globe.

  

 

Sock Madness 2020

Sock Madness came at just the right moment this year. I suspect for many people this was true. Most of us around the world were in various forms of lockdown, and in various forms of shock, as COVID-19 became a pandemic and restructured everyone's lives. Sock Madness gave me a structure and a goal and resulted in a terrific set of socks. 

I know the moderators plan the socks well ahead and couldn't have known what was ahead, but they do seem to be a particularly good set of socks with challenges and beautiful outcomes.

The socks are (from right to left):

    Qualifying Round : Wohin?

    Round 2: Echoes from a Transylvanian Forest

    Round 3: Lacy not Lazy Madness Socks

    Round 4: Adament Hears

    Round 1: Diamond Duality

    Round 5: Mobius Madness (this was my dropping out point but I decided to continue, especially, as it turned out, because round seven was written by Adrienne Fong who passed away. Such a lovely tribute.)

    Round 6: Lampropeltis

    Round 7: Suky

For me it was a bit more of a challenge than usual. Early on I made a mistake, picked up by the moderators and had to reknit a toe. Then later I completely misread the instructions and unfortunately the fix was too difficult and as I was in Round 6 I knew there was little time left, so I quit. A bit unhappily, but I'd never got two so wrong before, so a lesson learnt.

Can't wait for next year.

 

A Shawl for my sister

My sister is going through some personal difficulties and deserves all the love we can provide. She desires her privacy so I thought I'd knit her a shawl.

 

I found a pattern 'Flowers of Traken' on Ravelry and couldn't resist. Along with the beauty of the pattern her oldest is a Dr Who fan and this is a reference to one of the episodes.

I had some beautiful alpaca and silk in red....perfect..

Here it is, all bloked, just before I unpinned it and sent it off. 

 

Skating on Thin Ice

I've been playing around with creating shapes using other shapes. In this case to get a very round base, I coiled around a tennis ball. I used fabric remnants, handspun yarn and twine. I learnt the technique at the Handweavers and Spinners Guild during Summer School.

Finishing a piece is always tricky and it took me awhile to find the right pieces. I really didn't want to buy something as it really goes against the whole sustainable practice ethos. Luckily, I had some glass that was left over from a leadlight window class I attended way before children. I kept all the glass. Then some rocks from the garden supplies finished it off. Pretty pleased.

 Unfortunately, it hasn't found an exhibition, yet, in which to shine. 

A hat and mittens for the boys partners

I like making things for other people, but I rarely have confidence that I can figure out what people would like. I make do by making bulk things for everyone and hope for the best. I love when I get requests..

So, here are the requested hat and pair of mittens, the hat for Steph and the mittens for Shannon. The hat is from the standard accessories book from Patons that I always use along with Bendigo Classic in Steph's favourite colour, it seems. The mittens are my standard pattern in Black yarn from the stash. They seem to have been well received. I hope they kept them warm this Winter. 

They were a nice quick project for the start of the first lockdown in Melbourne.