Getting to know my knitting machine!

I've had to start a new set of work. This is a bit strange as I haven't finished any of the other works yet. With next week being the week before the market, I will spend that time finishing off what I can, and, hopefully, I'll have a variety of work to add to my market stall.

So I've started working on another set of textile pictures, this time working with the textures and ideas around the 3D5S trip to Melbourne Cemetery. Working in the same way as previously, I'll use the knitting machine to create fabrics and add them to a canvas. I've found a slightly different shape at riot: a long rectangle.

The back fabric is going to be more textured and I'm trying to master Lace knitting on the machine. It's seems just like Tuck knitting but with an extra bit on the machine, that I don't really know what it does! Anyway, I achieved a very nice pattern and will easily be able to do three.

I also would like to use up some handspun scraps. (Is any handspun a scrap!) so I need to use them by weaving them in on the knitting machine. I haven't done this for quite some time, and I'm not sure I'm doing it correctly. It is however, virtually impossible to find any information on this technique, if your own instruction manual feels slightly inadequate! I'll get there, but I must go in search of a really good technical book for my machine!

Silver jewellery & silk scarves

I spent yesterday playing around with Precious Metal Clay in a lovely class full of friends. This clay is moulded just as you would any clay, but when fired parts are obviously melted away and you are left with pure silver.

We all made at least two pieces: a lovely filagree heart or round shape; I made a heart! and, a flat shape with texture, which I turned into a round not quite bead that I'm going to use to add to a very special bookmark for the owner of my borrowed and hopefully soon departing weaving loom.

Over the weekend, I did manage to dye the rest of the silk and wool in red/blue/purple shades. Not actually as striking as the green, but still successful. I have made a start on that scarf. I'm knitting the middle stitches combining with the wool. The edges are silk only, but as an added bonus, instead of knitting straight rows, I've done a couple of short rows so that hopefully it will have a little flounce.

The green scarf I was happy with, in the end. I started by doing a thin angled scarf. (K2tog at the beginning of the row, Increase 1 at the end of the row. Knit back.) I started playing around with this, making a larger end, and finally, I pulled it all out and went back to the original idea.

I

Heavenly silk!

I did manage to cut up enough silk for two scarves.

The first is already dyed with yellow and blue. Some old Supracen dyes from college. Best result I've had for some time.

I've decided to use wool with these two as I think that they need a bit of extra bounce. I have spun some fine (well almost fine!) merino top and for this I plied it together before dyeing. The second I'll keep separate and dye together and only use the wool for the central part of the scarf.

This weekend is 'clean house weekend'. Hopefully, I will be left with a packed sunroom and beautiful house.

Sidetracked again!

I do have a serious addiction to buying magazines. Not your trashy (cheap!) 'woman's magazines' but textile magazines, fashion, various art magazines, design magazines and even music has managed to appear in my collection. I'm also considering resubscribing to Spin-off and Handwoven, having got over being a bit jaded with their repetition and a certain lack of innovation.

A design magazine, 'Lino', that I discovered relatively recently has a new edition out on the shelves. The padlocks are on the front cover, and inside is an article by a couple of weavers. The first weaver had the same basis for some of her work in the 'nature vs nurture' and this is her response.

This is mine from the Old England Sculpture Award. I was quite surprised to see this reference and I loved her other pieces as well.

I've also been trying to knit a scarf with my liquorice allsorts yarn. I thought it would be easy, but it's proving a challenge! This is where I've got to trying 'all sorts' of different stitches to get the right effect. I think I'm happy with this one, except it's a very stiff fabric, so I'll try it on larger, (I'm already on 7.5mm needles)!

Should be cutting up silk fabric!

Partners working from home!

Dear hubby decided he'd work from home yesterday! Consequently, I had the pleasure of his company for morning tea, and, the annoyance of not being able to get at the computer for the whole day!

I have spent the last couple of days weaving. Two black pieces, one of which has totally changed the way I'm looking at this series. It's one material used throughout the whole 75cm with the gold wire all the way up. By the way, this gets curled around my plyers with added skill after my jewellery classes with Carol.





I'm using this gorgeous black tape that looks like video tape, except that it's black. Nice to weave with and very striking.

I then created another using the basket weaving materials my sister had given me for the 'Nature vs Nurture' entry to the 2006 Old England Sculpture award. They were little bits and fit really well into the format.





I've enough warp on the loom to create six, so only two more to go. I should be working on some silk scarves, hopefully Thursday.

I'm still considering why I'm blogging, except, that it's a good record of work and it's like reporting each day to your boss. I have to have done something to show, and that seems to be working in a very pleasant way. Working from home can be difficult as there is always plenty to distract, especially husbands wanting to go out for a coffee!

What you can find in your garden!

Having been away for three weeks over a good growing time things have happened in my garden. OK, it's taken me a week to discover it! I don't remember this plant flowering. The big tree that has shaded this area is only just recovering and regaining its leaf cover after losing most of its' leaves due to the drought, and the remaining leaves were looking very distressed. This might account for the flowering, also, this plant might also be stressed and is flowering in desperation. Anyway, it is a beautiful purple and tightly curled, and I don't know what it is except that it is a native! Isn't Mother Nature wonderful?

I didn't have a long time to weave, however, I did manage to get quite a bit done on the next woven memory, basic black. I included gold wire for highlights and really like this one. I'm falling in love with my new loom and enjoying the way it has been designed to make my life easier. All I need now is to dismantle the borrowed loom and get more space!

As I sit and weave, I'm generating more ideas for the next one and the next one. The idea that you need to sit down and work each day, I think is very true. Not only is it good for technique, but the process enables you to be more in tune with the materials and the loom. For these works, that are designed as I weave, this is really important. You can't always see how something comes out until the end.

I had a go at knitting texture from my Cemetery pictures, all I discovered, apart from alot of lovely patterns was that a Marle yarn (light and dark together?) is really the best! That's all!

Exploring Texture

This weekend was full of meetings. A HWSG general meeting during which we have a teaching committee meeting. All went well and a few issues I had with the Spinning Certificate were sorted out in a satisfactory way.

The line that we need to walk between the people we should pay - tutors amidst a volunteer organisation where alot of people give alot of their time is always difficult. We do need to be professional in our recognition of the skills of the members we ask to teach and this is going to be more of an issue as there are less and less volunteers, but if we can settle issues well now, then we have some basis for decisions in the future. (I hope so!)

The other meeting was 3D5S where we were to explore textures in response to our trip to the cemetery, however, I decided to show my textile sketchbook from my trip. I blocked it on Saturday and am very pleased with the result. So we spent our time exploring some of the stitches in this. I do want to sit down and look again at the Cemetery pictures and perhaps do some samples from that. A fun day, nevertheless. I always feel revived sharing with others of like mind.