My process versus product driven approach to creating textile art made the transfer to knitting as did my adventurous "what if" attitude with trying things. I've noticed that with fashion sewing as well. I guess twenty years in the arts has to rub off in some way. I'm not the same person I was when I knit and sewed before even if my attitude toward tools is the same.
I dislike a lot of gadgets and prefer a few quality tools that will do the job, take up limited space in the studio, and work for their "room & board". Howard gave me this KnitPicks binder for Christmas. I was like a kid playing with my toy, sorting, organizing, and filling the pages.
There are pages with three pockets that hold the different needle sets I own as well as pages with one or two pockets that hold cables and other supplies. This one binder is already full to overflowing. I'd like one for commonly used sizes and tools and another for less frequently used ones. That way, I would be even better organized. Either way, this is a fabulous tool.
My favourite project of 2009 is this Shawl Collar Jacket from the latest Debbie Bliss magazine. By the time I knit it, I'd reached a stage where I could analyze and make changes to the pattern based on my body type. The only difficult part was the collar which is - IMHO - designed quite badly. I redid it in a different way. This jacket gets a lot of compliments. The yarn was a retirement present from a friend. It was so nice, I'd like to get more in a different color.
The most frustrating project of 2009 was this cardigan. The hand dyed bamboo yarn is the most expensive yarn I've every bought. I've knit it twice. The first time as a summer sweater only there were bust darts in the pattern that ended up about 2" below my bust. Apparently bamboo stretches.
The second time the differences in dyeing became more apparent. Previously, I must have used one ball for the front and another for the back but - as you can see in this image - the coloring between skeins is quite different although they were dyed together. I think more pink was poured into one area. I tried to shuffle the balls so it would be less obvious but it looks patchy and that bugged me so much that the yarn is back in balls again. I've learned that I dislike variegated yarn.
Since it was so expensive, I don't want to just throw it away. I'm debating either separating out the brighter yarn from the duller stuff and making two child sized projects or knitting it all up on my knitting mill and over-dyeing it. Time will tell. Right now, it is neither a project in progress nor a UFO so I'm not dragging it into 2010 with me.
This yarn has a similar story and the balls are at the same (unknit) stage however, they are weighing much heavier on my mind. I feel like I should - which IMHO means I shouldn't - knit them up before I do anything else only I've knit them three times already. This is the second most expensive yarn I've ever bought. Obviously, I should avoid expensive yarn - LOL.
My most technically "perfect" project for 2009 is this cardigan. The tension is even and the seams are almost invisible. It's the best work I've knit except... it's a UFO... and the only one in the studio at the moment. In this image, there is a button band done in seed stitch however, it pulled up unevenly so I took it off planning to reknit it right away only I was tired of the project. It had already been knit twice. The first time, the back, two fronts, and one and a half sleeves were done when I realized it was going to be too small. I took those apart, knit them bigger, sewed them back together, and promptly lost more weight so now it's "roomy". I am definitely not knitting it again. It needs to be finished.
The band is off. The new one will be a 1 x 1 rib using eight stitches - two for edge stitches, two for buttonholes, and two each side. Since it will be sewn on after it's knit, I can knit and measure against the edge as I go until it's exactly the right length. There will be five buttons. Tonight is knit night. I'm taking this along. Hopefully in three hours I can make some major progress. If I can get this done in the next few days, I'll enter 2010 with absolute no UFOs and perhaps one sewing project in progress. YES YES! That feels good.
After that, I'm torn between persevering or new knitting. Part of me would like to knit up that "should" pink yarn and get it over with but that's not exactly the most enthusiastic way to approach a project. More likely, I'll start something new and when it's finished debate going back to the pink. If I'm still not enthusiastic, it can sit in stash a bit longer otherwise whatever I knit will be horrible.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - perseverance and discipline - VBG!
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Personal Growth - Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. - Galatians 6: 1-5
There is a space I refer to as the vacuum of the unknown, that space between what was and what will be. I have in the past and am again experiencing it myself and I have seen it with my creativity students. Yesterday, while talking to my cousin, I called it fallowing as a field does when it's left to rest and restore before its next planting. I know who I am. I know what my skills and passions are. I know that a door has been closed and that I am waiting for a new one to open. I know that there are plenty of reasons for me to be slow and deliberate and careful and patient in that waiting. It cannot be rushed. Waiting patiently is so much easier said than done.
Myrna - I have been really enjoying reading about your sewing journey, and though my spiritual path is a different one, I also get a great deal of pleasure from your personal growth thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI have a suggestion about the unevenly dyed yarn, not sure if it would help, but some folks find that if they alternate rows with two different balls/skeins of variegated yarn, that it "even out" the irregularity in the coloring.
I am always attracted to that type of yarn, as it looks so delicious before it is knitted up, but I don't really like how it looks as a garment (for me), unless the variegation is really subtle.
The blue sweater is really pretty, but my favorite is the one with the big collar. That is just gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteYou might want to consider striping the variegated yarn with a solid as another alternative. You could pick one of the colors in the first yarn to keep it subtle. Of course that would mean buying more yarn.
Myrna, love the purple sweater jacket. It appears to me it was well worth the trouble!
ReplyDeleteLoretta