Spontaneous scarf
24 May 2012 1 Comment
in knitting Tags: knitting, oddments, scarf
This is hardly the weather to be thinking about scarves (hurrah!), but as I’ve suddenly acquired a large stash of odd balls of wool from a friend, I thought it was worth trying out this pattern for a spontaneous scarf by Charlene Anderson.
The scarf is knitted lengthwise, changing the yarn every row and leaving a length of 7-8 inches of wool at each end that later forms the fringe. By using moss stitch (that’s British moss stitch, not American moss stitch*), you achieve an almost woven effect.
It’s so effective but so simple – certainly simple enough for me to be able to watch Scandinavian thrillers with subtitles without any problem while knitting! And because you change yarn every row, it’s great for using up leftover balls.
*Another example of two nations divided by a single language. In British moss stitch you knit one, purl one across the row, and then on the second row you purl the knit stitches and knit the purl stitches. Americans call this seed stitch. American moss stitch is alternating knit and purl across two rows, followed by two rows of alternating purl and knit.
Felt snail shells
23 May 2012 1 Comment
in felt Tags: felt, logarithmic spiral, prodder, shells, snails
Here’s my first attempt at making some felt snail shells.
The resist was based on a logarithmic spiral cut from plastic, and I had to cut small holes in the back and poke my fingers in to open the inner coils. The coils in the centre were also not defined very well, so I added some stitching (paper string on the larger one and lambswool on the smaller one).
However, in the centre, the shrinkage of the felt has made it too tight, so I decided I needed to use a bigger resist. This time I stitched the coils, using wool, after prefelting and before fulling.
The difficulty with all these shells, however large, is getting access to the centre coils to open them up without cutting holes.
Yesterday my new prodder arrived from Niki and Niki, which may help in reaching some of the inner parts of the outer coils, but still won’t reach the centre. Ladies, can’t you make some kind of flexible prodder that will go around corners? 
Swiss iPad case
17 May 2012 4 Comments
in felt Tags: felt, iPad case, Swiss
After all the serious concentration of working on my V&A entry, a bit of fun.
My friend Diccon Bewes is a writer who lives in Switzerland. He’s written a book called Swiss Watching about the meaning of Swissness, and stayed with me recently when he came over to attend the London Book Fair.
As he’d just acquired a new iPad, he commissioned me to make a felt case in the Swiss colours of a white cross on a red background. He also wanted a closing strap to prevent the iPad from falling out.
So here it is, Diccon – I hope you like it!
And no – this is not the start of a new line in iPad cases with national flag designs! Though some Union flag cases might go down well for the jubilee celebrations…
Inspired by the V&A
11 May 2012 6 Comments
in dye, exhibitions, felt Tags: crochet, felt, gauze, indigo, muslin, sake bottle, shibori, silk, V&A, velvet, vessels
Every year the Victoria & Albert Museum holds an art competition, called “Inspired by” for people on part-time courses. Entrants have to create a piece inspired by work in the collections of the V&A or the Museum of Childhood. Selected works are displayed in the relevant museum in October.
I’m planning to enter some of the indigo felted vessels I’ve made. The pieces that have inspired me are a stoneware sake set by Yamada Hikaru made around 1979, and a 17th-century blue and white porcelain sake bottle, maker unknown.
I love the organic simplicity of the forms of the vessels in the sake set, and I thought I would use indigo dye and shibori, both traditional Japanese techniques, to add the blue and white element.
You’ve already seen some of these, but here’s a photo of the final set. The two larger felt vessels are ombre dyed with indigo, while the five smaller ones are nuno felted with a different yarn or fabric, also dyed with indigo.
Larger felt vessel, ombre dyed with indigo
Smaller felt vessel, also ombre dyed with indigo
Nuno felt pot with silk velvet
Nuno felt pot with cotton muslin
Nuno felt pot with silk chiffon
Nuno felt pot with ombre-dyed crocheted lambswool
Nuno felt pot with cotton gauze
Just have to fill in the entry form now – probably the hardest part! ;-)
Still blue
03 May 2012 2 Comments
in dye, felt Tags: crochet, felt vessel, indigo, ombre dyeing, shibori, silk chiffon
The loss adjuster came yesterday and said that he would be sending a company round to install some heaters and dehumidifiers to help speed up the drying process (the walls of the hall are still sopping and the kitchen floor is still damp 10 days after the flood). The wall and ceiling paper in the dining room (aka my studio) have been the worst affected, so it looks as if there will be considerable disruption there over the next few weeks.
In the meantime I plough on – what else is there to do? Yesterday I ombre dyed my latest vessel. It’s not as even as I intended, but the unevenness adds extra texture, like a ceramic glaze, so I’m happy with it.
I’ve also made some smaller nuno pots, again dyed with indigo. The first used silk chiffon, the second crocheted yarn that had been ombre dyed.
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