Please wait...
Twist Collective BlogSeen Around London
Guerilla knitting, London style. This one the result of a rollicking escapade of Knitstorming. Read all about it here.
And an installation at the Jerwood Gallery near the Tate Modern in London, of a collection of one of knitting's greatest unsung projects, the UFO. Curator Rachel Matthews, explains on the Project blog: UFO Project Administration Service was the answer to a proposal I was asked to give for the Jerwood Contemporary Makers 2009 Exhibition. The exhibition will run from 10th June -19th July at the Jerwood Space in London and will then tour. You are invited to take
part in helping us complete Planet Earth's UFOs. All the UFOs are
posted opposite. Some are 'WAITING' for YOU, and some have been 'TAKEN'
by SOMEBODY! Take chances, make choices, tell stories,
imagine the possibilities, and connect to the bottom draw of other
knitters across the globe. Please leave comments, and for more information or to book a UFO, e-mail
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Happy knitting and love, Rachael Matthews The blog is worth reading through for all of the creativity, heartache, and peripateticisms we knitters share. Not every object ends up where its knitter originally imagined, and that's half the fun. Start from the beginning, and you have a great summer read. However, if you have limited time and want to get back to the knitting, read this entry about a shawl that survived its creator.
UFO CAMBRIDGE HEATH
Design Process Ongoing: Pamela
by Fiona Ellis I know, I know, most of you hate to do gauge swatches or even swatch with new yarns in general. But some knitters do love to swatch - it is still knitting after all. And maybe itʼs the delight we take in swatching that leads us into a life of designing. Although, just in case you think that I am saying this with a superior air, I will tell you that I also hate to do gauge swatches when making something for myself and if you promise not to tell I will let you into a secret -- I start on a sleeve which is really not much more than a large swatch and if I get gauge Iʼm off to the races and if not . . . well . . . back to square one. Seeing as I love to swatch and you might hate to do so, this blog piece is perhaps a perfect marriage. In the Spring issue of Twist Collective my design Pamela was featured worked in Classic Elite Yarns Classic Silk, 50% cotton / 30% silk / 20% nylon.
 After it was completed I still kept wondering what that lace patterning would look like in a different yarn. How would it affect the stitch definition and the way the fabric drapes for example? So I spoke to the nice people at Elann Yarns and asked if I could get my grubby little mitts on a few sample balls to try it out. Here are the results of my experiments. Each of the swatches was produced on a 4.5 mm needle (the size my pattern calls for) and produces the same gauge as the pattern describes but the effect produced is a little different between each of the yarns. Suggested needle sizes for the Elann yarns are 3.25 - 3.75 (US 3 -5) except for Pegasus which suggests 4.5 mm (US 7), the Classic Elite yarn suggests a 4 mm (US 6). These were the yarns I sampled: Elann Pegasus (white-shiny): 52.5% mercerized cotton / 47.5% viscose. The sample in Pegasus is most like the original because of its weight, but with the sheen from the viscose and the mercerized cotton it gives it a more festive "party" or evening look.
Next in similarity to the Classic Silk is Luna, also because it is close in weight, but it is a tiny bit lighter so this swatch has more drape and again the sheen gives it a different look to that of the Classic Silk.
 Camila has lovely stitch definition and the linen content gives a dry hand to the fabric (in other words, it feels crisp). It is slightly more drapey than the original version in Classic Silk because I used a needle size larger than is called for.*
Callista has both the sheen and crisp hand plus has even more drape than Camila which is this sample is almost limp. If I was going to use this yarn I would try it again on a smaller needle size for comparison.*
Pure Bamboo is the most different from the original yarn and because it is a much thinner yarn the 4.5 mm needles felt a little large when working it, but the lighter and more open feel gives considerably more drape. Again I would re-swatch this yarn on a smaller needles to compare the feel of each one. But worked as it is it will produce a different appearance than the original but it may be a look / feel that you prefer. Which proves that you can never tell until you have tried to yarn to know how it will work.
Something to note about the lace patterning for “Pamela” is that the stitch patterns look similar to each other because they are in fact just variations of each other. The first stitch pattern (lower half) has the lace worked on both the RS & WS but then as you move to the upper section (both of the swatch and garment) the pattern is elongated by the addition of “plain” WS rows between each “patterned” row. This produces a less open fabric which is something you might be looking for in the upper half of a sweater. So think about yarn options when you look at sweater patterns, and about how playing around with different yarns can change a sweater's feel and style. Have fun. Sadie Dayton Photography
Sadie Dayton is a Boston-based photographer of extraordinary talent. Sadie updated her on-line portfolio recently, and we are honoured to find she has included in Portfolio #3 some images from her work with us for the winter 2008 issue.
Sadie's website is ethereal and elegant, full of inspiring images from the last few years. Look for awhile, and you may find yourself speaking more softly for the rest of the day so as not to break the spell.
Roo
They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace - Christopher Robin went down with Alice. Alice is marrying one of the guard. "A soldier's life is terrible hard," Says Alice.
Christopher Robin went down with Alice. We saw a guard in a sentry-box. "One of the sergeants looks after their socks," Says Alice.
Christopher Robin went down with Alice. We looked for the King, but he never came. "Well, God take care of him, all the same," Says Alice.
Christopher Robin went down with Alice. They've great big parties inside the grounds. "I wouldn't be King for a hundred pounds," Says Alice.
Christopher Robin went down with Alice. A face looked out, but it wasn't the King's. "He's much too busy a-signing things," Says Alice.
Christopher Robin went down with Alice. "Do you think the King knows all about me?" "Sure to, dear, but it's time for tea," Says Alice. Alan Alexander Milne 1882-1956
Come see Kate Gilbert's newest pattern, Roo, in the magazine and in the shop. Design Process: Laredo
by Angela Hahn
Years ago I knitted my then-boyfriend, now-husband a sweater. He's not an especially big man, but he's significantly larger than I am, and I remember that it seemed like it took months to finish. On top of that, I inserted a simple geometric stranded pattern on the lower body, but my floats were too tight, which created an unfortunate gathered effect -- accentuated because my gauge was a little too loose, giving the sweater's fabric too much drape. All in all, it's probably no surprise that that sweater disappeared a year or two after it was finished, never to be seen again.
2) Medium gauge (in my original concept, DK to worsted). I don't picture most men wearing something knitted with bulky yarn; on the other hand, although the machine-knit sweaters my husband wears are almost all of a fine gauge, even a sleeveless man's sweater would take a lot of knitting if worked in fingering weight yarn. So this item is somewhat of a compromise.
For the stitch patterns for the side panels, I started from the top: that is, I knew I wanted a twisted stitch pattern in the center, to reinforce the bottom of the armhole and to coordinate with the front and back panels, and I knew I wanted a self-finished edge at the armholes, which required something that would lie flat, like a rib. Fiddling with the decreases that shape the bottom armhole edges led me to start off with three twisted stitch columns separated by single ribs, which transitioned nicely into 1X1 ribbing along the armhole edges.
And finally, 6) Fit!! Incorporating the neckline split into the stitch pattern meant that, unless I wanted to start the stitch pattern at the bottom with a partial rep for some sizes (which I didn't), changing the vest length in small increments would require changing the armhole depth-- which would then affect the depth of the V-neck and the width of the shoulder pieces. So instead I decided to write the pattern for three different lengths in all sizes-- adding a full pattern repeat is what changes the length, which allowed me to calculate the depth of the V-neck without worrying that the vest would be too long or too short overall. Eight sizes and three lengths...there should be a Laredo that fits almost anyone!
*I donned Laredo to shoot a few photos before sending it off to Twist, and loved it! The sample is a little too small for my husband, so after it's returned to me, I guess I'll just have to wear it myself.
Angela's pattern is in good company in the men's section of the pattern shop. Check it out. More Articles...Subcategories
|
|
