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Revisiting knitting

Revisiting knitting

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Hello everyone,

My post this month is about knitting. My mum taught my sisters and me how to knit when we were growing up and at school – not my brothers though…… I remember knitting jumpers (Aran patterns), socks and mittens. I have a vague memory of knitting gloves, and one sister remembers knitting gloves too.

That sister has continued to knit throughout the years, and she makes some wonderful items. I have not knitted since then; I also used to crochet at that time and enjoyed it very much. I think crochet is much easier to learn and remember, it seems much less complicated than knitting does these days, and I taught (assisted by YouTube!) oldest grand daughter how to crochet some time ago.

So when Christmas was over, and all the decorations put away, I decided that I would reacquaint myself with knitting and it’s language again. There had been a knitting show on TV before Christmas, and that also encouraged me ‘to have a go’. My sister gave me some of her needles – mostly circular ones, and some double pointed needles. I had used the DPNs with my mum to make socks, so they were familiar, but the circular variety were alien to me, and would have been to my mother also. My sister said I would get used to them ‘ in no time’, but with dire warnings about not twisting the cast on stitches when joining the circle. This was a struggle, and there was a lot of muttering, and some (in)appropriate words used during this battle.

Another dilemma was what yarn/wool to use. I had known 4ply and double knit when younger, but now there is fingering weight, spindthrift, lace and many other types. Totally confusing, plus pattern instructions are different – no longer many rambling lines of letters and numbers to lose your place on, and there are graphs showing the patterns. I don’t know if this is good wool or not – but it felt nice to touch.

What to make.

I decided on a hat, and it looked achievable and after a bit of reading I borrowed a couple of books from the library, and registered on Ravelry. There is a small local yarn shop in my town, and I paid a visit there.

I found one mistake when I was knitting, (too many stitches) but I left it in, and then corrected the stitch count – I did not want to undo it. There was  another mistake with the design graph – I corrected that with a pencil on the chart, I will erase it before I return the book to the library. Both photos above illustrate the errors.

 

I am pleased with the hat and how it looks when finished, and really happy that I did not give up. I found the pattern a challenge for the first half, but it became easier as I progressed. I don’t like pompoms, so I crocheted a flower shape and secured it with a button. I had 2 buttons to choose from and decided to use a red one.

         

I enjoyed my own challenge.

I cannot get my pictures any smaller, it is so frustrating! I use a MacBook Air, and it’s tools to ‘edit’ the photos. I use my phone to take photos, and make them about half a Mb to upload. Apologies.

Keeping out of mischief!

Keeping out of mischief!

Comments 14 comments

Between exhibitions and challenges, I have been busy for the past few months – at least it kept me out of trouble. I thought I might present some of the pieces to you here.

Just by way of background, I am a member of a small group of feltmakers. At any time, there are a maximum of 10 in the group and the group is called Unperfect 10. I recently learned the reason for the name.  It is in recognition that all members are very ambitious but far from perfect.  I like the name even more now that I know its history.  We meet online every six weeks and we agree a theme for a challenge, the result of which we present at our next get together. Although the theme changes each time, the weight stays the same. The piece we present should weigh 10 grams. It’s not always that easy to weigh in at exactly 10 grams (perhaps that is another reason why our group is called the Unperfect 10!)

So far, we have met three times this year. The theme for our January meeting was ‘Home’. Members’ interpretations were very personal. For me, home revolves around the kitchen. It is the place for gatherings, happiness and informality. This I represented in a cup of tea. Unfortunately I cannot find my original resist but I have drawn one here to give you an idea what it looked like. I laid out the orange fibre on the cup, the handle and just inside the rim and the laid the white and light brown fibre on the upper dome to represent the tea. I then added the circles on the cup as decorations. I felted and fulled the cup, cutting a hole in the base of the cup to remove the resist. I turned the dome top to the inside of the cup, shaped and finished it off. Here are photos of the result.

  • rough sketch of the concept
  • View of the cup
  • I’ll have a half cup!
  • View inside my cup of tea!

 

Our meeting in February required a little more planning. The theme was ‘Carnival’ and each member had to make a prefelt for another member and post it on to them. This prefelt then was used as the main fabric for our creations. Once finished, the piece was posted back to the person who made the prefelt. After a lot of research, I decided to make a colourful version of the Venetian Moretta mask. While in its day, the Moretta mask had other connotations (think Dangerous Liaisons) I was attracted to the button or ball which was attached to the back of the mask as it stopped women from talking, something I felt was pertinent in many societies today. I included curls on the mask – this was a ‘nod’ to the Romans who are believed to have invented carnival, although it was a different affair back then. I used part of the prefelt I received, added some extra fibre, margillan silk and, of course, a button.

  • Front view of the carnival themed moretta mask.
  • Side view of the mask. The Curls are a reference to Roman sculptures.
  • The back of the mask. I added margillan silk and, of course the button!

We had our third meeting in early April. The theme this time was a little more challenging as we worked from a number of words. M.C. Escher; Optical Illusion; Tessellations; Black and White fibre; 3D Sculpture; Resist; Template; Stencil. All of which had to be completed in a 10g presentation! M.C. Escher was a Dutch Graphic artist and if you like you can find out more about his work here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher

I found a section of an Escher piece that I liked and got to work. First, I made my pattern which comprised three identical diamond shapes that made up a cube. Then I made three different colour prefelts (Black/White/Grey) which I then cut out and made into 25 joined cubes (75 pieces). These were then felted together. Once dried and shaped, I stiffened the piece and mounted it on pins in a box frame. The optical illusion is the 3D effect, especially when it is viewed in the frame:

  • My inspiration: Portion of MC Escher’s artwork ‘Cycle’
  • Checking the diamond shapes
  • Checking the layout of the prefelts
  • prefelts are ready for felting!
  • Altogether Cubes weighed in at 9.65g
  • Another side view of the cubes. I removed the glass as it was causing too much shine!
  • Cubes front view. The shadowing can be seen here.
  • View 3: walking around the piece
  • Side view of the cubes. It is pinned into the backing

I also had two pieces in exhibitions during March. The first was a live exhibition which was run by my local felting guild, Feltmakers Ireland. The guild is very well run and there is always something happening in it. If you are based in Ireland, it is well worth joining. The theme of the exhibition was “Symbols of Ireland” and I chose the Irish dry stone wall which was recently formally recognized with its inclusion in UNESCO’s prestigious list of protected cultural heritage practices, and the native Galway breed sheep for my piece. Ireland’s dry stone walls have been around since the Neolithic period so I felt that it would fit the brief. The Galway sheep produce beautiful fleeces which are very versatile and can be used for spinning, weaving and of course felting.

I first had to design and build my wall on paper. Then I made lots of different shades of grey nuno prefelts which were cut to the shapes of the stone drawings. Once the wall was felted onto its background, I needle felted the sheep’s head so that it would add dimension to the piece. This was attached to the picture and then the main body was needle felted using Galway fibre. I made a variety of prefelts which I then cut into the shape of foliage and lichen. These were then needle felted onto the stones. Unfortunately I did not keep a record of my process but here is the result.

  • Irish dry stone wall with sheep
  • A close up of the 3D effect and nuno work
  • Another closeup showing 3D plants and lichen
  • The top of the wall with additions

My final piece was for the online exhibition of the International Feltmakers Association. The theme here was ‘Connections’ and I was not sure what I would do for this. One morning I woke up with the words ‘Chaos theory’ in my head. I knew I needed to investigate this. It led me to my chosen topic ‘The Butterfly Effect’. The butterfly effect suggests small actions can have massive, unpredictable consequences. In society, this idea highlights how individual decisions—like a single vote or a small act of kindness—can ripple through time, influencing social movements, global events, or personal lives, ultimately shaping broader cultural and political outcomes.

Lyn and Annie’s beautiful work with tree canopies provided me with the inspiration for the background of this piece. I have been looking up a lot more since reading their posts on the beauty of the tree canopy. My base was inspired by a photo I took in New Zealand some time ago. I then needle felted the butterfly and then wet felted it. I wanted to be able to manipulate its wings so I added a light wiring to the back of the wings. I then decided that the tree canopy deserved a different perspective – what did we do as kids when looking up at the sky? I remember spinning around. So my square picture became a circle. I attached the butterfly by needle felting it securely to the picture but I also secured it to the felt backing to give it added dimension:

  • My inspiration. Taken in Auckland NZ last year
  • The tree canopy is laid out
  • close up of the felted butterfly
  • Checking possibilities for butterfly placement
  • I decided to cut the background into a circle. This gave me freedom to hang at any angle!
  • Closeup of the 3D butterfly

I hope you enjoyed my little ‘retrospective’. I would love to hear about what you have been working on over the past few months.

Just a little reminder: Registration will open shortly for my wet felted hanging spiral workshop which will begin on 2nd May. Please feel free to click here if you would like to find out more.

A Knights Helmet continued

A Knights Helmet continued

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Last time I left you with the main part of the helmet drying.  I also made a nose piece and strapping.

It seems I did not take pictures as I thought I had. I guess I must just think about taking pictures and then when I am busy working it is completely out of my mind. Jan got one of me working. I was using a darker grey to create the look of rivets as I attached the strapping and nose guard. I look so serious.

We did get lots of shots of it finished.  And not so serious

Here are a couple on the hat stand in my studio

I am happy with the way it turned out.  I need to make it look like it lost a battle. I wet it down again and rolled it in a towel to get most of the water out. I scrunched it into a ball and then opened it again. I think it looks like a crumpled helmet.

So then it was off to the guild Sale and Exhibition. I think we put Jan’s part and my part together the morning we opened. I think we were both too busy on set-up night to even think about it. It is all a bit of a blur.

we did a little photo shoot after the sale too it is very hard to get a good shot into the inside of the helmet.

 

I have no idea what to do with it now. What do you do with your projects after the show?

The Quest for Diamonds

The Quest for Diamonds

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Did I get your attention? My quest is to make diamonds, felt ones, that sparkle and shine. As you have heard from several of us the Ottawa Weavers’ and Spinners’ Guild is 75 years old this year. It is our diamond anniversary, so the exhibition theme for our Fall Sale and Exhibition is diamonds. You can interpret that any way you want. I thought Jan and I could collaborate, My part is the diamonds and probably a helmet but I will let Jan tell you about her part.

So now I am on a quest for the best way to make the diamonds. Originally I thought I would use a small resist that I could leave inside to help them be more 3D. I was thinking I could pull and shape them.

Well, that didn’t work out at all. the squares couldn’t be pulled and the diamonds didn’t look right with the middles pulled. It was partly because trying to get them pulled and a bit pointy was so hard. The big reason though is their size. When you try to stretch them you are pulling on two ends of the same fiber.  Jan said kind things about them but truthfully they are terrible. It would only be worse if I tried to make them nuno felt. They look better in the picture than in person.

On to the next idea. I decided, who cares if they are 3D?  Flat would be fine if they are the right shape. Next is a piece of shiny ( probably polyester) fibre from my stash.  I thought it would felt in but wasn’t sure. Also, I decided I wanted August’s page to be pink so I combined the two. I used a piece of white prefelt and pink merino

I added some red sparkly fabric to one corner. It doesn’t look sparkly but it is.

 

Even dry the camera wants to focus on the wool and not the sparkle. It needs shaving but I am out of razors. The next stop Dollarama for the econo bag of razors.

One more try this week. I cut out some silk, some sparkly and some sequined fabric. Wow, is it fiddly to cut without cutting the sequins and they still fly everywhere. I put some face down and then put red prefelt on top.

 

Then some black prefelt and I tried to match up the fabrics to the bottom ones.

I rubbed this longer than usual to make sure the fabrics were stuck. My plan had been to stop at the soft felt stage. Cut out some diamonds and then finish felting. Unfortunately, I was listening to a good book and just kept going on autopilot.  and before I knew it it was done. Now it is drying. I will cut out some shapes tomorrow and see what they look like. We may have to modify the project.

How would you make felt diamonds? All advice gratefully accepted.

finished rag weave material
About that ‘groove’ …

About that ‘groove’ …

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In April I talked about getting my groove back and trying something new.  Groove, rut, six of one, half dozen of the other, right?  Not really.  I had the opportunity to purchase a large quantity of pre-cut jersey rags from the Guild.  Bright yellow was perfect for a summer project and perfect to get me moving again.

The project is all done.

The final weigh-in is 2.5 kilos or 5 pounds.  Right now it needs to rest for a few days.  The plan is to do some minor repairs because there are always small repairs and then decide what to do with the material.

finished rag weave material

Some of the repairs are very small, just need a clip,

Some need a bit more of a reweaving and inspection.

And some really came as a surprise.  I must have been asleep at the switch with this one, but it’s totally fixable and I’ll take care of it.

Once I had used up all the rag I was left with too much warp thread for me to comfortably cut the threads and I was sure there was more to be made from this fibre. Weavers are known for being economical (aka cheap).  The work needed in warping a loom is significant and I hate wasting the time and the fiber.

So I found a bobbin of deep blue cotton and gave it a try. And I liked it, so now the warp is used not just for rags, but for cotton as well.

simple twill weave for cotton cushion cover

The final product is enough to make a great cushion cover or bag, or table drape, or maybe a project bag.  Lots of potential for this fabric. It’s surprisingly thick just as it sits without finishing.  So once it’s been washed it will be even fluffier and more dense.

finished cotton twill for cushion cover    Hem stitched finished edge on woven cushion cover

I did try hem stitching the edge and found it is not my strong suit.  But I’ll keep practising and someday I’ll be happy with the final result.

For now, everything is resting; me included.  The fibres need to come back into their original shape and that takes a bit of time.  I need to do the repairs and inspection of the final product and tie off all loose ends before it goes into the laundry.  Then I’ll see where I go after that.

I may want to leave the huge 7-meter piece for a display our guild is having this fall at a museum, but I’ll talk to our curator about that first. So many decisions, and so much fun for the next project.   Thinking of doing a linen table runner, never tackled one of those.

 

Working on my new blending board.

Working on my new blending board.

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I finally bought a blending board. I have wanted one for a while and was hoping for a second-hand one. One finally showed up, Yay! Patience pays off, well, it’s more being frugal(cheap) than being patient. I wanted one because rolags are my preferred preparation for spinning. I took it to the guild one day, along with a big bag of fibre some sari silk and some sparkle.

I started with some purply blue and lilac purple. I added some pink and purple sari silk. I think it’s called royal robes. I think I added some sparkle but not much. Here it is on the blending board. I added more of the blue-purple on top before rolling it off.

purple and pink fibres on a blending board

Here is what the rolag looks like

And here it is spun up as a single. I will wind it off and ply it.

Next was some red with yellow sari silk blend and some pink sparkle

This is the rolag

Next is some dark blue-green. It’s one of my favourites. I have some dye in this colour called mallard green. I don’t think that’s what World of Wool calls it though. I forgot to take a picture of it until I had taken one rolag off. I get 3 from the board per colourway. I was enjoying myself, hence forgetting to take a picture. It looks like I added some yellow and a different green. I am not sure I haven’t spun it yet.

At this point, I was having too much fun and I forgot to take any more pictures until the end. Here are the rolags all together

The light blue and the light purple are pretty close to being opposites. I just switched the base colours.

You saw the blue/purple and light purple above but I have also done the light blue light purple one. I am not very fussy about it when plyed. Partly, I think it is because “baby” shades are not colours I like much. This mix looks muddy to me.  I was trying to go outside my usual colours.

I am currently working on the opposite one. I like it well enough in the single, it is much less even on the colour split so I think it will be nicer when plyed.

I don’t know if I will do the red or green next. First I have to finish this one and do the plying.

 

A New Lampshade.

A New Lampshade.

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I have been searching for a replacement shade for a pendant light for some time, but I was not having any success with finding something that I liked. So I thought, how difficult can it be to recover a lampshade?

Some years ago I tried to make a wet felted bowl, but somehow it all went wrong, and I could not get the bowl to ‘sit’ right. I had a table lamp that needed a shade, and as I was looking at it, and my felt bowl, I had one of those ‘lightbulb’ moments – sorry! I re-wet my ‘bowl’, then cut a hole in the middle and after some tugging and a little more trimming, I managed to stretch it over the lampshade frame. I liked the look of it very much, it fitted very well too, so I hand stitched along the top and the bottom to neaten, and to prevent both edges from becoming undone.

So, now I have another lamp shade frame that I want to make a cover for. I found a ‘how to make a lamp shade’  book in my library, and I borrowed it. I wanted to make some nuno felt to use as the fabric outer. I made 2 pieces of nuno felt using 2 different shades of green mixes of merino. The base fabric is a very fine open weave cotton, that in a previous life was a lightweight curtain.

Making the shade.

This involved a few steps; I read the appropriate sections in my borrowed book several times, and then made sure that I had everything I needed. I planned to make and hand stitch each panel to the frame; the other method is to sew all the panels together using the sewing machine and then stretch it over the frame, and hand stitch the top and bottom to the frame. This method is quicker, but the fabric needs to be cut on the bias to allow the shade to stretch over the frame.

The frame is wrapped in cotton tape and secured with a stitch. Each metal section/strut is wrapped in tape. Not all hand made shades will require each strut to be wrapped, but the top and the bottom will need to be wrapped.

Lining.

I used a white 2 way stretch jersey to make the lining for the shade. I cut 2 pieces and stitched to the inside of frame, folding and gathering as I progressed. Lining is desirable if you do not wish to see all the stitching when viewing the shade from underneath, and it gives a nicely finished look to the shade.

Pattern for a segment.

My shade has 8 segments. I traced around one segment on some paper, cut it out and tested how well it covered a section between the struts.

       

       

Cutting the fabric.

I cut 8 pieces, 4 from each colour, on the straight grain. Sometimes the fabric will need to be cut on the bias, but I did not need to do this. The fabric needs to be held tight between each strut, not quite drum tight, but not loose or floppy either.

       

Stitching each panel.

There is a special stitch used to attach each panel piece to the frame. This is called a ‘streetly stitch’, it is a locking stitch and it firmly secures each fabric panel to each section of the frame. In this instance you can see this stitch on the white lining fabric more clearly than you can on the nuno fabric. This stitching can make for very tender/painful fingertips trying to push the needle and thread through the fabric and the tape, while escaping the pins at the same time.

     

I neatened all the edges with a small sharp scissors, as each panel is completed,  but without cutting any of the stitching. I did not want to restitch any part of the shade.

Attaching trim to cover all the seams.

Trim is attached to each seam and top and bottom of the frame. There is a huge selection and variety (and price) of trim available, and the search can encourage many trips down various rabbit holes. Trim is attached with glue, either hot glue, or fabric glue from a tube. Care and attention to detail while attaching the trim will ensure that the newly covered frame will look really nice.  I soon forgot about my sore finger tips.

I did enjoy making my lampshade, and I hope that I have explained the process I used well enough for you all to understand. This is a view of it in place in the bedroom used by the grandchildren when they stay over.

The book I borrowed from the library is called:

Sewing Lampshades by Joanna Heptinstall; Search Press 2018.

Close up of blue green nuno felt with couching on tree design with variety of brown #8 Perle cotton threads.
Hand Stitched Cover

Hand Stitched Cover

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I suddenly realized that it’s already March and nearing the end of the first quarter. So I needed to get going on my entry for the 1st quarter challenge. Did I have something that needed a cover? Perhaps my tablet needs a little felt surrounding it and keeping it safe.

Two pieces of nuno felt in blue green, one piece with tracing paper design of tree pinned in place.

I found these two pieces of nuno felt in my stash that were already cut to approximately the right size. I found a copyright free design of two entwined trees that I decided would be nice to embroider a design on the cover. I traced the design on tracing paper and pinned it in place.

Then I used machine thread in dark brown with a running stitch to follow the design. It works for a fairly simple design but might be an issue for really complex designs. I used brown thread so that if it showed on the edges of the stitching, it wouldn’t stand out. You can remove any of these threads if the embroidery doesn’t cover them. I have found with thin pieces of the design such as branches, that it works best to have just one line of running stitch and it takes less time to stitch the design.

Piece of nuno felt with tracing paper design of tree pinned in place and running stitch completed to transfer design to nuno felt. Using end of needle to run along stitch line to easily remove tracing paper.

The next step is to remove the tracing paper. I saw this on a YouTube video but don’t remember who to credit for the idea (Sorry!). Use your needle to run along the line of running stitches and that will tear the tracing paper so that it is easier to remove the paper without pulling on the stitches as much.

Piece of nuno felt with running stitch completed to transfer design to nuno felt and tracing paper removed.

Here’s my design now transferred on to the nuno felt and ready to embroider. I considered using various brown yarns to couch down but they were too large a scale for this small of a tree. So back to my stash to find brown perle cotton thread. I ended up deciding that #8 perle cotton was the size that worked best and that I had the right colors in.

Blue green nuno felt with couching on tree design with dark brown #8 Perle cotton thread.

So I started with the darkest brown threads and started couching them down with the brown machine thread. I did a little bit of this on a recent car trip but did most of the couching after I got back home.

So here’s the finished tree trunk and branches. Now to add some leaves. Once I have finished with the embroidery, I will work on construction of the cover.

Have you made any covers lately? If so, we would love to see what you have created. You can submit your challenge entry here. 

The 30+ Day Folding Challenge

The 30+ Day Folding Challenge

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If you follow my personal blog you probably already know that I set myself a challenge at the end of December:

To explore a different folded / pleated shape every day

In common with a lot of creatives, I tend to flit from one project to the next, not always finishing the first project before the next exciting, “new shiny thing” catches my attention. By setting myself this challenge I hoped to focus on one topic for a while and really push the boundaries to develop some new ideas, shapes and designs in felt-making.

This post is my edited highlights from the first 30 days of this challenge, if you would like to see the whole journey, all of the different shapes and more of the thought processes involved behind each piece please start here:

I have long been inspired by Andrea Noeske-Porada, a felt artist best known for her origami pieces. For years I had believed her to be the designer of the kaleidocyle:

This is my attempt to make one

But after my first post in this series, Henny van Tussenbroek got in touch, it turns out Andrea was just the first person to make one in felt, the original designer was in fact a Dutch mathematician-artist, (MC Escher) and author of this book:

Thank you Henny for sharing this information and correcting my assumption!

This book is a quite a slim volume but it is a fascinating read. I was lucky enough to find a second hand copy here in New Zealand and it is one of best creative books I own. If you would like some help to figure out the pattern for a kaleidocyle, I highly recommend getting a copy.

I have made a few items based on the designs in this book, some have turned out better than others!

Using various books on origami for inspiration and templates, I have made dozens of different shapes form paper and card, these are just a few:

And recreated a few of my favourites in felt:

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Let me know if you have been playing along too, these journeys are so much more fun when taken with others! 🙂

1st quarter Challenge-done

1st quarter Challenge-done

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Well, I must say this is the fastest I have ever done the challenge. In fact, I finished it before it was issued. It was a Christmas present for my hubby. My husband loves cast iron cookware. It does cook well and hold heat. He looks after them so I don’t have to worry about wrecking the seasoning by doing it wrong. The handles on the frying pans are hard to get a grip on when they are hot. Oven mitts always seem too big. we have some silicone ones but I always feel like the pan is trying to twist inside them. So this is where the felting comes in . I thought I would make some felt handle covers. wool is fire-resistant and a good insulator, so should work well

I measured the handles and then headed for the studio. I found a scrap of floor underlay for the resist and measured out 2 so I could do 2 at once.

Just about a perfect fit for my rolling mat.

I decided on a nice bright blue and added 4 layers of wool. I am not sure how much wool as it’s not a very large amount I just made sure both sides would have the same amount. Nothing beats guessing if it’s right. LOL

After both sides were wrapped around and wet I decided they were boring but being in a hurry ( leaving it too close to Christmas) I just added a strip of orange down the middle of both sides. I didn’t want there to be a right side up.

After wetting down it was on to felting: rub rub rub, roll, roll, roll.

I cut the handles in half so I had two the same size. Then a little more rolling and onto fulling. these are small and were coming together quickly so I fulled them in my hands by rolling them in a tube shape and in a ball.

One down and one to go

And they are now being used on the stove. they are nicly heat prove but not so thick you can’t get a good grip.

So how’s that for reading Lyn and Annie’s minds and being ready with my first post of the year? How about you? did you make someone something practical for Christmas or a birthday?