New Knitting Design from Start to Finish

Meet 'Marilyn', my latest knitting design which I created especially for my workshop Cables & Bobbles & Beads, Oh My! According to this cowl’s namesake, diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and this cabled cowl with bead-jewelled diamonds will certainly add a touch of glamour to your wardrobe.

Marilyn Cowl by fyberknitics

I thought I'd share with you the design process for this project. First I had a rough idea that I wanted to make an item that used these particular techniques - my starting point for a design will often differ from this, but as this piece has a  specific purpose, i.e. to consolidate new skills and techniques learned at the workshop, this was an appropriate jumping off point.

I played around with some ideas on paper to start, with some very rough working sketches giving me an idea of the dimensions etc I wanted the cowl to be. I also made a decision about what yarn to use which I posted about previously here, plus I had chosen some lovely buttons already. Having decided on the type of yarn I then fine tuned my ideas with a generous swatch before charting the stitch pattern properly, and writing myself a rough pattern.

Although I'd swatched in a lovely teal colour, I opted for  purple in the end as I really like the zing of the yellow buttons against this. Then of course came the knitting which I thoroughly enjoyed as cabling makes for an interesting knit - and in fact got a bit carried away with as it was too long for what I had in mind. So after some pulling back a good chunk of it and finishing off, the cowl was ready to block. Here it is pinned out on my ironing board.

With the addition of those lovely yellow buttons Marilyn was then born.

Cable knitting has a long tradition and its enduring appeal never seems to fade, and indeed we see a wealth of attractive and fashionable designs available at the present time. These can seem very highly complex, but are in fact made using of a few simple techniques which  can be easily mastered. My workshop provides a thorough introduction to using and combining these techniques for great textural effects, and improve your confidence in undertaking such a project. I'll also be showing how you can make some quick fixes if you should make a mistake - and as a gal who makes a lot of mistakes with my knitting I love a few good quick fixes!

If you live in the Swansea area, I am offering this workshop again in Oct 2015 and still have just a couple of places left for the workshop which you can book here.

The Marilyn Cowl design has now been professionally checked and is available to buy as a PDF knitting pattern in my shop or via ravelry. Alternatively watch this space as I will be providing an online course which I hope to launch in spring/summer 2015.

Over to you

Have you done any cable knitting? If so how did you find it? Have you seen some of the lovely new Autumn Winter designs featuring cables - which is your favourite?

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An Overdue Studio Tidy Up

I know I'm not the only one who tends to be a messy worker, particularly when doing anything creative - Lincoln based textile artist Hilary Beattie for one is a gal after my own heart when it comes to creating chaos, and like me she has no shame in showing you the full glory of her unbridled messyness - see here for her recent reveal.

The thing is, worrying about keeping everything tidy as you go along can really disrupt your creative flow, and as time can be so pressured this means there is often a direct choice as to whether you create something or just tidy up - and I know which of those  I prefer to spend my valuable life seconds on! However, this has to balance against the need for some sort of order too, so you can actually function, and every now and again a major mucking out is required - and that's exactly what I have just spent a number of days doing.

So, brace yourself for this spectacularly shambolic 'before shot' - and if you are of a very nervous or mess-phobic disposition I would strongly urge you to look away now and skip ahead to the 'after shot'...so here goes:

Yes it's true, I have indeed got a bad case of interior shed syndrome going on in that loft of mine, and I think I'd really outdone myself this time. So after spending rather a loooooooooooooooong time undertaking a major excavation, general scrubbing, and being sidetracked by amazing finds of stuff I'd forgotten I had (like a table - who knew?), it now looks like this:

It was long overdue, and I needed to reclaim my studio and return it to a usable state. It's now such an inspiring room again I can't wait to get creating (mess) in there again - hurrah! Having a pleasant space of my own to work in is really important to me and was the main motivation for the serious mucking out, but there was another reason for this which I'm looking forward to sharing with you another time....am I a tease or what??
 
In my previous post I talked about choosing yarn for a new cable knit cowl and  promised to show you how it progresses,  so here it is:

I'm afraid the photo hasn't captured the colour very well which is in fact a lovely soft teal, but it does show off the stitches quite nicely. I've planned the stitch pattern and made a swatch, though I've also decided to knit it up in the Bilberry  after all,  as I think those yellow buttons will sing out beautifully against the plummy coloured yarn.

Well, I'd better get on with knitting it now hadn't I? Tootle Pip til next time!

PS - I'd love to know if you are as messy as me - or are you super neat and ordered? Leave a comment below if you feel like confessing any sinful stash habits...

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Choosing the best yarn for the job: Cables and fancy stitchwork

Decisions, decisions....

When designing and/or knitting an item it's important to consider what type of yarn is going to be most suitable for the project you have in mind. Getting this right means an enjoyable and deeply rewarding knit. Getting it wrong, however, can be a truly disheartening and costly experience in terms of the time and money you'll feel you will have wasted. There is such a plethora of different  yarns  available out there to choose from, but how do you go about choosing the one that's going to work best for your project?

The key is to consider the different characteristics of the yarn which includes the weight (i.e. thickness or fineness), texture, colour, fibre and handle. I touched on  some of these previously in my tutorial on substituting yarns, but here I'm going to talk you through a specific example.

Tip:
I think it is a good idea to consider this before you start looking at the yarns, otherwise you will not be focussed on the job in hand and, once surrounded by all that knitterly loveliness, you will be seduced by whatever most catches your eye and pay less attention to your mission - which is to ensure a wonderfully successful and satisfying result for your intended item.

 

What is the brief?

If you are designing you will have some ideas in mind, but even if you are knitting someone else's pattern it is helpful to consider the following questions: Who/what it is for? Will it require frequent washing? How hard wearing does it need to be? Any relevant factors about the wearer - do they have a wool allergy for example? What season is going to be worn for? These are by no means exhaustive, and you may have other questions or considerations of your own.

So for my brief, I am looking to make a women's neckwear item for the early autumn. As it is worn around the neck it can't be 'scratchy' as your skin is very sensitive in that area. Also it will probably be worn very regularly so will need to wash well and easily. I intend to have plenty of stitch detail with cables, textured stitches and maybe some beads to boot. A good range of colours is always a plus so you have plenty of choice, and I like my colours to be rich but not harsh. I always like to use a quality yarn if I'm investing all those valuable life seconds into something, but I'm not looking for anything too luxurious. So putting all that into the equation, I've plumped for Rowan Wool Cotton. A staple and real workhorse of the Rowan range, this yarn's characteristics and reasonable price make it an ideal choice:

Weight: A DK yarn knitted on 4mm needles, this won't be the quickest knit, but is a great weight for showing off detailed stitchwork such as cables. The thicker the yarn, the bigger the scale of the cables, and as this is for a relatively small area I need to keep it to a pretty small scale.

Fibre & Handle: 50% wool and 50% cotton makes for a very soft, non-scratchy feeling fibre. With some of the  the plump springiness of wool but with the coolness and drape of cotton, this is a great choice for early Autumn wear

Texture: The smooth texture and high twist spin of the yarn makes for excellent stitch definition which is hard to be beat - great for showing off all that lovely cable stitchwork

Colour: Wool Cotton comes in a wide range of delicious solid colours, ideal for showing off detail and  stitchwork which would be obscured by a fancier colour treatment. With 20 shades to choose from, there's bound to be at least one colour the intended wearer is going to love.

Aftercare: Machine washable at 40% this yarn washes exceptionally well, softening even more in the process.

So now I've come to a decision on the type of yarn I just need to make a decision about the colour - now that is a tough choice to make but I've got it down to either of these two - which one do you prefer?

Ship Shape

Bilberry

Cables and textured stitches can seem really complicated, and certainly look the part, but they are surprising easy once you know how. If you haven't tried it yet, it's a great string to add to your knitterly bow. If you live in the Swansea area you may be interested in my September Workshop on the subject. I'll be making a design as per the brief above and I'll show how this progresses in future posts. The plan is for this be offered as a free pattern to all those that attend the workshop, and will also be available to purchase on my website and via Ravelry at a later date.

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Jam-packed July

Well I think you will agree we have had a surprisingly summery summer so far, and I don't know about you but this has increasingly become one of the busiest times of the year for me, and this July has been particularly busy. As well as going to Stitch Camp earlier in the month, I did the 10k Cardiff Race for life which proved to be a great day out. Here we are with the finish line in view (actually the real finish line was the pub afterwards....):

Next on the agenda was a long weekend at Warwick Folk Festival. As well as enjoying some great music and festival fun it was a great opportunity for me to meet up with my family who live a fair distance away. I volunteered as a steward which I can recommend - not just because it pays your ticket, but it is an enjoyable experience to be part of the event and supporting the organisers to make it a pleasurable and relaxed experience for everyone. It's also an opportunity to give Betsy (my tent) an outing - Betsy is very popular with other campers and I reckon she has her own fanclub. Quite a few folks were taking pictures of her so I dare say she's doing the rounds on the internet.

It was a real roaster of a weekend so I was glad to be pitched next to the fire buckets!

Then, before I'd finished unpacking from the weekend, it was all systems go setting up the Stitches Coven creative textiles exhibition, followed by our  launch event the following day. This year's work has been inspired by architecture, and here's a picture of our group installation of doors within a door - I'm afraid it's not the best photo so do urge you to pop in to see it and all the other pieces in the flesh at Swansea Grand Theatre (1st floor, white room). The exhibition runs up to and including Fri 15th August - if you are able to go, do leave us a comment/message in the comments book -  it would be lovely to hear from you.

Group Installation, Doors

One of my offerings, called Bridging

And if you fancy seeing more textile creations (you can't have too much of that now, can you??) why not go along to see the Dylan Thomas inspired exhibition by 'big sister' group, Itchy Fingers. This will include the show stopping Llareggub Village Installation Piece, a miniature manifestation of this imaginary village in textile form - definitely not to be missed. “Dylan in Stitches” will be showing at the Taliesin Art Centre, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea. SA2 8PZ. Our private view will be on Friday 15th August 2014 from 6-8pm. Sarah Hopkins will be opening the event and you are invited to what promises to be an exciting evening. The exhibition will run from 15th August until 20th September 2014. 

Well, with all this going on you may not be surprised to hear that after some early enthusiasm my garden has been languishing somewhat from neglect! - But I have had the beginnings of a runner been harvest - whoooop!

Over to you

Well that's it for now - I hope you are having a lovely summer. Have you been busy too, or are you wisely taking time to relax in the glorious sunshine we've been having? Let me know what you've been up to by commenting below - I'd love to hear from you about your summer frolics.

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Stitch Camp 2014

I had a wonderful time away with Sian Martin's Distant Stitch Summer School at Farncombe Estate near Broadway in the Cotswolds. This consisted of a long weekend with one of 2  accomplished artist/tutors where we were immersed in textile art & Design for the duration. Distant Stitch is an online 'school' for people to learn textile arts, and is a great option for those who need flexibility, but also those seeking to undertake City & Guilds courses which (sadly) are now rarely available as  local courses you can physically attend. As well as having ongoing support via email etc, each student has the opportunity to attend the Distant Stitch Summer School.

I find the most challenging aspects of creative textiles is getting started with ideas and interpreting them into textile art pieces, so I opted for Rosemary Campbell's class which  focussed on this very  topic.This was the first Distant Stitch outing for me, and I had a lovely time meeting fellow students as well as gaining inspiration and learning by the bucketload!

The weekend ran from Fri pm to Mon am and was really intensive, with long days in the studio running from 9am to 9.30pm - hense the term Stitch Camp! You could take time out whenever you wanted but, like most of the students, I wanted to make the most of my time there, immersed in all that creativity. This was made all the more possible by the fact you didn't have to consider anything else - all meals, refreshments etc were provided and the accommodation was great with fabulous grounds and breathtaking views.

Farncombe Estate

Rose proved to be a fantastic tutor - positive & encouraging, but also pushing us out from our comfort zones to help us move forward on our individual creative journeys. A mine of information and inspiration about textile design & composition, Rose walked us through the process of coming up with strong, developed designs that take several steps along from, but still relate to the original source of inspiration. All heady sounding stuff, but her delightfully wicked sense of humour and relaxed approach made this great fun.

Here are my efforts - I looked at 2 subjects - the New Birmingham Library which I'm currently fascinated by, and the Chelsea Hotel in New York.

These working designs will I think be great starting points from which to develop into textile pieces, and I'm fired up now with loads of tips and ideas about how to use these in compositions and carry them forward.

You can see what the other students got up to on the Distant Stitch  Facebook page - I'm sure you'll agree they're a talented bunch.

This was my first Distant Stitch Summer School, but not my first Stitch Camp. The last couple of years I have attended the TSG (Textile Study Group) Summer Schools which I would also highly recommend - if you are lucky enough to get a place. These provide ongoing creative development for artists and tutors but  they are open to anyone - less accomplished stitchers are welcome, and I found everyone to be friendly and encouraging. Although they are a fair investment they offer excellent value and attending a stitch camp can really help boost your knowledge, skills and individual development. All in all I have found they provide a great opportunity for touching base with your passion, resetting your compass and planning the next steps of your creative journey, as well as meeting others who share your interest in textiles.

Over to You

Have you attended a stitch camp or similar such as a residential course or retreat? If so, did you enjoy it and find it a valuable experience? If you haven't attended, do you think you'd be tempted in the future?
 
By the way, for those of you who live in the Swansea Area, local textiles group Stitches Coven are putting on their annual exhibition at Swansea Grand Theatre from 29 July to the 15th August. If you are in the area do come long to our launch evening on Tues 29th July, 7-9pm.

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