Friday 31 May 2013

Normal Service

Panic not gentle reader. I have not abandoned you.

Almost 4 weeks ago we had a family emergency which was frankly more important than anything else hence my absence. What time I did have was spent working on some commission knitting. This is not a pity post. I wanted to explain why there hasn't been a plethora of knitting. I've just been working on a lot of cabling for the commission. And when I say a lot I mean 15+ meters of various cables. Perfect knitting for someone who's brain was working on a million other things however, as with most commissions, there are no photos to share. I have to wait to see if the designer will send me some that I can post here. I am such a wicked tease.

We have just returned home and are getting things straight before another big event that is coming up in the next few weeks. This is planned and so whilst it will require my time and attention, I will still be posting work, news and inspiration here. I've got some posts in mind which I'm sure you'll enjoy.


Thank you for your patience and stay tuned.

x

Sunday 19 May 2013

Grafyairden

Do you remember the series of posts I wrote about my design process?

I talked about what inspires me and how my use of imagery starts to inform the piece. Then I looked at how I choose yarn and final design elements which all work together in a final garment.

The piece I was working on during those posts is now finished.

T

This is Grafyairden. Finding the name for something is always fun and this was no exception. A graveyard (from Old English graf "pit"; yairden "garden, open place") is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones. I liked the Old English words and meaning so they were put together to give my pattern it's name.



The pattern is now available in my Ravelry Store. I hope you enjoy it.

x

Saturday 11 May 2013

Chelsea Gosling

Last year I was contacted by an MA student, Chelsea Gosling, who needed a hand knitter to work on garments. These garments were to make up part of her final collection. I was more than happy to work with her and over the course of a couple of months knitted 3 mens sweaters. 

The other week Chelsea emailed me some images of the garments so I thought I'd share them here.


 They were knitted in viscose ribbon which gives a luxurious drape and sheen.


The gauge took a little bit of playing with to get the best fabric possible but I'm really pleased with the results. These are very stylish mens garments

It was an interesting experience and one of my first in real design commissions after graduating. I learnt a lot working with Chelsea and found her ideas exciting. I enjoy the process of taking a 2D paper pattern and figuring out the construction for each garment.

Many thanks to Chelsea Gosling for use of the images, Ann Mitchell, the photographer and Armuary of Elite Models.

x

Tuesday 7 May 2013

Light and Shade

I'm still thinking about our trip to Cornwall. We stayed in the very beautiful Trereife Park and I found a particular feature inspiring.



There was a stunning light fitting within the main staircase which was made of metallic blooms.











There are some really nice shapes in the structure. I see this and think of a circular shawl shape or spiky knitted structures.









 


Another circular shape with more layers. This makes me think of knitted origami. Obviously.














The light fitting  is giving me lots of ideas. Not just for shawls and "flatter" pieces of knitting but also in terms of more constructed shapes. I'm also keen to knit in a metallic thread. Having seen the final results of the metallic cardigan I made for Jane, I want to see what else I can make it do, Not just the chunky weight but also fine and delicate.

x

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Revealing All.

Do you remember back in March I was working on a commission?

The other day the designer, the rather fabulous Jane Bowler, sent me images of the work I did for her and has given permission for me to post here.


It was a really interesting garment to knit since I'd never worked with the material before but interesting is good and I enjoyed every minute of it. I urge you to look at the rest of this collection entitled Tesselate - there are some stunning pieces created by Jane and her team.

Jane is incredibly fun and so full of energy it's infectious and whilst everyone is very focused on doing the best job they can, it doesn't feel like hard work.

I can't wait to work with this talented lady again.

x