Deep-Thought Workshop: A Knitting Diary

Needles, please knit me some Autumn

2009-08-03T22:12:00.000-07:00

Fall for me has always conjured images of wearing fabulous hand-knit skirts with layered tops and calf-high shoes. This year, I intend to satisfy this itch of mine. I've been looking for nice skirt patterns. Knitty.com has the feminine 'bell curve' and the elegant 'sidewinder'. If you find other pretty ones, please do drop me a comment with the link.

Can you believe - Fall IK '09 has no skirt! Neither has the Fall issue of VK. The fashion houses don't want us wearing skirts this season? Now I want more than ever to knit myself some. :)

Topaz? No. Coral.

2009-07-10T10:34:00.001-07:00

I took Knitty's 'Topaz' and turned it into 'Coral'. All that's reminiscent of the original Topaz is the dimension of the dress. I incorporated seed stitch at the shoulders, a different palette and a mosaic band.

About art

2009-06-04T23:51:00.000-07:00

When art turns utilitarian, does that turn into a 'craft', endowed with a halo albeit significantly diminished of its glow? Broadly speaking, yes. For example, an art-quilt implies one that is utterly useless in wrapping around to warm you in winters, but somehow elevated in its importance, owing to this aspect.

Here's where it gets blurry: if you've watched staging shows on HGTV, you'll see paintings and sculptures serve a utilitarian role - fill a space, make it look larger/smaller, create a mood, create cohesion and so on. Regardless, those are called 'art' pieces, rather than something that' d suggest craft: 'paint-feature/dimensional-feature'.

So then a piece of what's traditionally identified as art could be reduced to 'pragmatic art' depending on application, but never a piece of what's traditionally identified as craft be elevated to.

What purpose does art (as it is defined) serve? The word 'sensory' comes to my mind. It makes a statement: the owner of the piece is affluent enough to not have the piece do any work. Looking pretty is all that is expected of it.

With this high-brow art-ism plaguing populations, it makes me wonder, should the 'crafts' demand equal rights?

When I knit, I sculpt and color and texture the product all at once, one stitch at a time. Rather than dress a wall or side-table when finished, it dresses me. That makes it art, doesn't it? What am I missing?

death of innocence

2009-06-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

I found this quote recently:

"this is for the death of innocence.. it died somewhere between the head and the heart."

Who said this? What was it in the context of? I sense much disillusion and bitterness in the words. If such a death of innocence leads only to an intellectual awakening, why mourn? If this isn't true, I would want to know what else can be born of it, for death doesn't exist in isolation.

Spring Flair in Winter

2009-06-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

I've practically lived in this cozy feminine sweater all of '08 Fall and Winter. The pattern is 'Pullover Flair' by Ann Budd from IK Spring 2006.

You must've noticed how I pick patterns from a different season, and often a different year of publishing. So far, this idiosyncrasy has worked in my favor.

Project: one seagull a day (mine this perch)

2009-06-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

'Mine This Perch'

Some theory at work here in varying degree:
1. controlling eye movement by manipulating highlight and shadow.
(The eye focusses on the area where the lightest light meets the darkest dark. )

2. shadow drama. (To create dark shadows, deepen them with complimentary hues.)

3. reflected light

4. reflected colour

Seagull

2009-06-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

The seagull is my latest 'study'. Here's what led to my dusting off my sketch book and my precious set of prisma color pencils, only to obsess over seagulls:
A fabulous muscle spasm rendered my back quite quite useless in the last couple of days for my favorite activity (no prizes for guessing what). So the 'Topaz' I'm making as a gift (Knitty Spring 2009) had to be temporarily abandoned.

In the meanwhile, I DVR'd a gazillion art shows on PBS. With all that inspiration and no knitting in hand, I had to do something. So, the seagulls.

By the way, some tidbits of my Topaz. I've substituted the fair isle with a mosaic pattern (Barbara Walker). IMHO, mosaic is well suited for kid clothes as it lends an informal touch as opposed to the traditional look of fair isle. The other bit I'm excited about is the really unusual color-combination I've picked - a matte coral contrasted with an 'almond' shade. The hope ofcourse is that this one year old will make a fashion statement with this dress. Will post pics when ready.

Back to Prisma - have I told you how much I love them? I call this sketch 'pear hug'. This is an early creation.

That's my sewing machine resting under my quilt. And ofcourse I call this 'so cozy'. :)

Practical lace

2009-06-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

My Glasgow Lace creation (IK Fall 2006) makes for a dramatic addition to my spring wardrobe. I happened to have a green in my stash that matched that in the pattern, and the weight of the yarn worked perfectly for the project too. I rarely knit anything in the suggested color of the pattern but with this, I'm glad I used green.

Mods: I made it more snug than recommended. The sleeves are a complete re-do: larger armholes and slower (and more number of ) decreases to create sleeve cap.

I call it my practical lace project as I'm not one to wear shawls, scarves, capelets or even hand-knit socks, however much I adore the look. A top such as this is the most practical application of lace for my use.

Yosemite

2009-05-30T03:15:00.000-07:00

There I am at Yosemite National Park, wearing my Estes Vest (IK Fall 2008 issue).

Gallery of Finished Objects

2009-01-17T16:33:00.000-08:00

A hanging lantern I made from some craft supplies, scrap yarn, and a light kit from home depot. Oh, I've got to mention - the construction would've been impossible without the glue gun!!
The lantern - which is a symbol of Diwali - was a gift for my nieces on the occassion.

A small collage I made with glossy magazine print and some rubber stamping. This one was a gift for my Mum.

A cardi with basic pattern picked up from 'Knit 2 Together'. I used cotton fabric to create panels down the front and a yoke. This one's a favorite in my wardrobe as it snuggly, and easy to care for. The woven-knit fabric combination stands it apart.

I have found I gravitate naturally to Norah Gaughan's creations. This was a summer pattern, intended for cotton yarn and was published in a summer issue of IK. I used the brightest, warmest peruvian wool to knit it up. Never fails to get me compliments from folks around me when I layer it over a long-sleeved tee.

A crib-sized quilt - my first one ever and therefore, a very special product.

A hoodie for Srijan (Vestee)

2009-01-17T16:12:00.001-08:00

Knitty's Vestee for Srijan's first birthday. Psst: I made the tag as well. Here's the other side of the tag:

Yup, acrylic. I've developed respect for it after a few years of yarn snobbery. Price is one thing but that's not what did it for me. Really, show me one other type of yarn that's as easy to wash. If it's for babies or young kids that I'm knitting for, acrylic is my yarn of choice. I use larger needles than recommended to knit loosely coz I've seen this to lend greater stretch and softness to the fabric.

Happy Birthday Annika!

2009-01-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

This one's inspired by the hues of sky and snow from my recent Trahoe trip. A snow globe I picked up at South Lake Tahoe shows you what I mean.

It's for my niece Annika, for her 4th birthday. Happy Birthday darling!

A pause

2008-07-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

It is unlikely I'll be posting much more to this blog. Although my knitting is on and I have several new and funky FOs since my last post, the blogging bug has flown out the window. Until it returns.. s'long. farewell.

New tags

2007-10-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

The hat was gifted today to Palak (pronounced Puh-luck), who turned 6 yesterday. I'm most certain it is too big for her, sadly. I'll find out soon.

I'm sorta addicted to creating tags now. (click on images below to enlarge). After about 30 minutes of incredible mess on our glass top dining table, I came up with these. The pictures don't capture the sparkle but there's quite some on them.

front of tag

back of tag with washing instructions

Combined knitting hack

2007-10-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

I took up my needles and yarn this evening to study the combined method of knitting. I'm equally comfortable knitting with yarn in left hand and the right. For most knitting, I go continental. With stranded color knitting, I knit with a yarn in each hand. So far, this has been convenient for my purposes. I got down to learning combined method just so I could test its worth and efficiency.

IMHO, the combined method demands flexibility on the part of the knitter. To begin with, my continental knitting method was the following: knit with yarn wrapped clockwise and purl with yarn wrapped anti-clockwise.

1. The combo method banks on the back edge of stitches to be the leading edge on the RS of the fabric.

2. To achieve point 1, you've to use different ways of wrapping the yarn for knit and purl. Get comfortable wrapping the yarn either way, for knit stitch as well as purl. Look for combo knitting videos on the net.

3. stockinette straight knitting:
RS: knit in back (leading) edge wrapping the yarn clockwise
WS: purl in leading edge wrapping the yarn clockwise.

4. garter straight knitting:
RS: knit in back (leading) edge wrapping the yarn clockwise
WS: knit in leading edge wrapping the yarn anti-clockwise.

5. seed stitch straight knitting:
RS: knit stitch: wrap yarn clockwise
RS: purl stitch: wrap yarn anticlockwise
WS: knit stitch: wrap yarn anti-clockwise
WS: purl stitch: wrap yarn clockwise

If you swatch 3. 4. and 5. above, you'll notice that the RS is knit just as you would in regular continental, except that the back edge is the leading edge. At the WS, do what you have to, to create a twist. The simplest way it seems, is to wrap the yarn contrary to what you would have normally. That's really all there is to it.

Regarding shaping, I haven't come to it yet, but I'm not concerned too much, really. There are charts out there that help you along with translations. It was the garter that had me stumped initially.

The benefit of combo? Some swear it's faster. Not yet for me. The same people also swear by the even-ness of the stitches. Girl! It's to be seen to be believed - my swatch is testimony. Oh, and a little-known feature - the gauge is tighter than continental, for the same yarn and needles. That was a curious find.

HOWTO: design cards with stencils and stamps

2007-09-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

1. Embossing with stencils:
Materials - light box, some wax paper, your favorite metal stencils, card, assorted chalk colors, eyeshadow brushes (to apply the color), embossing instrument
Method - sandwich the stencil between the light box and paper. Place paper right side down. Rub some wax paper to make the embossing stylus move smoothly. Run the stylus along the edges of the stencil. Turn over and color with the chalks.

2. Glitter with embossing:
Materials - glitter glue pen, glitter
Method - simple enough. apply glue, dump glitter on it. Clear away excess glitter.
This look lends sparkle to the embossing. The white glitter looks the best really.

3. Scruffer with embossing:
Materials - color paper with color on one side and white on other, scruffer (soft sandpaper-like tool)
Method - emboss as usual with the colored side being right side. Rub the scruffer on the embossed parts until the white starts showing through
This is an easy way of highlighting the embossing.

4. Layering with embossing:
Method - say you have the stencil of a flower. One method is to emboss it directly onto the main card paper which folds to become your greeting card. Another is to emboss it on a different colored paper, cut it out and stick it to your main card. You can take the layering to the next level by choosing different paper for the petals and another for the center. This is how different colors can be pulled in by using appropriately colored paper and then layering the parts together.

5. Stamping:
a) Backgrounds - this happens to be the single most complex part of the composition, if I understand it right. The backgrounds can be as simple as a spray of color or extremely layered, with words in different fonts, background prints, blocks of color and effects created by diamond glazes and resists.

b) Masking with masking tape - the masking tape product has a reusable sticky surface. You can cut either a positive mask or a negative one. To achieve this, stamp on the tape, the design for which you need a mask. Cut it out on its outline. The inner piece that matches your stamp is a positive mask and the outer, your negative mask. Can be used in a variety of ways to partially expose the coloring or the stamping on the card.

c) Masking with chemical resist - The product called 'micro glaze' is a sealant and also works as a resist. stamp your design using this glaze. Since it's transparent, you would not be able to see the design yet. Now, rub the ink pad onto the paper directly. The parts of paper with the glaze on it does not catch the ink.

d) heat embossing - stamp your design with pigment inks. Before this dries, dump embossing powder, just like you would with glitter. Clear it away. Now use your heat gun and see the powder gain dimension.

e) filling in color - there are a dozen clever ways of filling in color.
i) Use markers to paint different colors on the stamp itself. While applying the stamp, you'll have a multicolor design.

ii) Certain stamps create outlines of design. These outlines you can stamp either with a darn neutral shade (browns/greys etc or black). Alternately, you can heat emboss these outlines. The inner spaces can then be filled in using watercolors, iridescent colors, color pencils - there's a gamut of products out there. Using negative masks to keep the color from bleeding outside the areas is a good idea. Application can be either with cosmetic sponges, eye-shadow brushes, stippling brushes, or with pencils directly.

iii) Pour 3 (or more) inks in a tray, roll a brayer into it. Now, apply this brayer onto the stamp to get an unpredictable combination of coloring. You can apply the brayer directly to paper, to achieve a layered background.

f) using acrylic boards with unmounted stamps
i) Use mounting foam. Cut out in the shape of the unmounted stamp. Adhere on side of it to the back of the stamp (follow manufacturer's instructions). The other side statically clings to acrylic. This method makes it quick to stick and peel stamps to and from the acrylic handles. However, to maintain the electrostatic property, the mounted stamps have to be stored correctly, on sheets available for the purpose.

ii) Use regular glue to stick to the acrylic. Once peeled, you can clean the residue either with baby wipes or stamp-cleaning agents. This method can only be used with unmounted rubber stamps. It gets slightly longer to attach and peel. However, it saves you some money.

g) blending pencil
This, I hear, is the stamping artist's best kept secret. Look up 'Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencil Blender' online.

The cheapest place to learn this art is at a stamping expo - it cost me 5 dollars of entrance fee and a few hours today. The folks at the booths are the kindest I've known. My favorite haunts are the demos at each. Ask a related question and they'll run to the moon and back if necessary to find you the right answer. The samples they create are amazing to watch being made. Don't miss it next time.

Wake up stamp artists!

2007-09-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

Not a single stamp design with the knitting theme in all of the stamping fair 'A stamp in the hand'. Not one.

Anyone who's been to Stitches or TKGA will know the percent of population that knits in the US and as far as I know, it's growing. I've seen knitters to be spenders. Have you seen the bags of yarn carried out of the popular knitting conventions? We love to knit and we love to tell the world we knit. Stamps are a great way of advertising our favorite interest. Think of all the interesting tags we can attach to the gifts we knit, the stickers and buttons (the real kind) we can create. Imagine the greeting cards we can make for knitterly friends. There's untapped potential here.

End of free advice. Never mind that I agree with one of the stamps I saw today: "free advice is worth what you pay for it". :)

For Palak

2007-09-28T08:31:00.001-07:00

That's Coronet. The pattern did not have instructions for a 7 year old's size. I applied the general guideline I found in the Harlot's 'Knitting Rules!'. Now, she specifies certain inches for a 'child' and certain other for a 'young adult', without defining either term. I infact went for the latter and perhaps have made the cap tad too big for Palak. I'm hoping her birthday gift doesn't disappoint.

Psst: the book is a good read. The humor had me chuckling. She has these general size charts, which seem to have been processed by decades of knitting. These I'd say, are comforting to carry with you, for quick spot checks on your knitting, especially when you're making something for a gift.

A stamp (or 3) in the hand

2007-09-24T18:29:00.001-07:00

Card paper, a fresh tea bag, 2 ink pads, and a few stamps later, I had a few tags. Here's one:

A stamp in the hand is in town again, this saturday. The stamping industry is suffering, I hear. I'll visit the expo this year round just to support it in my little way.

Psst: Both Amee and Misha have been gifted with the hand knits. I heard from Misha's mom today who was so touched by the gesture that it made my day.

For Misha

2007-09-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

Misha is turning 3 this weekend. Little girl loves pink I hear. This is her birthday gift from me: the softest pinkest bolero on the face of this earth!

This one's an original too. My pattern came about thus: I see a fluffy cardi in one of many knitting books I've borrowed from the library, which leaves me with an idea. A week later, I hear about Misha's birthday. So I go to Michaels and get the fluffiest yarn (2 stitches to an inch) in the pinkest shade available. Cardinal rule: design machine washable garments for kids, for the Moms' sake. I then park at the closest Walmart and measure (with my office badge), the shoulder width and armhole depth for something that would fit her. The actual design and development was the breezy part. The bolero length just seemed right.

For Amee

2007-09-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

Note: Amee is 0 months old. The spanking new parents are my friends.

Psst: an original design

For the pattern-curious:

Books

2007-08-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

I've been foraging library shelves and catalogs for all books knitting. Focus is on baby knits and knitting literature (history, biographies of artists, evolution of style etc).

1. Knitting in America / Melanie D. Falick ; photography by Chris Hartlove.
- Read this to learn about the various American women in professional knitting and their lives. Includes Barbara Walker - I'd buy an entire book on her, if one were available.

2. Paintbox knits : more than 30 designs for kids / Mary H. Bonnette and Jo Lynne Murchland.
The sweetest patterns are in here. I've put this on my wishlist.

3. Simple knits for cherished babies / Erika Knight.
A tiny new-born wrap jumped out of this book. For the rest of it, it is what it claims - simple. And too boring for my taste.

4. Beautiful things to make for baby : knitting, sewing, crochet, embroidery.
Practical knitting, sewing, crochet items you can create. I loved this one as it's focussed more on the baby rather than the craft you're using to making something with.

5. New baby knits / Debbie Bliss.
Beautiful knits.

Hope to be busy making new-born wearables to gift my friends. Brimming with ideas, what with all the patterns I'm practically swimming in! There's also the classic surprise baby jacket that I've unvented and written a script for. Exciting times ahead.

Limping back to 'normal'

2007-08-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

I've resumed knitting. And the world seems friendly again.

In the meanwhile, much is new.
1. Icarus is actually making beautiful progress. The lace weight 100% cotton yarn is rendering the shawl cloudy softness beyond imagination. I'm absorbing mistakes and resurrecting the next row of stitch-count rather than re-knit and therefore, I'm not slowed down. It's not going to look factory-perfect at the end of it all and I'll be none the poorer for it.

2. I design patterns, cut fabric and sew with much confidence.
my partner in crime: Brother XL2230

3. I love jigsaw puzzles even more than I used to in childhood. The enchantment has only grown!

When was the last time

2007-06-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

I blogged or even read my favorites?! Pathetic!

First, sorry, I'm really behind on the tags. I will though, I promise.

Many exciting things to show in the meanwhile.
1. My new 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. It's Christine Graf art piece called 'Bonny Doon Hills'. I've just only started sorting the pieces. They are so bright and so tiny that it delights the jigsaw-maniac in me. Pics in due time.

2. I've sewn a kameez. (browse google images for a visual on this)
Excited coz I drafted it all.by.myself. I have some designers in the family; mum who is self-taught and sis who also got a degree in it - both excessively at ease with the process and frightfully good at it. So yeah, my accomplishment is not a big deal but for what it's worth, I am proud. I need to click pictures next to upload.

3. Hmm.. that's it I guess. Unless I want to blog about my Kathak. It deserves a separate blog and I've no time. :( Ah well.

meandering along the south rim on my coffee table

2007-05-16T23:04:00.000-07:00

I'm wandering into the land of other crafts (with knitting firmly in my hands - I'm not letting go of the pointy sticks this easy, no way!).

I'd picked up a 500 piece jigsaw from the Yavapai point observatory at Grand Canyon. I was working at it last week. Here's how it came along:

See that one little piece? That's just to prove to you that I infact have uploaded the snapshot of an assembled jigsaw and not an image off of the cover! :) The piece was fit in place before claiming the mini-project complete.

Next stop: some pattern drafting and sewing. Long overdue as I've a pile of projects pending. This blog is going to be invaded with jots of my cutting/sewing endeavour. Consider yourself warned.