FMP

Some pages/samples from my research sketchbook:

I have also been fighting with this sample for a couple of weeks now, as it was huge and so difficult knit, it is made from 1.5mm foam rod:

Knit Prints

I decided to bring some of my larger knit samples back to 2D to see how they work as prints. I made a number of transfer prints using photocopies of my samples and actual knit samples too.

Knitting Looms

I recently bought a set of circular knitting looms, mostly out of curiosity, and set to work on some circular knits. I made a piece using a variety of stitches; garter, purl and ladder types, to create a tube thing, which I like to think of as a snood or scarf.

During a tutorial it was also suggested that I should transform my samples into outfits for dogs, seeing as I don't have a dog I decided to use one of my cats as a model...this was the only picture I got before he managed to slide out of it...

not a happy kitty...

Giles Deacon

Somehow he managed to slip out of my head (and everyone elses for that matter) when it came to looking for inspiring knit designs for research. His designs are exactly what I mean by extreme knitting.

 

I also found an image of a combination of Giles Deacon and another favorite Sandra Backlund, this image is perfect for my final major project:

Giant Knitting Samples

I've been working with the idea of finger knitting then knitting with it. I used an ordinary, relatively thin yarn to begin with, then knitted it using 20mm needles. I used a variety of stitches; plain and purl, ladder and mesh type stitches too.

front

back

I then finger knitted a much thicker yarn and knitted with it. After a discussion with my tutor I decided to mix the materials I used in my samples, so there was a variety of weight as well as stitch. For this sample I used finger knitted thick yarn, strips of organza, bin bags and thick yarn.

As the yarn was so thick my largest needles were not large enough to knit it, soo I took a trip to B&Q and bought a 32mm x 2m plumbing pipe, some gaffer tape and a junior hacksaw and got to work on making my own needles. As awkward and odd as they look, they did the job and using them wasn't as difficult as I imagined it would be.

Museum of Childhood

I honestly don't care how sad it is, I had soo much fun wandering around the museum of childhood admiring all the wonderful toys and memories they conjured up, whilst very excited 5 year olds ran into me and generally got in my way (not a big fan of people under the age of 14 btw). The dollhouses and the miniature village/ railway thingy were what I was particularly interested in. I used these as research as I'm working to the idea of scale, I needed an example of of miniature/tiny scale. The dolls houses were beautiful and the tiny curtains and bedding were a great example of how I could construct and show small scale. I could look into using a dolls house as a model or use photoshop to place some of my samples in the tiny rooms.

Susan Hiller

I visited the Susan Hiller exhibition at Tate Britain after college yesterday as I'd heard it was amazing. The wide variety of work on display surprised me, I'm used to either one style of work or one medium, however Hiller's work  crosses into all media. I especially loved the audio installation; a room filled with hundreds of speakers. On entering the room all you hear is the faint buzz from all the speakers, I felt like such a child rushing through the installation grabbing at speakers and holding them to my ears then quickly moving onto another trying to find one which was in English so I could actually understand it.

 

 I also enjoyed the room with glass cases filled with little wooden boxes each holding what seems like odd objects (they ranged from Northern Irish soil to orange glowing crucifixes) I liked this display as I myself have a habit of collecting random objects "just because they're cute" and have a slight obsession with pretty boxes.

The work I related to the most were the first pieces in the exhibition, The Work In Progress. The pieces were made from old work that was completely deconstructed then reinvented. The work is completely her own, her own work reworked. Nobody but her truely understands the time and patience put into it, to the outside world it looks like some string and canvas placed together. This is also the work I feel relates to my final major project, knitting using usual methods - I now realise I can use old materials, however I'll have to try and not make it look like a crappy recycling project.

A few words from one of the installations just for a bit of inspiration:

STRIVE TO BE YOUR OWN HERO