Yarn Along

Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along.

I'm working on a pattern called Captain Tank from Sublime, this is the back. I love the combination of stocking stitch and garter stitch on a knitted garment, in that old fashioned simple kind of way...so this garter stitch waistband makes a lovely change from the double ribbing I've done on almost everything else I've made so far. I've gotta say I'm missing my Noro yarn! This Wool Alpaca mix is gorgeously warm and soft, but I'm finding I do favour aran weight yarn and I love variegated. The dk weight goes much more slowly and I've no colour changes to keep me entertained as I knit ; ) but it is nice to knit something with finer stitch work. It should make a really handy jumper for smallie, to take the chill off on school walks. He seems like such a greens and browns kind of laddie. The photo doesn't do justice to the lovely natural green colour. The pattern is for a one colour plain. I can't seem to do plain. So I'm planning a simple band of colour design across the chest and wish I'd wrapped it around the back too, but I missed my opportunity as I was so busy concentrating on the decreases for the armhole shaping..; ) No ripping it back now, knitting time's too precious.

I'm luxuriating in a back issue of  Irish Arts Review. It's a wonderful publication, a treat as it's the price of a book. It's issued quarterly and I buy it if I like the cover ; ) and manage to make it out of the bog and into a big bookshop (rare). I don't make it to galleries and exhibitions much anymore and it keeps me in touch with at least some of whats happening in the Irish art world. I found this one in a second hand bookshop and it seems all the more poignant now as Freud passed away just recently. He was a huge inspiration to me in my art student years. I remember sitting in the college library, almost two decades ago now (what?) turning the pages and poring over his work. His portrait of an Irish boy, featured on this cover is one of my favourites. 

Looking forward to checking out what y'all are knitting and reading out there. Thank you for stopping by and for all your lovely comments last week, great to read. M

Yarn Along

It's lovely to be joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along. 

At last I've finished my small boy's jumper : ) It sat abandoned in my knitting basket all summer. And finally, to the query 'Is my jumper finished yet Mommy?' and 'can I wear it to school tomorrow..?' I can say 'YES!'

I wrote about this project before, here. Can I tell you that knitting totally lost its charm for me when I was struggling to make this V-neckband. It drove me around the twist! In other words I'd no idea what 'pick up and knit 100 stitches' meant on a pattern that assumed greater knowledge of such things. A mere rookie, I knit it, ripped out and re-knit improvising the number of stitches, then it worked although not perfectly. I'm delighted that I more or less understand how this part works now and next time I'd know what to do.

I was two stitches short on my tension initially and far too casual about the fact (ha!) and that seems to have resulted in a boxy shape. Duly noted ; ) But in the main, I am thrilled to have completed my first jumper and smallie is leapin about in it, very excited with his 'Autumn rainbow' cosy layer. Small victory!

If there's one thing the practise of knitting is teaching me (actually there are many things, but I want to talk about that in an upcoming post) it is patience, and to : : WAIT : : something I find very hard to do when I'm ready to embark on a new project and have a precious window of time to get stuck in. Waiting 'til you've got the tension exactly right, or waiting til you've got the right yarn for the pattern is a very.good.idea.indeed.

Gladly, knitting is once again restored to me as a happy thing and I'm well on my way with a second jumper : )

On the reading front, dare I say that Debbie Bliss's 'Tips for knitters' is the only book I'm dipping into these days. It covers the basics, and I have learned a thing or two from it but I have to say the content and diagrams do leave me wanting. Smallie's read of the moment is far less dull. Elsa Beskow's 'The Sun Egg' is delightful from the first page to the last...both in terms of concept and the enthralling illustrations. When your child's bedtime story captivates you both equally, that's magic : )

a sprinkling of gold 

As I write, it is the eve of a new school year. Bittersweet. Trying to squeeze every last drop of sunshine and of freedom from these last days!
 My small boy has been asking me to make him a golden crown for some time now, its been on my summer list of 'luxury tasks' I wanted to make time for. He chose all the colours and shapes/symbols and I worked from his simple drawing. He waited impatiently, I stitched while he slept and while he ran wild with the cousins long after bedtime...it seems to celebrate the elusive sun of an Irish summer  : )

I would've loved some golden thread to weave in here and there but alas, I was on the road with limited supplies though I did find copper in my small box of tricks. I worked with pure wool felt, next time I'd favour my own handmade felt... I keep seeing a sunset crown in my mind's eye : )

 I've been lucky enough to be around some other crafty mamas who've inspired a creativity different to the kind I've come from. Thanks to Liz and our school Craft Group, projects like this are an ease and a pleasure now where I totally shyed away from stitching before.

Speaking of the promise of gold, heres a silk we dyed with onion skins. Still fantasising about how I could use it as a panel in a nuno felted garment... maybe. It's subtle hues are lost in translation here. I've been told the colour shines through more beautifully when the silk is ironed, somehow the use of an iron just doesn't seem to be in my nature ; )

Another fun thing to be borne of this summer were a few sweet hogs. It all started when my lovely niece and I sat up late one night crafting pom poms (hers was gorgeous). Next day I thought 'what to do with a pom pom..?' hmmmn and wondered if I could needle felt wool into it. I'm constantly amazed with how wool wants to fuse with wool in all kinds of felting contexts. This works! 

Children seem to really fall for these little guys, their softly spiked and rounded bodies feel delightful in the hand. I was thinking it would be an ideal handwork project where wool is used for its therapuetic properties. And it makes a really warm toy. 
Amazed to find conkers on our local river walk when it's barely September, smallie filled his pockets and once home carefully left them for the hedgehogs to nibble on. I happened upon this scene on the living room rug : )

Autumn has indeed crept up on us this year. Welcome!

Finished!

I've been craving the chance to finish this piece. I was waiting for two clear days, the first one solitary so I could lay out surface detail. I usually strive to do this part without distraction. Well, I gave up on that idea and just got on with it. Bit of chaos in my living room but no-one got hurt ; ) I've felted much bigger pieces than this in the past so I don't know why this was a bit overwhelming...something to do with felting in the round and the delicateness of that early stage.

 I cannot tell you what a stretch this was for me in terms of confidence. I wouldn't ordinarily dream of attempting to make a garment. I gleefully worked without a pattern and wondered how on earth I would get it to fit me. You can see in my last post how much it needed to shrink. But watch out, it happens fast in the end! At one stage when I unrolled it and shrinkage was 'live and happening', my watching boy said matter-of-factly 'It's definitely not going to fit you...That would fit me Mommy.' And I did wonder, it looked mighty small indeed compared to the giant dress of the day before. But alas all was well, I laid an old dress of mine on top and the sizing seemed close.

 The felting happened effortlessly, the patches of pre-felt literally seemed to melt into each other. I'm quite smitten with this method of building a nuno-felted piece. I worked the piece inside out for quite a while in the beginning, so there were some magical surprises when I turned it right side out and saw all that happened and changed. The best part : ) despite parched hands and sore muscles.

                                                                      

The final rinse...and that orange-peel texture that tells me I'm done.

My longtime friend Catherine, a feltmaker herself, happened to come through for the night when I was just finishing this off, so I asked her to give it a whirl. It was fantastic to see it on someone else, and boy doesn't she wear it well..?

I haven't decided yet whether this one's a keeper or whether I'll list it for sale in my upcoming Etsy shop. It shall be known hereafter as the dingle dress : )
There are two things I'm most excited about in the end. I can make clothes now, without the need for sewing machines or patterns. If I could make one garment this way for each of us in the house over this next year, I'd be thrilled. Both lads have ordered waistcoats ; ) And, if Jenny and I could begin to teach others how to make wearable felt, imagine the possibilities and the joy of seeing what people come up with! Thanks to sunny Catherine and thank you for reading.

Giant Celtic Dress

A bunch of you have been asking me if I've finished the Nuno Felted garment I made at Pam De Groot's masterclass in Dingle...Would you believe the answer is still 'not yet!' I'm chomping at the bit to finish it, but am short on time. In the meantime, here's a sneak preview. Do bear in mind that it's in the pre-felt stage, and based on about 40% shrinkage hereafter. The story so far...

Using the finest materials of pure silk and wool, practically everything started out white...and our first day was spent in the dye kitchen, concocting and dipping, binding and clamping. All new to me. It harks back to the tie-dyeing of the 70's, but has evolved into the more sophisticated 'Shibori' techniques. In an earlier post I pondered our weird and wonderful materials list for the workshop, well, mystery unveiled, these were all objects for use in resist dyeing. I'm more of a wooden clothes pegs and conkers kind of girl, though I did also use mini Cd's to create the effect you see above in the green silk line-drying. Love it! We ducked in and out to the clothes line, between showers. A great bunch of women to create amongst, with a warm-hearted trading of materials and ideas.


Our second day was spent making sheets of pre-felt. To cut these up and re assemble them with hand stitching, in the spirit of Pam's mosaic felting technique
seemed a novel idea to me. It would have been lovely to get into that therapeutic space of sewing carefully but alas, speed stitching was the order of the day ; ) I used different threads in different places, Pam saying it could be removed afterwards or not. I've come to love the folk art style of visible stitching so I plan to leave mine. Pam's pieces of wearable art that she brought to share with students were absolutely awe-inspiring. I was especially struck by the natural dyeing she'd done using her native eucalyptus. She hails from Austrailia and was teaching feltmakers dotted around Europe for six weeks. We were honoured indeed. All thanks to Sharon of Handmade Sessions.
Somehow we managed to burn the midnight oil despite minimal sleep, as the youth at our hostel partied into the wee hours, and beyond! I felt as though I was making a patchwork dress for some celtic giantess. Difficult to imagine how a couple of days hard labour will transform it into a tunic that fits...but every now and then whilst stitching, I got glimpses of a dream-like garment one could float around the landscape in : )

And now the work of felting begins. And if I wasn't daunted before, I sure am now! But I will be back, hopefully wearing this.

Thank you for reading, and thanks to my dear Aunt Marth for taking these later photos. Can I say how lovely it was to have a visitor who was so genuinely interested in the work, who wanted to savour every detail and as you can see, she did : )

Of Willow and wonder

I've always appreciated baskets...loved having them around, using them for hauling gear on trips in the car, working out of them. Is there anything more enticing than a basket of brightly coloured wool? sure to beckon me from across any room!

 I make tiny baskets often to accompany the figures that I felt. A grandmother brings her knitting, Lady Spring carries her chicks, one of the Moss Elders stows his work-in-progress while he takes a break to talk to a passing hedgehog ; )

 For these I do coil basketing or simply crochet, usually with hemp. But I've been wanting to try the real thing. I really liked the idea of  having some baskets for my wool that I'd made myself. I've long been intrigued by the process, which has such deep-rooted, ancient traditions in many cultures, especially here in Ireland. 

This Spring, on an introductory day-workshop I took locally, the tutor displayed some traditional Irish willow work he had done. He spoke of how the handles and foot of many a turf carrying basket would eventually wear and be repaired maybe even a few times, then ultimately would become a storage basket without handles and sit by the fire holding turf or kindling. How great, the life cycle of a single basket in a time when nothing was or could be wasted. My uncle recalls the use of  willow woven calf muzzles at home in Co. Limerick to stop them from suckling when it was time. I listened to his memories of making of a blackbird trap, an exact replica of one we found pictured in Joe Hogan's definitive book 'Basketmaking in Ireland'. 

Can I say, this was hard! I can also see that it's tricky to teach. There is a lot more to building up a basket than I'd imagined. I'm so accustomed  now to working with soft materials, my fingers felt thin and weak and I watched wishfully our tutor's strong wide fingers effortlessly wrapping the rods in and out of the uprights. Also with felting I just feel my way, basketry is much more of a head thing, you must count at times and follow a particular pattern. Intended to be a bread basket, I fancied this as a small work basket for ongoing wool projects. And I have to say that walking in home to my family with the finished basket was fun, they were excited! My small son instantly wanted to claim it for his own, telling me how much he needed a basket just like this ; ) It is solid and strong and will last a long time, helped apparently by an annual bath!

Knitting out of a basket you've made yourself is a whole other layer again, of understanding and of intimacy with your creative work, the materials, and what you're capable of producing with your own hands.


 I'd barely begun to understand how to work with willow though, how to use the bodkin and the rapping iron... so in May I went to CELT's event 'Weekend in the woods'  where I've taught Nuno Felting with Jenny in the past, set in the beautiful Bealkelly Oak Woods in Tuamgraney. This Centre for Environmental Living and Training is a community based charity, who work towards nature conservation and the teaching of traditional skills. In the midst of bluebell season, a carpet of blue and green on the forest floor took my breath away. And so, to work.

The spidery feel of this stage was such that I could imagine it would just creep away under the nearest ditch : )

Our tutor, the lovely Linda Scott a professional basketmaker has specialised in recent years in the making of willow cradles and coffins. We worked with willow she'd grown and harvested.
I've learned that it takes a while with any new craft and you've got to hang in there through the tricky stages, give it a chance, give yourself a chance, and for me - concentrate!

This time around I managed to get past that beginner's feeling of awkwardness, and the struggle to remember what needs to happen next. Once I got used to the weave, I loved the rhythmic quality of this craft, very meditative. Wonderful to eventually find your way and to feel that you actually understand what's happening in the work... and I relished knowing that I was building a functional vessel that would serve a practical purpose at home.

 Freshly made, I showed my basket to a dear friend and the first thing she did was to smell it : ) There is a particular earthy aroma from the willow that was new to me, gorgeous. Sore fingers that night. But how great a craft that will make your body ache the next day, like rolling felt, that quite literally stretches you.

While it's a very satisfying material to work with, I wouldn't want to be confined to willow alone or its varied hues, beautiful as they are. I'm really interested in combining materials and crafts. I'd love to try some crochet borders on the baskets, working with a massive hook. Or weaving in moss and hedgerow materials, simple pieces where I can get my small boy involved, for he's longing to give it a go. Alas, a lifetime may not be enough for all the things I want to try, and make ; )


Interestingly, we learned that basket weaving has not be mechanised. It amazes me that every basket we see or buy is handmade by someone, somewhere.

 Anytime I see one now out of the corner of my eye, I find myself trying see the inner structure and imagine the weave, wonder who made it and where they go home to.

This was designed to be a log basket, but I was in need of a laundry basket and it makes a great one. I've a feeling this trusty basket might have many uses over the years : )

Yarn Along 





Thanking y'all for your lovely comments and encouragement last week, I am joining Ginny over at small things for this week's Yarn Along. 

As often, I'm far more interested in what I'm currently making than what I'm reading ; ) but a lovely friend lent me this book Simply Felt.  I really enjoyed reading the introduction as I picked up some new information on the physical make-up of sheep's wool and other snippets that are great to know, and be able to pass on to students. I was also interested to find a great idea for making your own silk-inlaid lampshade using the delicate texture of tussah silk, one of my favourite materials.You can control how much light you wish to show through so ideal for soft atmospheric light... something I always yearn to create more of in our home. 
My son's jumper is almost there. I seem to have developed a block about finishing this, not sure why! The knitting of it was really satisfying, and it went fast but the seaming, neck and armbands call for a bit more effort. Our guided knitting sessions have finished til the Autumn so these parts are uncharted territory for me as of yet. My aunt will come visiting soon from Oregon and she is a deft knitter, so I'm looking forward to asking her to show me a few things. Can't wait to see my smallie dashing about in this, and by the looks of our Irish summer so far, he'll not have to wait til Winter to break it in : )