ConnieLene – KnitDesigner

If you are new to Intarsia you may have questions that I could answer which will help you with what you are creating now. Those questions may also give me additional ideas on what should be included in my Intarsia book.

I have started a topic “Intarsia Knitting”, on my Facebook business page under the tab Discussions requesting questions and queries on Intarsia knitting.

The book, which has no name as yet, will cover the skills of knitting using the Intarsia method from working with a basic graph to how I work in the free form way.

It will cover the technical aspects – geared to a learning Intarsia knitter and develop the skills in increments from graph, geometric to free form, over a range of projects. The project patterns will be included. So far projects include a small wall hanging, a sweater, and a jacket.

This is an important project for me – and it has been rummaging around in my head for a long time. Now is the time for me to make it happen. Please join me on the ride as we can all benefit from each others skills, interests, and especially queries.

The Carbon Footprint graphs.

The photos are not of the full graph – the graphs are of 2 complete feet. One left foot, and on the angle, one right foot. They each fit on an A4 page. There are no instructions included for knitting them, as there are many online sites and videos that can assist you with that.

This is the graph of the carbon footprints only. It can be used to knit the footprints, using the intarsia method, on an item such as a bag, afghan, wall hanging, or sweater, where ever you might like to include the footprints and make a statement.

I do give permission for the graph to be used to create and sell a finished knitted or handcrafted product. The carbon footprint graph itself however, may not be sold or distributed in any form including within a knit, crochet or other craft pattern. Please point anyone that is interested in the carbon footprint graph to this etsy shop – to purchase the graph themselves. I would appreciate that. There will be another graph which can be used for shadow knitting the carbon footprints as well.

All rights reserved ConnieLene © 2010

I am now on beret six – there is some minor madness when one keeps on playing with a piece. These have all been created using Vero yarn but in the different colours that I have here in the Netherlands.

I do miss my yarns that are still in New Zealand.

How can I miss yarn? I cannot even remember what was in my stash there – just that there were lots of yarns, in lots and lots of colours, from many different places in the world. But I do miss the variety in colour, yarn type, do not have sufficient variety here to create pieces as I was doing in New Zealand. I have purchased a lot of different yarns here in the Netherlands and some in Switzerland and in Denmark – I just do not have the quantity, colour range and yarn types here as I did have at home. It takes time to build up a new stash, doesn’t it?

What to do?

I don’t know.

So right now I am knitting berets.

Originally this was in response to a commission from a friend in Australia. But now I need to consider – do I continue with these? Do I complete the commission? Well yes that I must do, which means that beret 7 must be a funky, fuzzy, multicoloured piece. Then I must write up the pattern and then get back to that carbon footprint bag. Maybe I just put the two graphs out, one for the intarsia footprints and the other for carbon footprint using shadow knitting and leave you to decide – should it be on a bag, blanket, pram cover, cushion or on a sweater – should you happen to want a sweater with a foot print or two on it.

I guess that is what should be done.

The beret pattern – will include one in stocking stitch, and one felted from a stocking stitch knit. I won’t try to define the multicolour, multi fibre, intarsia one – that will be free form with little guidance.

I have had a really wild week.

It is has been freezing, snowing and my hands have really struggled with the activities we have carried out out in that cold wintery environment.

On Wednesday I was interviewed by Leandra and her team on Amsterdam English Breakfast Radio. That was a great experience, and the radio interview is also on video. (Radio with pictures – was a New Zealand TV programme many years ago).

We then tested a ball for size in a freezing Maastricht, and followed that with the ball dress rehearsal in Haarlem. Both of those freezing activities are on video. We are amateurs for sure, the commentary is bizarre – that is I didn’t realise it was recording the activity, let alone what we were saying. We will change it when we work out how. But in one wild wintery week I have been on video in three separate cities.

I do have to get away from these balls. My black formal ball warmer is progressing well – and I keep seeing ideas in my head for new ball pieces.

So I am not creating ball warmers anymore, that is until the next time

I am creating an intarsia piece with hairy “carbon footprint” design. This may well be my only ever graphed intarsia piece. I just don’t knit pictures.

I am a free form flowing kind of knitter, I just don’t like graphs. I know I can do it – but when I am surrounded by many yarns and many colours of yarns I really just want to play.

So I am going to work through the list below until I can play some more

1. Knit Carbon Footprint in intarsia

2. Complete Carbon Footprint – shadow knitting version

3. Knit 2 berets for a very dear friend – I have the yarns and I am playing with them – sorting, changing the colour order, thinking about what other colour or yarn type I could add.

4. Finish formal black ball warmer

then

colour

colour play

and then colour play some more

that is the plan

I am reorganising the galleries and I hope that if you like free form intarsia, and some more formal intarsia that you will enjoy viewing this gallery.

I am going to write an ebook on my favourite knitting subject – Intarsia. The Intarsia free form process is my passion – but the technicality of working in the round, using a graph, working out the colour scheme etc will all be covered. It will be Intarsia from go to whereever it could take me and of course you. I would hope that my passion for Intarsia knitting might also make a convert of you to this method of colourwork in your knitting.

Would such a book be of interest to you? If so please let me know by emailing me with “I wish to be informed on the progress of the ebook on Intarsia knitting” in the subject field.

Shadow Knitting is something I have often thought about working with but had never quite got to trying it out. I didn’t want to create pictures as such, but would like to see how I could explore its use as an art form.

I had the opportunity to put forward a proposal for an art piece to the International Textile Exhibition being held in the Netherlands in 2010. The theme is “Sporen” or “Tracks” – I have taken the view that what we will leave behind will be plastic, lots of plastic; or the current hotspot, The Carbon Footprint. They didn’t get excited about the piece I created but it was an interesting experiment with shadow knitting and I am going to continue working with it. I can see such creative and artistic opportunities.

On the way to my “Carbon Footprint” art piece I created several small wall hangings to fit into the 20″ by 20″ frame as required for the exhibition. The first was a knitted scene – which I then felted. I like it well enough, but not enough to put it forward. Yes I could have embellished it and I will probably do that sometime.

My next piece was to include plastic, as my view of the world is that we will all finally be buried under a mountain of plastic. I roughly cut various plastic bags into strips, nothing too tidy as plastic is not tidy. I also visited a very dim “rabbit warren” of a junk shop here in Haarlem and came out with many odd plastic things – stuff that had been created as advertising gimmicks – key rings, swizzle sticks, some toy bits etc which I was going to include in my knitted Everest. It is pure rubbish for which I paid an exorbitant amount of money. It was stuff that should never have been created and had been doomed to linger on the very dusty shelves of a large, dim, untidy, disorganised junk shop until the crazy knitter rolled in. Of course if I had used it – maybe I would have had to go back and find some more. My hands were rather blackish and grubby when I emerged and it was not that good for my lungs either. I did knit my 20″ by 20″ Everest – of plastic using the shadow knitting technique. I like it, but it didn’t quite demonstrate what I had hoped and time was running out – and by then my best beloved had suggested “The Carbon Footprint”. I think Everest is the beginnings of a much larger piece, 20″ by 20″ was too small for my Everest.

I purchased a digitally restored eBook which included the pattern for a crocheted bathmat with a chart to embroider a footprint on the crocheted bathmat. This pattern was originally published by The American Thread Company, Star Rug Book No. 93, in 1952.

I redesigned the chart for a knitted foot print after I had tried and failed with the chart as it was. The re-engineered footprint was then knitted in black mohair, with the background of a natural coloured varigated sock yarn and finished with a black crochet edge. It was not deemed suitable for the exhibition BUT it has set me off in a new direction and I had thought I would only ever create with many, many colours and fibres and that I would use the intarsia method of knitting till I slip this mortal coil. Not so – I am learning so many more knitting techniques here in the Netherlands.

I think of that and wonder why that could be and the only conclusion I can come to is that in New Zealand there are many things happening around me and I am easily led from my work.

Here there is only me, this little house, my yarn, my best beloved is at work, I shop for groceries, walk the canals, watch the birds, ride my bike (not alone you understand – we go out on the bikes together), out on the polders and to the North sea, visit museums and galleries – there is really nothing to interfere with the creative process – so I am more creative.

I don’t know.

Shadow knitting – a technique of knitting alternating rows of dark and light yarn to produce a subtle patterning that appears and disappears depending on the angle from which it is viewed. The shadow knitting queen is Vivian Hoxbro.

On our holiday in Denmark, in August, we were taken to the Old Town (Den Gamle By), by Anne and Michelle where I discovered (or rediscovered) the Danish shawl – and I have made 4 so far – just to see how they work. I have played with the shape and number of Yarn Over increases to see how I can modernise it as the original is wrapped around at the waist and tied at the front which is absolutely charming, but not too modern looking.

The Danish Shawl is not a true triangle – The long edge is curved, which makes it sit well over the shoulders.

The first one I started at the point and increased only on the sides – and of course, as I knew it would – it created a true triangle. I knitted it in gorgeous purples/blues in SandnesGarn (from Norway), yarns that I purchased in the north of Denmark. That was for Natasha

I then looked for a pattern and found the Osark shawl – and have been playing with that. My first attempt is not even worthy of a photo, the shape looked like a salmon steak – not the colour – but the resulting shape was too long and not wide enough. It will be unraveled at some time. But it gave me a starting point.

My next was okay, I have not added the 2 colour crochet edging as yet. I used a grey/fawn 100 % natural yarn with a variegated New Zealand yarn from Manukau Knitting Mills.

The latest shawl / scarf I have created had increases – by single Yarn Overs at the 2 side edges as well as up the middle and has been knitted with a variety of 4 ply yarns which has included sock yarn, Rowan kidsilk haze, Rowan 4 ply Botany and some other odd scraps. The bell ruffle edge I used is from a pattern by Jane Sowerby. I love the resulting shawl/scarf and will create fingerless gloves to go with it. (That means double pointed needles – very scary !!).

I have aready created the hat using the same yarns last winter.

It is amazing what knitting opportunities there are when you live in the Northern Climes as opposed to New Zealand.

A pattern will be created.

I have planned to knit a very large jacket for the WoolOn Fashion Parade in New Zealand. Of course I am doing something I have never deliberately done before – creating a felted jacket.

I am planning on using Naturally Vero 100% wool yarns from New Zealand to be felted along with long sections of various faux fur fibres.

To do this and be certain that the resulting knitting will felt to a wearable size and the faux fur yarns were not to overwhelm the piece I had to knit sample pieces of a reasonable size and then felt them. The usual swatch size is not sufficient to test such a process for a large garment. Prior to the felting I measured each piece and then measured again to see the percentage of shrinkage with the felting process.

I did knit 3 sample pieces which I subsequently felted to test the process. Some sections were knitted in garter stitch, some in Stocking stitch and some areas were ribbed and shaped. Each piece was measured and then inserted in a zip up bag and felted in the washing machine. I didn’t add any washing soap or detergent to the water. I did keep checking the pieces and did not allow the machine to go into a rinse or spin cycle.

I set the machine for the lowest water level and the highest temperature and then watched/checked the process a lot. The machine I used heats the water – so one piece I added while the machine was filling. Not a good option I ended up adding very hot water using the electric jug to heat it as the felting process just didn’t start to happen and I am impatient. The other two pieces I added to the machine when the water was very hot.

The pieces were each contained in a zip up pillowcase hoping that would also contain any excess fibre that would be not good for the machine pump and it did work well.

This was an essential step when creating the jacket – as it is nigh impossible to safely remove a huge piece of felted knitting heavy with hot hot water out of a machine safely. The huge Duvet cover/bag we used was essential to get the piece out of the machine.

When my sample pieces were dry I rechecked the measurements and from that I extrapolated the size requirement for my jacket and then the stitches needed to meet the size and hoped the end result would be a wearable jacket.

Intarsia knitting is where sections of color are knitted in different colours and yarns and the yarn is not carried across the back of the work as is done in Fair Isle knitting. The yarn ends are left to be picked up and knitted on return to that section of the knitting.

Intarsia is a woodworking term, where it refers to inlaying different colours or types of wood to create a design.

When knitting using the intarsia method yarn is wound onto bobbins, or long strands of yarn are used for each block of color. At the point where you are changing the colour in a row, one drops the colour in use and picks up the next colour from underneath the original yarn to reduce the risk of holes showing in completed piece. The main difficulty with intarsia knitting is that your yarns WILL tangle. According to many books and articles on intarsia knitting one should use bobbins to wind the lengths of individal colour and allow loose only the length that you are knitting with.

I have bobbins – but I do not use them and yes I do get into a tangle from to time, but this adds drama to the process. I knit on circular needles and whenever possible or practical (which is most of the time) I knit the body of a sweater, the fronts and back of a jacket or cardigan at one time – this means the intarsia sections travel around the piece in an interesting fashion. With careful management when using one colour of a manageable length, dropping it, picking up the next and maybe having 10 or more colours in a row and your yarns are hanging down as they should and you turn the work always one way and then back the reverse way they do not get so crossed over and messy. Well that is the theory anyway.

Because my intarsia is freeform, that is I work to an idea, not to a written or graphed design on a piece – if it is too tangled then I break the yarn and continue with a new colour, or if required I rejoin the yarn. My artist friends tell me that knitting this way is an art form – that is I paint with yarns. I am happy with that view.

The biggest issue with knitting this way is not the tangles BUT the ends. In early days I left the yarn ends to the end (foolish) and then sewed or wove the ends in when the garment was completed.

**** DO NOT DO THAT****

Take the time to knit / weave in the ends as you go – otherwise it can take as long to finish the piece as it did to create it. You do not need that.

When I knitted my cloak (The Great New Zealand Cloak), I left all the yarn ends to the very end. My darling daughter sat over nearly a whole day and night trimming the ends as I sewed them in. She vowed to never do it again with me – but she still helps if I get so excited at what I am creating that I do not judiciously finish as I go.

And then of course she does owns a large collection of unique intarsia knits.

There is no way to ever repeat exactly a piece using my method of knitting intarsia – so if you want to knit a unique piece – try the intarsia free form system – let your creativity rule, play with your colours, mix your yarn types – spread them out, select a garment type and go and play.