Knitting Information
The tweets go on!
by connie on Aug.19, 2010, under ConnieleneKnits blog, Design Process
Aug 17, 10:51pm
Will I dream the skirt stitch counts? k1 – 25, slip 1, k1, PSSO, k1-25, slip 1, k1, PSSO, k1, will it work like counting sheep? snore bizzzz
Aug 18, 10:42am
Skirt is still in progress – think about the lace, not sure yet if I will add it. Maybe the lack of time will influence the decision.
12:31pm
Brain dead in the knit dept today. Skirt is at crisis point – what to do?????? stop or go on ???
12:35pm
should I be tweeting, kweeting, kneeting, knieting, knitting? I think I should, I think I could, I think I will, I think I am KNITTING now!!
2:30pm
Skirt at 200 stitches, casting off, then I will check my brain & decide what next. Brain is a little strung out just now, need colour & drama!
7:40pm
Skirt is sitting on chair saying go on, do something, do something else, go on. So I did do something. I bought yarn at De Afstap in Amsterdam
10:19pm
Thinking of top part of this outfit. Is it really called that today? I don’t know. I am to create full deal – top to toe for the parade.
10.25pm
Top design loses, bed wins. Brain is shutting down. I was skyping NZ at 1.30am my time (NL) to talk with sister at 11.30am her time (NZ)
Aug 19, 9:19am
Pile of mags, internet, knit books, ideas file, friend Meredith in Adelaide, We have to design the perfect top to go with the perfect skirt.
From Connielene – NOT A TWEET: There will be no more pictures – as I do have to keep the lid on what I am creating. I will still tweet a little of course so there may be a further chapter in the story of Lake Hawea.
Tweets for the uninitiated – can be no more than 140 characters. If you take the trouble to count the tweet characters you will see that mine here are 140 or 141 or 142. What that means is that I have added a full stop, or a space when I added them to my blog – which I ignored when I tweeted to keep the piece within the 140 characters.
Fall/winter trends 2010/2011
by connie on Aug.02, 2010, under ConnieleneKnits blog, Design Process
I need to check properly for the coming winter trends as I have now committed to creating a piece for The Mirror WoolOn™ Creative Fashion Event at the Alexandra Blossom Festival in New Zealand.
Come and celebrate the arrival of spring in Alexandra, Central Otago, New Zealand – 24th September to 9th October 2010. I know here in Europe we are preparing for Autumn and Winter then, so why not participate in an event that celebrates the arrival of spring down under.
It is an historic Festival that has marked the arrrival of spring for over 50 years. The first festival was born out of community spirit and recognition of the special character of Alexandra, and these values remain at the heart of every subsequent festival.
There is still time to register for the fashion event that is “WoolOn” – the late entries close on 15th August 2010.
Back to the work at hand.
I really want to create an edgy out there piece, but I am not really sure what that means.
I have Touch Yarns – 4ply variegated – which I hope to incorporate – and I am thinking of something lacey, covered with something faux furry and a tight little skirt – maybe or something else – so some research is required and as I don’t really think my assessment of the Vogue Trends reports is going to help me very much; I am searching the web for the trends, and not just relying on Vogue for a view point – and I have found the following
These fashion trends suggest a poncho with long fringes and quilted patchwork fabric, over a maxi dress with a turtleneck, which is worn over wide pants which cover the thigh length boots. Finished with gloves and a military style vest with a high collar worn over the dress and under the poncho.
This does not sound like edgy out there fashion, it sounds like 60′s hippy regurgitated for this coming winter season. I am having trouble with my creation based on these trends, and there is no lace – darn; as I was hoping to show the world I can knit lace. At least my favourite knitting method – intarsia can be used to create the patchwork for the poncho.
And then there is the colour – In 2010, camel is the new black and is ready to invade the streets. It really doesn’t work for me – so it is back to the research.
Intarsia – colour & yarn
by connie on Jun.08, 2010, under ConnieleneKnits blog, Intarsia
Many many years ago – I attended my first Kaffe session on colour and knitting in New Zealand. I purchased a Kaffe videotape at that time, I do not have it with me here in the Netherlands & cannot recall the title – the subject was knitting with colour, as in many many colours, and viewing your world for ideas to create new knitted pieces using many colours and shapes.
When Kaffe came to New Zealand then I had already been knitting & crocheting using many colours in freeform intarsia since the early 1970′s. I found as everyone does great inspiration in listening to him then & I continued to knit with many colours and yarns even though I was informed by others that my knitting was not normal, nor was my passion for playing with colour. I do however feel quite quite normal.
I have searched the Kaffe Fassett listings in Youtube and cannot see my video tape there. But the concepts in this new video apply to knitting as well as quilting, mosaics and other art and textile art forms.
A new Challenge for the Knit Sisters (Sarah)
by connie on May.31, 2010, under ConnieleneKnits blog, Intarsia
I was wandering about the internet – which is remarkably easy to do – and I happened upon a blog I have not read before and there in was the challenge. Knit Sisters Blog – A year of knitting dangerously
Excerpt from the blog: and do follow the link above and read the rest. It is good reading.
Item 1 on the list is – Learn something new
…… However, there are a couple of techniques that I’d like to tackle this year: entrelac and twined knitting. These seem worthy goals. (Please do not unkindly point out that I have not included intarsia in this list; I feel that intarsia should not be asked of anyone.)
I will not be unkind regarding the exclusion of Intarsia.
I will however take umbrage at the vague suggestion that taking up intarsia as a challenge could be somehow “unworthy”
Now I really am in a state of distress, my heart is going crazy. How could any form of knitting be considered unworthy? If you had remained silent, I would never have know of your view with regard to Intarsia.
Below are some points for Intarsia knitting which I personally regard as an important item in the arsenal of any knitter – especially the freeform colour work.
And I do have to say it again – I really want everyone to play with intarsia.
I do have to confess, even though I have done so many times before – I do have other knitting skills to be learnt on my list as well, such as the knitting of socks – (still on my to do list for 2010, and they were there in 2009 as well, and I am sad to say I have 2 IOU’s for 2 pairs of hand knitted red socks, for Best Beloved and Son) – and if you take up the challenge to knit a piece of freeform intarsia, I will add Entrelac and twined knitting to my list for 2010.
So to Knit Sister – Sarah
Take up the challenge – Knit dangerously with Intarsia please
working with colour by taking advantage of the yarn
by connie on May.09, 2010, under ConnieleneKnits blog, Design Process
I Love Colour
I Love Colour Work
I love Intarsia
I love playing with colour in my creations
So you are not sure about how to proceed with adding colour to your work?
Cheat a little
Don’t knit a picture in intarisa
Don’t knit with a design in mind
Do knit with a colour theme
Do knit with an abstract free form kind of freedom
go with the flow of the yarns you have to hand and this is especially easy if you have variegated, self striping or oddments of various thickness, colour or texture in your yarn stash. This is stash busting 101.
You can add colour to your knitting with the help of those yarns – whatever they are – be they variegated, self-striping, or two or more different colours of yarn knitted together. Let the yarns do the work and take away some of the guesswork and planning to add the colour to your knitting. Simple intarsia or stripes with these yarns adds excitement and drama to whatever you are creating. Whatever you create this way cannot be repeated ever. You will create a unique piece. 
Self-Striping Yarn:
Creating with a self-striping yarn is an easy way to add colour and drama to your knitting as the yarn changes colours for you. These are great for knitters who want to add colour to their work, but are not yet confident about choosing and knitting with many yarns as in intarsia, or on deciding on a colour range.
When I am creating with self striping or variegated yarns I often use a solid for my bands. But I may change to a range of solids – one colour each for the two wristbands and the bottom edge as well as another colour for the neck edge. Or I will use black or brown for every band or edge but I will cast on with the coloured yarn. Either way it produce a unique piece and the effect is wonderful.
The garment or piece created with a self striping yarn will most likely have colour changes that line up more or less in stripes along the piece. The stripes will be deeper on a narrower section of knitting such as the sleeves and thinner on the body or wider section of the knitting.
But you can still play – You could choose two or more self striping yarns or one complimentary solid along with the one or more complimentary self striping yarns and create a unique piece by doing free form intarsia with only two or three yarns.
Self-striping yarn can be used with any stitch, but depending on your design wish, the stripes can display more clearly with a Stocking Stitch (Stockinette Stitch), or reverse Stocking Stitch project. But this is colour work – and any stitch or pattern that that you like and enjoy is perfect. There are simply no rules in this. Just Play.
Working with Multiple Strands:
Knitting with two or more strands of yarn together is another way to add colour, drama, magic, individuality, uniqueness and texture to a project.
There may be some technical management issues for you when knitting two or more strands together – that is the yarn will tend to twist and tangle – NOTE that it does not adversely affect the finished knitting and there are ways to reduce the problem should it drive you crazy.
You can wind the yarns together in a ball, or feed the individual yarns from a separate ziploc bag. Or you could go with the flow of the knitting – you are playing with colour after all, and you are creating a unique piece – SO be brave – Break the yarn, add another colour and continue knitting. Wind the tangled yarn back to the ball it came from and add it to the knitting again later.
Variegated or Multi coloured yarn:
I love variegated yarns – and I love the surprises one gets as the knitting progresses.
Variegated or Multi coloured yarn can create colour pooling which may be an issue depending on your view of it. You could also call it a design feature and just take advantage of it.
Colour pooling is a bit unpredictable. Manage it by changing the yarn when you can see that you are developing a pool – for example: The colour red has a couple of sections/rows together – so break the yarn when you are back at the red section. Reattach at the red point on the yarn to be knitted so that the Red pool becomes bigger – and a design feature. You will have a short section of yarn of other colours – keep it and you will find somewhere else to add this into your knitting. Weave in the yarn ends as you go.
Add Swiss darning over your knitted stitches, when you have completed the piece – to alter the way the colour looks either by making the pool of colour larger or by adding another colour to distract from the pool if you do not like the effect.
Include slip stitches to break up a block of colour – the slipped stitch colour then shows in the next row – breaking the colour section of the new row.
Free form design on Beret
Add a Stripe where you do not want the colour to pool, or insert a two row stripe of another colour every 4 or 6 rows of the varigated yarn knitting.
You can also work from the centre and the outside of the same yarn ball to knit two rows with from the inside and two from the outside.
or do what I do – call it a design feature whatever happens.
It is your project, do what feels right for you.
Trust your own instincts
and Play with Colour
Blockety Block – It is not easy finding news or information
by connie on May.06, 2010, under ConnieleneKnits blog, Intarsia, Intarsia Book, Not Knitting
Just now it is not easy to find something to tell you about.
Maybe this is called Writer’s Block
Maybe it is called Designer’s Block
Maybe it is called Knitter’s Block
Maybe it is Ball Withdrawal Block
Maybe it is just called Blockety Block
Whatever it should be called in my case – I do believe I have a big case of whatever it is just now.
I am knitting – slowly.
I am thinking about new designs all the time – but slowly.
I am quietly frustrated trying to slowly complete those creations that I told you I was knitting.
So yet another to do list
- mohair shell sample
- 100% wool shell sample
- finish and photograph the carbon footprint bag
- publish the carbon footprint shadow knitting graph
- complete and publish the pattern for the sleeveless jacket in English
- translate the pattern for the sleeveless jacket into Danish
- maybe translate the pattern for the sleeveless jacket into Norwegian maybe
- finish black ball cover
- decide where and when to install black and white ball covers
- Intarsia E-book or print book planning
- I may be thinking about knit kits (thank you Constance for bringing that up)
- I may also be thinking about cloaks again (thank you Constance for bringing that up as well)
- I may be thinking about the Alexandra Blossom Festival committee invitation to participate in the WoolOn Creative Fashion Event of the 2010
- I may be thinking about the Fibre and Fleece Exhibition
- I am NOT thinking about creating for either event while I am in New Zealand
- I may be thinking about “King of the Mountain” run/walk in NZ on the first Sunday in July
And I am planning a trip to New Zealand to see our very special small person (grandson), our daughter, my courageous Mother In law, and family and friends – and that seems more important than everything and anything else just now.
Maybe that is the cause of the blockety block.
Because this a state of Blockety block – or is that Blankety Blank – if I have forgotten anything then please please remind me, thanks.
And in case it occurred to you, the Constance mentioned above is not me, myself and I. My name is really Connie Lene and not not Constance.
Oh, and did you pick up that my Norwegian is not as good as my Danish, which is certainly not as good as my English.
I have added my Shell pattern to uniqueboutiqueknits on Etsy
by connie on May.03, 2010, under ConnieleneKnits blog, Patterns available on Etsy, Technical Information
This is a sweet and easy shell to create in one colour or as I have done in many colours and yarns. It is knitted in the round to the armholes, and is a great starter piece for someone wishing to experiement with colours and yarns. It is also a great stash buster.
If you are not sure about a rolled edge at the bottom I do include instructions for a ribbed edge as an option. I am a firm believer in options when spending your hard earned monies on patterns.
The shell in the photograph was created for the “Colour Play” exhibition held in Auckland New Zealand in 2007
Click through to the Etsy pattern listing here. The pattern will be provided via email as a PDF once the US$5.00 payment is received through Paypal. I will include with the pattern general information about knitting in the round, using many colours and yarns in simple stripes and/or simple intarsia, plus the option for knitting with a ribbed band if you prefer.
art as well as patterns
by connie on Apr.16, 2010, under ConnieleneKnits blog, Intarsia, Patterns available on Etsy, Technical Information
I keep looking at “The Great New Zealand” cloak because it reminds me there can be art as well as patterns in my life. The Great New Zealand Cloak
And then there are new beret patterns, with technical information about knitting in the round and simple intarsia. There are 3 patterns, all knit in the round, one colour, stripes, and striped with simple intarsia.
Etsy Shop Link if you would like to check it out Etsy Shop pattern link if you like the patterns. The set includes 3 beret pattern options, all knitted in the round. Plain, striped, and simple intarsia with stripes and a variety of yarns. The intarsia one will create a unique beret. I have also included simple basic intarsia knitting instructions.
Enjoy
I have been tardy
by connie on Apr.07, 2010, under ConnieleneKnits blog, Design Process, Intarsia Book
I feel like I am buried under balls of many types – polystyrene for textile art knit applications in the public arena as well as hundreds of balls of yarn for patterns and ideas – and I come up for air and hope the ball in my hand is suitable for the idea running around in my head.
I have purchased 2 large polystyrene balls – one about 160 cm round and the other about 124cm. These nearly match two out in the big wide world. It means I do not have to go out and test the knitting against the balls.
The problem is, or it may not a problem and just something new to consider. I want to create textile art pieces for these balls for permanent exhibition.
How do you keep a ball standing still?
How will a knitted textile stand up to being on a spherical object long term?
Does anyone do it already – so that I can find out the answer to the permanancy question?
I think small round weights of some kind will hold it steady, or perhaps the ball could be set into a round saucer shape inside a square plinth or stand, or something. That part can be worked out quite well.
But the spherical textile – what will happen there – I do not know. So only time will tell, or maybe someone will help me with that information. I do hope so.
The trouble is that these balls keep on coming into my head space – and I am working on my patterns, and I do need to do to that to help pay for future yarns, and I am just a bit discombobulated.
I am also working out which patterns to include in my Intarsia book – so I become even more discombobulated – if that is possible.
Beret Pattern will be on Etsy on Wednesday
by connie on Mar.25, 2010, under ConnieleneKnits blog, Intarsia
My new beret pattern will include a simple beret – knitted in the round with double knitting (8ply, worsted yarn). There will also be a striped version. I am also including information on simple intarsia colour work to encourage also knitting the beret in a free form way.
It will be available Wednesday next on etsy at Unique Boutique Knits
Free form design on Beret
Unique Boutique Knits now contains the 12 ply “Naturally Vero” beret pattern, my “Carbon Footprints” intarsia design graph and various capelets, cowls and hats.
If you are considering the 12 ply beret in Naturally Vero – a search on google will bring up various online shops with this yarn available in the USA and Canada.
TIP
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Do remember that most patterns state you should use the yarn recommended for the pattern to knit up correctly. Not so – select a yarn that knits to the same tension and one that works for the type of garment being knitted.
Do come back to check out the new beret pattern on Wednesday.
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