ConnieLene – KnitDesigner

What do you know about Mohair?
What do I know about Mohair?
What is the trend with Mohair?

A little about Mohair

Mohair is from the very silky hair of an Angora goat, and is one of the oldest textile fibres in the world. The Angora goat is native to Turkey and they are now farmed all around the world, including of course in New Zealand where I have lived most of my life.

The goats look cute and odd because they are covered in a coat of shaggy, slightly curly hair which is shorn to make make the mohair yarn.

It is an incredibly light yarn, with great insulating properties and is renowned for its softness, sheen and lustre, and takes up dye easily and it maintains its colour well over the life of the piece. The mohair yarn can be thick or thin or it can be spun with an uneven texture creating a chunky or slubby yarn.

It is also a smooth fibre, and a good shake will dislodge stuff from it. If it needs the odd wash, it should be hand washed with a wool wash or fabric softener followed by a clean water rinse, roll in towels to remove excess moisture, or spin dry maybe – I have never done that. Lie the garment flat to dry, in the shade. Do not tumble dry. Can be drycleaned – check your yarn label for information.

Do not hang your mohair garments to store them – make certain they are dry and store them flat.

So all in all the news is that it is a great fibre. Easy to create with, and easy to care for.

Capes and cloaks in mohair are in for 2010 – they are the big in the fashion trends worldwide. I make gorgeous capes and cloaks and they are sexy, gorgeous pieces an essential item to add to your wardrobe for 2010. Capes and Cloaks created in mohair are also light and easy to wear, and so so warm.

Vogue Knitting Tour Group pictures from the Colour Play exhibition.
Fiber artist and knit designer Connie Lene Johnston gave us a sneak peek of her “Colour Play” collection. The show would officially open in a few days, featuring her work as well as that of students from the Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design.

During the wine-and-cheese reception, Ms. Johnston described each garment’s evolution, texture, construction and how she used color in each one. We were invited to try on the clothes—not your typical art exhibit.

Vogue Knitting Tour Group pictures from the Colour Play exhibition thank you to Alice Pepper

at the Randolph St Gallery – Whitecliffe School of Fine Arts & Design. September 2007.

ConnieLene’s unique knit designs alongside the work of BFA Fashion design students from Whitecliffe.

The Vogue Knitting Tour of Australia and New Zealand 2007, hosted by Nicky Epstein and Carla Scott, Vogue Knitting Editor attended the special opening.

Now that set me up to be creating really wonderful and of course unique pieces. Until this challenge from the Compendium Gallery in Devonport, New Zealand came along, I had created many garments for family and friends, and some for exhibitions and for sale, and yes they were all unique, with many colours and yarns – but they were sweaters, cardigans, jackets, and vests – normal stuff.

I had always created my own patterns – by which I mean I worked out the number of stitches and the colours and any textural additions – I didn’t write down my patterns as I didn’t think anyone would be interested in them. I knitted in a free form way – so that any design on a garment was worked out as I went.

This competition/exhibition however, was a real departure for me, my first truely art piece.

For “The Great New Zealand Cloak” – I created an art piece in the form of a cloak, an absolutely wearable cloak. It sits well and floats from the shoulders. It is light and warm and envelopes one in luxury. When you are wearing it and walk along the shape of it moves in light waves and ripples like the shallows on the sea shore.

I used many colours and a great variety of yarns – silk, mohair, linen, artifical fibres, cotton etc. I had an idea of an island, with the sea, the sand, the lowland/farmlands, the hill country and the snow topped mountains. I didn’t draw a picture. I sorted yarns into the colour sections and knitted the entire piece from the bottom edge. I added a few crocheted embellishments to add texture and increase the tactile experience – they were to indicate trees and plants of the New Zealand bush. The cream linen tassels on the black stripes from the shoulders to the bottom edge – was to show that this was a New Zealand cloak, the original Maori people of New Zealand wore cloaks which were created by weaving the New Zealand flax and they were often embellished with tassels.

The maths for the shaping decreases, and yarn and needle thickness was worked out with a calculator and paper and pencil – my son Morgan and husband John worked it out for me. They were the maths wizards in our household, I just hoped that I was the knitting queen. I did try to find a pattern for a cape/cloak, but wasn’t able to – which is why we created it ourselves. It would have been easier to have had a pattern to create a design on.

I was working full time as Customer Support person in the library software industry. I got up in the morning and knitted till I went to work, came home and continued to knit, and eventually John would come and tell me I really should go to bed. I knitted in the weekends, and over one night just before completion date when I absolutely had to have it finished to be delivered to Pamela at the Compendium Gallery in Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand. The Compendium Gallery is now in the High Street in Central Auckland.

My family cooked, cleaned, washed clothes etc – I slept, dreamt, knitted, pictured this cloak and nothing else in that time.

It took me 6 weeks.