ConnieLene – KnitDesigner

The skirt on my needles is being knit in the round from the waistband. The increases and now the decreases are being managed using the hyperbolic plane method. I have used this for increases many times now, but this is the first time I have used the concept for my decreases. It will be very interesting to see it a little further on as I am unsure just how it will hang. I hope it doesn’t add a twist to the skirt. BUT I will have to continue and wait with you to see the result.

I am knitting with Touch Magic Merino for Socks which is from Alexandra and WoolOn is included in the Alexandra Blossom Festival. It is such a pity that I will not see this skirt on the stage there.

It is jumping the gun a little – I have to finish it first, and then the top, and then the capelet and the beret, maybe. It depends on time really.

I will endeavour to keep you posted.

There are various versions of this jacket and the pattern will be for the sleeveless option only. The first pattern will be in English only, and I will follow with a pattern in Danish, and maybe in Norwegian. Danish is quite possible, Norwegian is much more difficult. But the first edition of this pattern will be in English only.

The way the jacket is knitted takes advantage of the varigated yarns to create the look of free form intarsia. This makes this a garment which satisfies one of the winter trends for 2010/2011 because it looks like a patchwork of colour and Patchwork is in – or so they are saying. Me, I just like the colours.

Gallery on Facebook

All the jackets above are created from my original basic pattern for the sleeveless jacket – believe it or not.

Refined sophistication – buttoned up collars
Military / aviation
Lingerie as outerwear
leather clothing
the cut out / cutaway – with the cut out pieces worked directly on top of skin or ‘filled in’ with sheer fabrics, detailing can be subtle to sexy
Knee high socks or over the knee socks, or even thigh high socks
White tights
Women’s camel coat
Velvet clothing
Neo double breasted jackets
Sheer clothing /cut outs – mixed with fine laces, the sheer trend mixing elegance with sex appeal
Capes
Thigh high boots
Shoes with socks
Socks under heels
Fur boots & mukluks

I know fashion is fun, I absolutely love fashion, but I don’t wear fashion. How bizarre is that. I guess it is that fashion clothing like all clothing should be fit for purpose, and is not the purpose to keep warm in colder times?

I want wool, mohair, alpaca, knitting, crochet, weaving, colour, color, yarn, garn, woll, felt, filt, layers, and I want warmth, pleasure, comfort, and a little usefulness. I am going to create something for WoolOn that will be fit for purpose, created mainly of wool, and in many colours, and a style or shape or design which is edgy and out there. It must also be in Vogue – Somehow.

The competiton was held by the Compendium Gallery in Devonport, New Zealand in 1992,
The Brief – To Create the Great New Zealand Cloak, My Piece – “Island” When I planned the cloak – I did want to include reference to Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, who created wonderful cloaks mostly of a rectangular shape with a woven tie at the shoulders or neck. Their cloaks were woven, usually of a flax fibre. The best and most valuable Maori cloaks included bird feathers, the most striking for me being those created with kiwi feathers. Some were all over feathers attached to the base woven flax cloak. The flax is dyed in a specific mud to get the very dark almost black colour in the work. The flax was woven in intricate geometric designs using the dyed black with the creamy natural fibre and their stories are woven into the designs in the cloaks.

My cloak was created in one piece from the bottom edge to the shoulders. It is an island from the sea to the sky with mountains, sea shore, surf, farm land etc, as best as I could represent a land from the sea. I considered adding a component relating to my own Viking heritage of the sea – but had decided that will be the basis of another cloak in the future.

The black stripe down the sides from the shoulders have linen tassels is to provide that link back to New Zealand Maori whose cloaks were the natural flax creamy colour with black tassels. A feathered cloak would not have tassels. My reference is in reverse – creamy linen tassels on black yarn strip. I called my piece “Island”, because New Zealand is made up a group of islands.

I feel that 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 am still delighted when I wear the cloak and am always delighted when it is borrowed as it has been many times. This cloak has attended an opera, music festivals, celebratory dinners, and graduations. A perfect piece.

This the link to my earlier story of The Great New Zealand Cloak” competition / exhibition – http://www.connielene.com/the-great-new-zealand-cloak-exhibition

When I created this cloak I decided that I was possibly an artist who knits.

You see we are having house guests (son and family), they are arriving from Switzerland on Sunday. Should I be preparing our small Dutch house for the influx, or should I just knit – which is what I feel doing? I am knitting capelets, I have 2 more on the needles right now as well as that shadow knitting bag (still not completed) and the red socks that I owe son and Best Beloved – that old IOU, you remember it, don’t you?

I bought son some New Zealand merino socks whilst in New Zealand recently, as a salve for my conscience – such tardiness I am expressing with regard to the knitting of socks. I didn’t discover the new “Red Socks” campaign that was held in New Zealand on July 2nd (while I was there), until today when researching “Red Socks” yet again.

Darn, I could have bought son and Best Beloved Red Socks and not have to consider knitting those all elusive socks for them myself.

And then there is the cardigan for Angelica, the poncho/capelet for Elaine, pattern for gorgeous waistcoat, and a vest for….. Damm – I would much rather knit.

Today is a cool 21c which is a remarkable temperature to be working on knitting, designing and writing. Crosby Stills & Nash are singing loudly. All is good, I have had a great coffee. I have found the connector plug to attach to my iron’s plug so that it can work here in the Netherlands. The big problem is that it wants me to hold it to do the ironing. Will son and family care if the pillow cases are ironed or not? Probably not.

While in New Zealand, I posted to myself, here in the Netherlands some more of my yarn stash – I need to sort it, work out where to store (hide) it. Well maybe I don’t need to hide it anymore – Best Beloved knows how much yarn I have . Well I think he has a general idea that there is enough yarn to knit for the lifetime of a fanatic – trouble is I have the yarn, but am running out of lifetime, having reached nearly middle age as you can tell having just raced to 63 whilst in New Zealand.

Thing is – house guests for 2 weeks – I have to be able to knit while they are here, or I will forget how, maybe (they say you forget things as you age, so maybe I am forgetting things, I just can’t remember if that is so).

So I think I will sort yarns to knit the wedding gift that I have mentioned in earlier posts. Once the yarns are sorted, it will be a doddle to knit. I don’t have to write anything down for it, I just knit.

That could be a perfect solution, sort yarns today, and then prepare somewhat for the guests.

Too bad about the ironing

Take a punt – look at those yarns you have – Gather together the yarns that you have in the weight you wish to knit, mix fibre, mix colours – and play.

Choose the correct needle size for the average yarn weight.

Play with the yarn – sort it in rows to see how the colours work together, change the order, check that you love the colours together – follow your gut feeling.

Weigh the yarn. Divide your yarn into 2 piles, with 1/2 the weight of yarn in each pile, one pile for each half of the throw. It is important so that you can see how far the yarn goes as you are knitting and be alerted early to the fact you may need more yarn than you have to hand, early enough to add maybe add another colour on the first half if needbe.

This baby blanket was knitted using yarns left over from other baby projects. It was large enough to be folded over as a pram cover, and when used flat as the correct size for a cot blanket. Because it is knitted on the diagonal it looked great whichever way it was used.

Pattern: the throw is knitted from a corner to opposite corner.

Cast on 4 stitches
K3, YO, K1, turn
Slip 1, K2, YO, knit to end, turn

Slip 1, k2, YO, knit to end, turn – repeat this row until the side is the right width for your throw.

Slip 1 K2 YO Slip 1, k2tog PSSO, k to end, turn (decreases one side only)
Slip 1, K2 YO k to end

Continue with these 2 rows until the side still being increased is the correct length for your throw.

** At this point it is a good idea to weigh the knitting as it is halfway through, if you didn’t at the beginning that is. Check the weight of your remaining yarns and see if you need any additional yarns to complete the piece.

Slip 1 K2 YO Slip 1, k2 tog, PSSO, k to end, turn
Slip 1 K2 YO Slip 1, k2 tog, PSSO, k to end, turn

Continue with the decreases on every row until 4 stitches remain.

Cast off 4 stitches.

NOTE: note the decreases are on both edges – so that the knitting will converge at the point directly opposite the Cast on point.

It is not possible to give yarn quantities – as it depends on your yarn weight and the needle size you choose as well as the intended size of the finished baby blanket or throw.

I will set this up later as a formal pattern and provide it as a pdf – in the meantime – just give it a go.

This Multicolour Capelet is easy to knit – being all garter stitch. The shaping is created by knitting short rows.

It will be great worn over jeans and a Tee or Camisole, or over a party number. Warm and interesting with unique colour and fibre combinations. There will never be another exactly like the one you knit. It is a great pattern for creating a piece from your stash yarns.

Or you can knit the capelet in one colour only in a delicious sensuous yarn created to wear for that very special occaison or as a gift for a special person in your life.

Remember – Capes / Capelets / Shawls and Cloaks are in in 2010 – and when you knit this capelet using all your favourite colours and yarns – your creation will be unique.
This pattern is available on Etsy – click the link below.

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.