ConnieLene – KnitDesigner

Berets not including the felted one – because I have not felted it as yet.

Also Berets not including my funky fuzzy, multicoloured one – I haven’t knitted it as yet. Sorry Jeanette – at least it is still summer time where you are in Australia. And this morning we got up to another surprisingly white day – a reasonable sprinkling of snow. It is disappearing fast as the day warms up.

Cool Berets, Gorgeous Colours

There will be a pattern for these Berets using Vero, or another 12ply yarn.

And for you knitters out there – the front beret has been blocked, the back two had not been blocked when the photograph was taken. They are drying now.

Read all about it the tree is no longer wearing a fashion scarf

I hope someone takes the scarf and enjoys it as we left it hanging over the tree supports.

It has been fun, we have had a ball – and we are hoping for a return of the great balls of Haarlem, so that the fun can continue. We will keep you posted.

Back to berets, graphs, carbon footprints, bags, jackets, intarsia, e-book and so on. This interlude has been great fun, and we have together had a great deal of fun with it.

I just hope the world of fibre textiles – cottons onto creative textile art installations on spherical objects.

Best Beloved is in Maastricht today armed with my tape measure to enable him to measure a Maastricht ball or maybe two. We had left the tape measure in Haarlem when we tested our white ball warmer a couple of weeks ago. Of course on the day we were there, Best Beloved to work, and me to check out the balls of Maastricht, it was sooo cold, my hands could not have measured a ball accurately at all.

I was excited and maybe just a little horrified as I walked along the road to our rendevous point that bitterly cold day – there were many balls in Maastricht and they were obviously in several sizes. I counted at least 48.

Could there be 48 or so textile and fibre enthusiasts in and around Maastricht who would take up the challenge to create a ball cover for an amazingly different fibre festival event, should we be able organise it. I do hope so.

The measurement of the first ball was phoned in from Maastricht before lunch, and it is only 124cm, at least 36cm smaller than the Haarlem Ball (which was 150 plus my handspan). Less knitting, felting, patchwork, embroidery, crocheting, weaving, basket weaving, textile and fibre work for these balls – so maybe there will be interest from others, just maybe.

Oh no – Measurement been phoned in from Maastricht just before Best Beloved’s 2pm meeting, and the second ball measured across the road from the first, is 142cm and trust me, Best Beloved is not dyslexic.

What is it with these ball creators?

Now we have balls in three sizes and I know there are further balls even smaller in Maastricht. Best Beloved may not be able to measure those on this trip. Generally when work is over it is a race to the next train. The train trip home is 2.5 hours, and I cannot expect more measuring when the journey is so long already. Stopping to measure may mean an additional 1/2 hour between work in Maastricht and home in Haarlem. It wouldn’t be reasonable to expect it. Would it?

But HOW to create a Knitted piece to cover a Haarlem Ball – or other spherical object – that is the question?

You need to know the size of your sphere – ball. My first one was 150cm plus a handspan (my handspan).

I began with 8 stitches, increased to 320 stitches by increasing 8 times on every 4th round (more or less). I knitted this on a circular needle and circularly – entirely appropriate for a circular object.

I used 8 ply or double knit yarn on 4mm needles. The length from the top point to 320 stitches should be around 80cm. I have knitted the last of the top section of about 10 cm in k1p1 rib to help the cover to cling well. It is not a good look to have a baggy saggy ball warmer. There is a bit of give and take – because I didn’t knit this first half with only 8 ply (DK) yarns – I included mohair and faux fur fibres and some cotton yarns. So I needed to measure the piece for length as I knitted and adjust the increases and I will have to do the same when I do the decreases. SO this is not a formal pattern – this is a “suck it and see” piece of knitting.

Decreasing will be the increasing process in reverse – except that I will end up with around 32 stitches because the bottom half doesn’t present the full sphere to you as it is set in concrete. This half will still be created on a circular needle, but is not longer knitted circularly otherwise it will not fit over the ball. So back and forth from the centre down (more or less). I will knit the bottom half in garter stitch to assist it to join more easily – it is awkward to join the ball warmer together as I found with the first Haarlem Ball Warmer. I think I will use velcroe on this one – so that it can be joined more easily and removed more easily. It could then live another day as something else maybe.

There are lots of balls to alter however temporarily here in Haarlem, and also in Maastricht, so maybe they are everywhere in the Netherlands and I have received reports of very large balls in California.

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

So from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I see that

A sphere (from Greek σφαῖρα—sphaira, “globe, ball”) is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Like a circle in three dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance from the center point. This distance is known as the radius of the sphere. The maximum straight distance through the sphere is known as the diameter of the sphere. It passes through the center and is thus twice the radius.

In higher mathematics, a careful distinction is made between the sphere (a two-dimensional spherical surface embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space) and the ball (the three-dimensional shape consisting of a sphere and its interior). See the Wikipedia article here

So there we have it

But HOW to knit this spherical object – that is the question?

You need to know the size of your sphere – ball. Mine is 150cm plus a handspan (my handspan).

I began with 8 stitches, increased to 320 stitches by increasing 8 times on every 4th round (more or less). I knitted this on a circular needle and circularly – entirely appropriate for a circular object.

I am using 8 ply or double knit yarn on 4mm needles. The length from the top point to 320 stitches should be around 80cm. I have knitted the last of the top section of about 10 cm in k1p1 rib to help the cover to cling well. It is not a good look to have a baggy saggy ball warmer. There is a bit of give and take – because I didn’t knit this first half with only 8 ply (DK) yarns – I included mohair and faux fur fibres and some cotton yarns. So I needed to measure the piece for length as I knitted and adjust the increases and I will have to do the same when I do the decreases. SO this is not a formal pattern – this is a “suck it and see” piece of knitting.

Decreasing will be the increasing process in reverse – except that I will end up with around 32 stitches because the bottom half doesn’t present the full sphere to you as it is set in concrete. This half will still be created on a circular needle, but is not longer knitted circularly otherwise it will not fit over the ball. So back and forth from the centre down (more or less). I will knit the bottom half in garter stitch to assist it to join more easily – it is awkward to join the ball warmer together as I found with the first Haarlem Ball Warmer. I think I will use velcroe on this one – so that it can be joined more easily and removed more easily. It could then live another day as something else maybe.

There are lots of balls to alter very temporarily here in Haarlem, and also in Maastricht, so maybe they are everywhere in the Netherlands.

What about a countrywide exhibition of altered environments – “The Town Spheres” exhibition. Calling all knitters, crocheters, textile artists, patchworkers, basket weavers, embroiderers, felters and all others I have not mentioned as yet – to take up their needles and threads, yarns, and looms, and just do this.

Thank you to Sara of HotHive Textiles for the Article published on the HotHive Textile Directory on 28/01/2010.

See Hothive Textiles for interesting textile information and opportunities.

Options : With many yarns and colours of course

One beret created with faux fur fibres in gorgeous shades (to be decided on), with a plain wool knitted band. “A Crazy Soft Character top – and simple band”

The other should be a felted one in the wonderful turquoise, deep blue, purple delicious colour range with fancy bits included to make a dramatic statement. I don’t have a pattern for either – but will work from the two I have already created.

Remember many yarns and many colours

My brain (or is it my eyes), is seeing balls everywhere – so I have to concentrate on something sensible like my carbon footprint bag pattern and your two berets and I am glad that you like them both – and that you will go for colour explosions in both with the felted one in a variety of yarns in those rich purples, turquoises and blues.

This is a delightful way to design and then create a unique shawl as a gift or for yourself using only yarns from your stash. Sort through your yarns and find a group of colours that work together, by tone, or colour group, or contrast – whatever excites your eye when you lay them out together. The yarns should knit up at the same approximate gauge.

Select the needle required for the common weight of yarn. For example – Mainly 8 ply or double knit yarns – use a 4 or 4.5 mm needle.
It is generally not a good idea to use fine lace weight yarn unless you choose to use 2 or 3 strands knitted together to approximate the required weight and for the same reason don’t use bulky yarn if you are knitting mostly in double knit or 8 ply yarns. Having said that some yarns completely out of line with the whole can look very interesting and will not put your shawl out of shape as long as you are judicious about the amount you use and where you choose to include it. And I do do it all the time.

Take your yarns and lay them on the table in order of the quantity that you have – maybe 5 balls colour 1, 3 balls colour 2, 1 ball each of colour 3, 4, and 5, and oddments. Never never discard oddments.

Create a sequence for your yarn amounts like I have done for my listed yarn amounts – Col.1, Col.2, Col.3, oddments; Col.1, Col.2, Col.3, Col.4, oddments; Col.1, Col.2, Col.3, Col.4, Col.5, oddments and back to Col.1 and so on.

For my example I would knit 4 rows of Col.1 and 2 rows of Col.2, 1 row of Col.3, 4, & 5 and knit a row of any group of oddments. If you have lots of oddments – Knit 2 rows each time

Cast On 4 Stitches. Slip 1, K 1, YO k to end – on every row. Continue till it is the right size for you. The Cast off row can be a row of oddments or any of the colours still available at the end. There is more finishing if you use a group of yarns to Cast Off but then you are creating a unique piece.

Add a fringe if you wish.

You do not need as many skeins of each yarn as I have suggested – you can have all part skeins, or oddments, variegated yarns, faux fur – absolutely any yarns as long as they knit at about the same gauge. If you have 25 small amounts of yarn and several skeins of black or dark blue or purple or whatever – You can frame sections of many colours with the solid colour that you have a reasonable amount of. In this type of colour design work – what matters most is that the colours together please your eye. It is important to trust your instinct or response when looking at the colours together.

Go for it, knock ‘em dead with your design skills. It is fun.

I have been trying to add pattern information and links on Ravelry – and have decided that it is in the too hard basket. Fortunately the pattern link I was trying to add is neither of those I have promised to add.

The pattern was to be my Vertical Asia Crossover Jacket – which I was going to make available free. Should it ever be there I will be very glad.

This is a pattern which can be used to reduce some of that stash. In my example I used 6 different colours, mainly mohair but all yarns that knitted up at 12 st / 19 rows for 10cm. If you want this pattern please contact me using form below and I will send you the PDF.

In the meantime my Carbon Footprint bag and Kiwi Cape Patterns will have to wait until I get my brain in order so I can unravel the process on Ravelry to make them available to you. I am sure it can be done as many have before me, but today the braincells are struggling. It must be all the snow we have had here in Haarlem. I am too cold and the brain doesn’t work.

So it is back to the knitting and I will update on progress as there is any.

Please email me using the contact form stating in the subject field that you would like a copy of the pdf file of my Vertical Asia Crossover Jacket pattern.