ConnieLene – KnitDesigner

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.