Knitting

I am knitting, knitting, knitting, inspired by my drawings which have been inspired by the seeds and fruit I've been studying. Then I put the knitted samples in the washing machine along with all the black stuff that needs washing (in case the colour runs from some of my own-dyed yarns) to "felt" the samples. There is a proper word for this process, I think it's called "fulling".

Seed protection

I have moved on from the protection provided by trees, to the protection of seeds (although I did find out that the Poplar trees at Horsham St.Faith were planted for match-making (!) not for crop protection).

I have been to the John Innes Centre and was given some peas, and I bought loads of healthy fruit and veggies from the supermarket. I have been drawing and painting them, trying to sort my colour palette out for this project.

twentyten

So here we are a new year, a new project. I have to, amongst other criteria, create a sample to enter a competition or two. I'm looking at the concept of protection particularly within nature. I've been fascinated for a while by an area of land near Norwich airport where the land is divived up by parallel rows of Poplar trees - looks amazingly mysterious when it's misty. Went to take photos today and the sun shone, first time for weeks so didn't get exactly what I wanted but it's a start. Apparently the trees (hundreds of them) were planted many years ago for crop protection. I thought it might have been to form some kind of protection for the landing strips.

I have also been looking at hedges planted to protect the fields and how interesting they look when they re-grow after being trimmed.

Some images of my recent work

A couple of photos of my digital knit and a small weave that I made with an elastic warp and silver yarn weft.

Digital knit...

Completed my first digital knit - 2 hours from uploading my design (see image) to completed sample (must take a photo). I developed the design from a birds eye view of sunflower seeds in their seed-head. The design screen for the digital knitter shows every stitch and my design was hand drawn so I spent ages adjusting stitches so that it looked more 'regular'. The actual knitting took no time at all. I am pleased with it although it needs some developing and I want to try different yarns.

my first blog

So here I am, blogging. And already worrying about what to put.

My current project is inspired by the amazing sunflowers I grew in my garden this year. I have a million beautiful seeds and I have been constructing related textile pieces on the loom and the knitting machine.

This has involved dyeing yarns with plants that I have in my garden. I loved the mysterious process as recipes are not precise and results much more unpredictable than when you are using chemical dyes.