Colours of Lewis: Knitted Rug

Hebrides Rug

Way back in May 2016 we went on holiday to Lewis and Harris. I love the Hebrides, the colours, the landscape, how friendly the people are and of course the textiles. I couldn't visit such an important centre of textile production without coming away with a couple of small mementos. One of these not so small mementos was a huge ball of wool made from waste threads from the production of Harris Tweed, which I got in the amazing Lewis Loom Centre.

Lewis yarn

Starting off

Moss stitch border

When I bought it I wasn't sure what I'd use it for but the colours sang to me and I knew I'd find a good use for it! The colours in the yarn are so beautiful that I didn't want to knit anything too fancy but rather I wanted something that would show them off. As both myself, Mr. Stitches and our cat are quite messy and we have a cream carpet (poor choice) I decided a small rug might be a good idea as the wool itself is quite rough so will hopefully be hard wearing. Now every time I look at the floor I'll be reminded of our lovely holidays instead of the fact that I need to vacuum!

Mega balls of yarn at Lewis Loom Centre

Inside Lewis Loom Centre

Harris coastline

If you'd like to have a go at making something similar I'm including the pattern on this post for you. It's very simple, a plain stocking stitch centre with a moss stitch border knitted on fairly chunky needles to showcase the colours of the yarn. The yarn I used is made up of 8 fine yarns spun together to make a chunky weight yarn. As exact size isn't crucial you could substitute any hard wearing chunky yarn for this project. It would also be able to make the rug bigger or smaller by adding or subtracting stitches. My rug measures around 70 cm x 50 cm and was knitted on 9 mm needles.

Detail

Detail

Pattern

Cast on 70 sts

Rows 1,3,5,7,9: K1, P1, rep. to end

Rows 2,4,6,8,10: P1, K1, rep. to end

Row 11: K1, P1 5 times, K to last 10 sts, K1,P1 5 times

Row 12: P1, K1 5 times, P to last 10 sts P1, K1 5 times

Repeat rows 11 and 12 until you have 40 rows (or there about) of stocking stitch, ending with a row 12

Repeat rows 1-10

Cast off

Enjoy!

Detail

Bits and Pieces

In Circles, 2015. Currently on show at Upfront

We have made it through the first month of the year! Wind, snow and gale force winds have made it an interesting start but each day takes us closer to spring. I've had a good start to the new year with several new projects starting off, a piece of my work on show in the Upfront Gallery Open exhibition and a large textile piece finished. I've also been to two workshops and have been busy making, drawing and creating. I thought I'd do a little round up of some of the bits and pieces I've been up to...

My new spinning wheel!

Spinning (with helper)

Getting used to a different system

Having developed a new interest/obsession over the Christmas holidays I have spent the past few weeks trawling the interweb and ebay for a second hand spinning wheel. Having been outbid on several wheels I did eventually get one and it arrived this week. It's quite different to the wheel I learnt on as it is a double drive but I'm having fun figuring out how it all works. The spinning wheel was made by Haldane (who now make staircases, apparently) and is a lovely dark wood. I'm trying hard to get all my prep and planning work done quickly so I can get back to spinning!

My hand-spun, hand knitted cushion (front)

My hand-spun, hand knitted cushion (back)

My hand-spun, hand knitted cushion (detail)

I have also knitted up my first lot of hand-spun yarn. I've made a big cushion cover using plain old stocking stitch to show off the character of the yarn. I used all six skeins that I'd spun and it was interesting as I knitted them in order so that I could see the progression of my spinning. The first skein was very irregular with lots of odd lumps and bumps but by the time I reached the last skein it was much more even. It's lovely and squishy and it is very satisfying knowing that it's something I've not only knitted but have created the yarn for.

Daily Drawing

Daily Drawing

Daily Drawing

Most years one of my resolutions is to draw more and to keep up my daily drawing practice. I'm feeling quite pleased that, so far, I have actually managed to do that this year. I've been trying to spend a little bit of time in the studio each day. Even if it is only five or ten minutes I feel like it's a good habit to get into. I've also managed to finish a big textile piece that I'd been ignoring for some time, I'm now quite pleased with it and it's good to have it off my 'I really should work on that' list.

Circle scarf

Circle Scarf

Another of my resolutions is to use up some of my fabric stash before buying more. I'm doing less well with this as I went to a local fabric shop and ended up buying more fabric because they had such lovely prints. On the plus side I did then use this fabric plus some from my stash to make a couple of big circle scarves. They're made from fat quarters and are a nice way of mixing and matching prints. Plus, you can never have too many scarves...

Silk Painting

Silk Painting

Silk Painting

I've also had a go at weaving a hare from willow and silk painting (not at the same time.) But, I think that's enough for one post so I'm off to play with my spinning wheel...

Knit fast, Die Warm

My completed jumper

I began this jumper in January last year (2013) and have finally finished it. I don't have a great track record with finishing jumpers in a timely fashion, I get distracted and do other things and so although this project has taken over a year and a half for the vast majority of that time it's been sat in my knitting bag doing nothing. I realise it is therefore somewhat contradictory to have 'knit fast' knitted on it but it amuses me, and it is very warm. Also, one cardigan took me seven years to complete so actually this was pretty speedy in comparison! Knitting is my therapy, I do it to relax and for enjoyment so I don't really mind how long something takes.

Knitted hot water bottle cover

Getting started

A few years ago I designed and made a hot water bottle cover with a very similar design on the front. I thought at the time it would make a good jumper but knowing the chances of me making it any time soon were slim it stayed as an idea for quite a while. Eventually, many projects later, I decided the time was nigh and I started to look for basic patterns that I could just add my chart to. I was going to design a pattern myself but decided that this would increase the length of time it would take me to complete the jumper by too much, I actually quite wanted to wear it.

Chart knitted, now all the black...

After a bit of interwebbing I found a free pattern on the Lion Brand website that I thought would work. It is knitted all in one piece and is nice and slouchy, which is what I was after. I'd never knitted a jumper that was all one piece before and I don't think I would again. Because the sleeves aren't set in (the jumper is a classic 'T' shape) it is a bit bulky under the arms but this is a minor niggle and I think I will get used to it. I also found that the sleeves were very short (or I maybe just have monkey arms) so I ended up extending the cuffs by about 30 rows. I used Fashion Aran by King Cole, a wool/acrylic mix. It feels very nice, hopefully it will wash well too. I also re-charted my design as the needles were a bit wrong on my first attempt for the hot water bottle cover. I used knitters graph paper and drew out my design in pencil, altering it until I was happy.

The jumper on

Monkey arms

One 'slight' mistake I made was starting the chart too soon, so there is quite a big gap between the neck edge and the design due to a slight mathematical miscalculation and being over cautious ( I didn't want to run out of space for the chart.) However, I have decided to embrace this space as my necklace space, and I shall just wear a pendant necklace kind of thing when I wear this jumper. I should also have worked backwards and done the back first because then I would have got my chart in the right place and had something to look forward to; because I did the chart first I then just had acres of boring black stocking stitch!

Cuff detail

Side detail

Overall I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out, I wanted a cosy casual jumper with a funky design and that's what I've ended up with.

Design detail

Drawing

Knitting, mixed media drawing

As I wrote in my last post it's been so good the past few weeks to have a bit of time to work on my own practice and enjoy playing around in my studio. I've been doing a lot of drawing and as well as enjoying the drawing in itself it has been giving me lots of ideas. My brain is ticking over with lots of ideas for work I want to make and things I want to try.

Work in progress

Paper and bamboo fan with pen drawing

Paper and bamboo fan with pen drawing (other side)

Paper and bamboo fan with pen drawing (detail)

I found these 'decorate your own fans' in The Works last week and thought they might be interesting to experiment with. I started by taking the paper off one of them to make a template so that I could replace the white paper with other materials. Having made a template with the paper I then started drawing on it and quite liked what I'd done so I put it back on the fan staves (not as easy as it sounds!)

Graphite and pencil on tracing paper and knitted sample

I've been doing some drawing on tracing paper as I like the translucency and it relates well to the textile work that I do. I did try making a tracing paper fan but it looked a bit rubbish so I started experimenting with arranging the drawings I'd done with samples and I think this works a lot better. Having the time to play and explore these ideas is really great and I find that the more I do the more I keep thinking of different ways to develop the work.

Drawing made into a vessel

Different views of the vessel

I'm running another Vessel making workshop soon and with this in mind I've been playing around with turning some of my drawings into vessels. This is something I've been wanting to try for a while so it was good to try it out. The drawing I chose to work with was of hands knitting and having made it into a vessel I decided it didn't work so I flattened it out again. However, I do think it will work with other drawings so I'm going to carry on experimenting!

Back to a 2D piece

Back to a 2D piece

Back to a 2D piece

I've got a couple of busy weeks work-wise coming up and I'm really looking forward to it; having had chance to spend some time focusing on my own practice I'm feeling all inspired and creative and looking forward to sharing that with other people. I started a series of felt making workshops today with the No Borders art group (who I have worked with several times before) and they came up with some really interesting ideas they want to explore, including felting a portrait of Lady Gaga.

Open Up North

Hands, continuous line drawing

One of my aims this year is to make more time for my own artwork. As much as I love the work I do with other people it is sometimes frustrating as it can seem like I spend all my time helping other people use their creativity and express themselves but never get a chance to do so myself. One of the ways I've been trying to get to make more of my own work is by finding exhibitions and competitions to enter. Sometimes, having an end goal really helps as it makes it easier to justify taking the time out to make the art. So, with this in mind I entered two pieces into the Open Up North exhibition. I entered the first Open Up North show in 2011 and my piece got through the first round of selection but didn't make it into the final show.

This year I am very excited and pleased that one of my pieces has been selected for the show. The piece selected is one of my life drawings. I've liked this drawing since I did it, it was one of those very rare drawings that somehow just worked, I was really pleased when it made it through the first round of selections and to get into the exhibition is great. The drawing is a continuous line drawing of the models hands and I really like the composition and shaping of the drawing. The exhibition is on at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal from 31st May to 27th July.

The embroidery in the window

Detail

Detail

As well as the drawing of the hands I entered an embroidered drawing of hands knitting, which didn't make it through to the second round. As it turns out I'm really quite pleased it didn't get selected as I wasn't at all happy with how I'd mounted the work. The embroidery is in white on a white organza base and works really well (I think) when hanging in front of the light. However, in order to submit it for the exhibition I had to frame it which I did by stretching it over a deep frame in an effort to keep some of the light behind it. It didn't work very well and so, as I say, I'm glad it wasn't selected as I now have another idea of how to take it forward and develop it. A good lesson in when to compromise and when not to I think!

Experimenting with backgrounds

The embroidery mounted on a frame

Detail