Line (with arboreal digressions)

Still at work on my line assignment, gradually gaining confidence and getting some patterns I quite like...

I paid a couple of swift visits to Ely recently, snapping interesting architectural features (I'll spare you the many shots from the Cathedral):

chimneys that demand to be recreated in knitting

and delighting in trees and twigs:

I swear this one has fashioned herself a skirt for dancing in...

Lots more line ideas here but I must get on with the task in hand, rather than distracting myself!

The complexities of colour

I've just been trying to explain the Pantone referencing system to Mr CK and hopped over to their website, where they are proudly announcing 175 new colours, bringing their total up to 2100 colours.  Part of me is a bit concerned that they have somehow managed to commodify colour; another bit deeply in awe.  But I was fascinated by  this video explaining a little bit about what they do.

Two-thumbed mitten

Sorry to have been silent of late; there has been no progress to report. (Should you be interested in the whys and wherefores take a look at "missing in inaction" here: http://caughtknitting.blogspot.co.uk ).  But, after spending last  weekend at workshops on line and colour with some other City and Guilds students in Reading, works is slowly beginning again. For my line work I'm using architecture (mainly arches, chimneys and columns) as my inspiration; here's a peep at work in progress:

(Apologies for the strange size, I scanned it as a photo, rather than a document).  It needs to go bigger and bolder and get less fussy, I suspect.  We shall see.

The real reason for this post, though. is to record the amazing talk I've just heard by this inspirational lady at the Scott Polar Research Museum as part of the University Museums' celebration of International Women's Day.  What was billed as a 30-minute introductory talk to the Museum's collection of, and research into, Inuit art produced by women was actually an hour-and-a-half of pure fascination.  I hadn't realised that the giant hoods on Inuit women's parka-like garments were that size so that they could carry their babies round safely and warmly (baby being wadded with moss to soak up that which babies emit).  I didn't know that anoraks were made from seal or walrus blubber.  I'd realised that "Inuit Art" is actually a "tradition" invented by way of job-creation for the forcibly-settled Inuit community in the late 1940s but I'd never stopped to think why a nomadic lifestyle with several months of the year spent in near-total darkness might preclude a decorative tradition.

After the talk I took a quick whirl round the museum (must go back for a better look sometime soon) and spotted the most intriguing double thumbed mittens; one thumb either side of the palm.  These curious, cunning mitts are designed to be used whilst harpooning.  If the palm/thumb get wet, the harpoon will slip.  witht these mitts you just flip them round and wear them the other way.  The workmanship was striking; neat, even stitches and a band of white leather around the cuff.  All in all, a fascinating afternoon.

Walls Have Knitting Patterns

Well, it has been a while, but technology/RSI/life in general conspired to give me less scope for knitting and blogging than I'd have liked over the last 18 months or so.  But thanks to a new camera (last September) and new computing equipment (this weekend), I now have fewer reasons for absence (though life remains chaotic).  I've had a bit of fun experimenting with the design of the blog (still needs a few tweaks).  The new header shows some rather amusing swatching that I found in my favoruite bolthole (Thaxted, Essex) earlier this year. Is it just me, or does that horizontal white line through a broad band of red look like a stop sign?  The picture (which I'm using sideways here) shows the side of a very red shopfront, adjoining a very beige house.  Clearly, the "beige" residents felt they needed to oomph their walls up a bit, but just what do you choose to go with megacrimson?  I'm not actually convinced that it works as a header for the blog. 

This leads me on to one of my favourite topics: walls.  (You may already be familiar with this obsession of mine from an earlier post on my "main" blog ).  Here's a new selection of knittable walls from my recent visit to Thaxted:

 This one has all sort of possibilities: vertical zig-zagging welts, or a lace pattern or....



 I envisage this one as individual chevron strips joined by a three-needle bind off in a contrast colour.

 Modular fan motifs, starting from the curved edge with welting, then maybe ribs for the centres.  A peacock feather colour scheme might work well here!



Textured chequereboard.  Somewhere I do actually have some swatches based on this one.

Next, a spectacular (albeit rather stained) wall that I spotted in Saffron Walden.  Lots of possibilities for textured knitting!

And a close up, from a different section of the same wall:



And now, back to work!



Unravel

Unravel was amazing!  Hop over to my public blog http://caughtknitting.blogspot.com/ for more.

loose ends

Oh, my, it was not a good idea to wait until I'd knitted nearly all my swatches for M2 before blocking them and sewing the ends in.  Here's where I got to yesterday afternoon...

M2

I obviously need to buy more red yarn.