The Organic Nature of Structured Improvisation

Wow, life without internet sucks! I don't think I've spent as much time on the phone with automated robots and tech support people as I have these past two weeks, but I got my internet back up. Unfortunately this tossed a rather large wrench into my gears, and now my shop opening is bumped over a month, but hey, it'll probably be a while before I sell anything anyway.
At least I was able to finish Pyramid and get through the majority of the Duality scarf which is almost done. I also managed to start and finish another beanie. This one I'm calling Skew. Each of these pieces are explorations of the basic knit and purl stitches with an emphasis on structured improvisation.



For example both Pyramid and Skew are essentially the same pattern: 1x1 rib > 2x2 rib > Stockinette. It's the gradual transitions between the three sections that make them different. On Pyramid the sections mirror each other creating a diamond of 2x2 rib that form double peaks when worn folded.



Skew works both transitions from the same vertical point creating a paralellogram section of 2x2 rib. I worked Skew loose and drapier in a fluffy lamb's wool. I like the way beanies look when they are worn long and unfolded. Both have that signature slouchy look that I love so much, but Skew is definitely the slouchier of the two. I almost don't want to sell these...



Duality echoes the same exploration more directly. Triangular scarves like this consist of an increase row on the right side followed by a straight row with no increases on the other side. It's on these straight rows where the improvisation happens, steadily creating a seemingly random fringe pattern. After completing each increase row, I look at the piece as a whole and decide how long I want the next "fringe" to be and mark it. Doing this tacks on more time to complete each row, but I don't really care. I'm more interested in the organic nature of structured improvisation, and how the two halves oppose and compliment each other at the same time. It's sort of like recognizing the growth patterns of lichens or tree branches. Hopefully the person who buys this will see what I see.



On a side note, I finally got a yarn winder. I purchased this one from Knit Picks. Up until now I've been using pieces of bamboo as nostepinnes to hand-wind center pull balls which is quite time consuming. This cute contraption's gonna save me a lot of time. Now I just need a yarn swift so I don't have to use my camera tripod to hold the yarn while I wind it.

Two Things for the Shop

I finished the first of two offerings for my shop: a beanie called Pyramid. It's a variation of Carbón, incorporating the arcing rib transitions that look great knit in the round. The second hat I'm working on is still in development, but it's a variation of the Pyramid pattern. Look for the completed pieces when gridjunky launches on etsy later this month.



An of course the sweater killing never stops. This time I scored some nice italian wool, a wool blend in a great shade of light blue.

Seeing Red

This last sweater I unraveled was a breeze since it was knit with bulky yarn. The hard part was getting a picture of it that wasn't blown out to nuclear proportions.

We've been talking about it in the Yarnographers Group on Ravelry. For some reason, digital camera sensors flip out when it comes to red, so in order to get decent shots you need to under-expose by a few clicks and preset the white balance. Photoshop irons out the rest of the usual kinks like brightness, saturation and all that jazz.

The Life of Sleeves

Now that I'm more or less familiarized with my recently acquired sewing machine, I felt it was time for a project. It didn't take long to find this zipper bag tutorial which was just what I was looking for.

I'm all about recycling, so I salvaged a zipper from a pair of destroyed slacks destined for the recycling bin, and some sleeves from two oxford shirts in my scrap pile of old clothes.

The tricky part was having to work around not having a zipper foot for this machine. Basically that meant maintaining a distance between the zipper and the hemlines. Aside from that, my first sewing project was a piece o' cake.



On the recycling front, I've disassembled two more sweaters, a shetland wool in blue black, and a salt & pepper alpaca. This is the first time I've handled alpaca. The fiber is really soft and resilient. I gotta keep an eye out for more, this stuff is just too fantastic.

July Roundup

These summer days mean less time spent at my desk staring at a screen, and more time wandering around in the sun. Less creative projects happening? No way. Nice weather is a good excuse as any to get out and hunt for some creative inspiration. Here's what I've been up to this month:

I dug up my stash of hemp twine to make a few coasters. I mail ordered this stuff way back in '96 when I was living on Guam making necklaces. Maybe I should start making those again....

I haven't taken on any knitting projects this month, in fact I killed a few works in progress that didn't seem to be going anywhere. Instead I've been researching new techniques over at Knitty. I completed (and frogged) a Calorimetry to learn about short rows, and learned how to do a tubular cast on.



Swatching is a practical given, but I took the opportunity to swatch up some of the recycled irish wool from last month. From what I can tell it's a sport weight consisting of a double strand of... lace? I wanted to see how it would look if I halved the strand. I gotta say I love it.

Halving this yarn also gave me a chance to wind a ball with a nostepinne which I find quite relaxing. These nostepinnes I use are actually just pieces of bamboo I got quite a long time ago from the Japanese Cultural Center at Foothill College where they have a stunning bamboo garden. They usually have a pile of pruned bamboo and I always liked looking at the cool textures. I also took the opportunity to learn joins since I hate weaving in ends.



In the past two weeks my supply of sweaters has doubled. I live down the street from the Berryessa Flea Market where they have quite a few of these stalls full of clothes priced at $1 each. So far I've scored a good amount of irish and italian wool, as well as some silk and alpaca. It's like the freakin' deal of the century. Anyway, this swelling stack of sweaters prompted a much needed culling, so I killed three of them. I seriously need a yarn swift... anyone wanna buy me one?



Earlier this month my friend Shiela became my hero when she gave me her old sewing machine, an Elna 410. I've wanted a sewing machine for quite a long time, despite not having the slightest idea how to use one. But hey, that's what the internet is for, right? So I've been doing lots of forum-lurking and research on sewing basics and resources, totally stoked about this addition to my creative skill set.



That's what my July has been like. Lots of sweaters to kill, bike rides to take, yarn to knit... and pillow cases to make... (?)