Winter Knits, Dark Materials, and Patterns Within Patterns

It's knitting season, and lately I am particularly drawn to dark-colored, heavy-weighted yarns. I have been craving that safe sensation of wrapping something warm and handmade around me, so I spent some time scanning the hundreds of shawl patterns on Ravelry. 


After several rounds of imagining what different patterns would look like in real life - my life - I came across Martina Sommer's Costa Brava Shawl pattern and was attracted to the sprawling, expansive design of the piece, as well as the small details throughout. 

The shawl pattern includes a a series of knits and yarn-overs along the edge to create a lace border. 

This particular pattern contains a stitch pattern series within the pattern. I like this kind of design, where multiple rows repeat and one intricate pattern row comes back up every x number of rows. In a sense, it feels as though my mind can go offline into a relaxed mode for a couple of knit and purl rows and then reignite for a more-intricate, pattern row. 

Every three rows, the pattern repeats a more complex series of stitches, which I wrote out to keep in my pocket. 

While visualizing the layout of the pattern from the design file, I was drawn to the series of yarn-overs along the border of the shawl and the stitch increase up the middle of the design - a technique that makes a sort of spine or backbone alone the center of the piece. These techniques are not difficult, but they do lead to the creation of an intricate bit of flair when the piece is finished. In some ways, these details function as punctuation marks, like a comma or period in a sentence. 

The pattern includes the KYOK technique, which can be identified here as the group 3 stitches made from 1.

It took me many attempts to get into the full pattern of this design because I first had to learn a new skill: how to make the garter tab. This was difficult for me. I had to start, knit, tink out all of my stitches, and restart several times. I really didn't understand what was happening with the garter tab set up until I watched a couple of videos again and again. It turns out that the garter tab is a common way to start a triangular lace shawl. 


The mathematics of this project are still emerging for me as I knit. There is a curious pattern reflection across the middle stitch that has only become clear as I near the end of the first skein (this project call for approximately four skeins of the yarn I have chose). Soon, I will transition into a new section of the pattern that will be used for the remained of the shawl. The pattern changes slightly in this section, but uses many of the same stitch techniques. It is an interesting exercise to try to visualize how the pattern will play out with my individual knitting style and tension habits, as no two knitters are exactly the same and there will inevitably be variation in actualization of two pieces created by different knitters from the same pattern.  

A series of stitch increases - the m1R and m1L techniques - create a spine down the middle of the shawl. 

Yarnbombing with 3D shapes

We have been exploring many different routes to create 3D shapes out of yarn. A recent yarnbombing experiment allowed us to see that the design process of 3D shapes can challenge the knitter to think three-dimensionally, before she evens starts to knit. 

3D shapes can be knitted flatly, folded, and stuffed.

Initially, Angela and I designed shapes that could be knitted flatly and in the round. Through conversations together and experiments with the yarn itself, we found that the way we thought through the design process for the shapes depended on the initial conceptualization of the object: Would the object be knitted in three dimensions from the get go (in the round) or would the rows of fibers need to be curved, seamed, and manipulated post-knitting to create a third dimension with the object? 

A knitted sphere can be created by increasing and decreasing symmetrically across a flat diameter.

We learned that the creation of three dimensional shapes offers the crafter multiple opportunities to explore different processes of making with knits and purls. As previously mentioned, objects can be knitted in one piece using circular needles - the process is similar to the making of a hat. However, knits can also be made using a piecewise process in which different sides of a shapes are knitted separately. 

While thinking through these design routes, we had to mentally construct and deconstruct different shapes as we created the three dimensional objects. We tested different methods individually in order to create a small collection of objects for a yarn bomb on campus. After talking through the ideas for the shapes, we decided to craft our knits independently, then come back together for the yarn bomb and evaluate some of the variation within our processes of making. 

The pattern for a sphere can be manipulated with more extreme shaping to create an ellipse.

We chose to install the yarn bomb on a tree outside of the art museum on campus, where students were bound to see the little splash of pink. Angela and I met late at night on a Wednesday and wrapped the little shapes onto the tree. Even during installation, a few students and staff who were still on campus stopped to observe what we were creating. The next day, I returned to the installation to tag the shapes with the Creativity Labs information and observe if and how students were interacting with the shapes. I watched as several students approached the tree to pause and look at the shapes. Later in the week, when Angela visited the yarnbomb spot, the shapes were still in place! 

The tree allowed for the observers to examine all sides of the multidimensional knits. 

Through these shapes experiments, we have come to realize that there are so many ways to construct 3D objects with yarn. Further, we've learned that is it interesting to approach the challenge together, but to actually make the shapes independently. This method of trying out different methods of making independently allowed us to see more of the full picture of the variation present in fiber art and craft, which led us to a new, exciting conversation about the potential for this exercise in the classroom.