Part 3 Stage 3

Reviewing materials and processes

In this stage I'm going to try to push some of my samples a bit further and see what they can do.  I've used light and shape as I've been working on Stage 2 but I plan to revisit it with a bit more purpose now.

Knitted white cotton with silver thread and purple wire twisted into shapes and lit from inside.

With sari silk finger knitting

Lit from the side with a torch it throws some shadows

Knitting that includes some wire has great possibilities for things like lampshades and lit sculptural forms. It's easily shaped even with my very light wire.  I guess thicker gauge wire could help the process but use too thick and it would make change more difficult. This could be stitched into as well or tied with strips of fabric.

Out of curiosity I tried French knitting using this yarn then threaded it with green organza:

I lit it from below but diffused the light with a tissue.

It looks like it could be used in an animation of the Very Hungry Caterpillar and I'm not quite sure what it's use might be to me but I'll know it when it arrives!

Next I worked with the hefty but holey net.  I threaded it with organza  I liked the idea of trying hefty with flimsy.

                                               

The picture above shows the work rolled up with a bright light inside it.  The purple is very dominant.

(Somehow I've now got some gremlins in this work so I can't add captions without deleting the picture)

This one is against the window and there's a feel of stained glass about it.  The yarn is a real barrier to the light which only serves to emphasise the holes where the light comes through and the organza.

I love sari silk but I feel that my sari silk finger knitting has not done itself justice so I put some wire through it and persuaded it to pose.  It has a feeling of exotica, sultriness and extravagance:

This has a torch shining on it.  Whilst I like this it's hard to see how I might use it.  I have seen a sculpture made from finger knitting which has itself been finger knitted several times.  It is from"Layered Textiles" by Kim Thittichai.

Next I tried light on and in my grey marl knitted net.  It looked more like wire than ever and I was also reminded of fishing nets in the quay.  The picture below is of the work with light shining on it.

This spiders web is the same piece with the light inside. .

I know the knitting is ordered and I'm amazed that it looks so chaotic presented in this way. It might be a good idea to try knitting with the same yarn and including some wire so I can sculpt the shapes.

One of my favourite pieces of work recently is my weaving.  I did two very different pieces; one pale and one quite dark colours.  I wrapped the pale piece around an opaque vase and put a light inside.  The opaque glass diffused the light beautifully.  Fairy lights inside the vase might push the diffusion a bit more.

I lit the darker weaving from the back and it came to life.  The spaces between the yarns are small but the light makes shapes that are otherwise insignificant. The piece is quite exciting and vivacious and I imagine it would make a good lampshade in a lounge.  It's not big enough to try the opaque vase idea but something to keep in mind.


Now I'm going to take my laminated sheets and put colour behind them.  First there's the fruit nets.  I nearly threw his away because I didn't rate it at all. 

They all had purple organza behind them and I just love them.  I use Paint net and these are reminiscent of the "tile" effect I sometimes use.  There's a big lesson here in hanging onto the most unlikely work because I feel there's a lot of work I could develop from this.  I'm imagining grids, layers and light in a variety of media.  

I used the purple background again on some of the other laminates.  Whilst it hid the "reveal" side of things it was very instructive from the point of view of highlighting different things like the filaments on the feathers and the translucency of the honesty:

It's been fun looking at my samples again especially using light.  I am very taken with how organza behaves and I thought I'd just try just one more sample.  I cut pale pink organza into strips and knitted 15 stitches in garter stitch on 12mm needles.

It reminds me of a hat my Mum had donkeys years ago, frivolous and frothy with no apparent use!

Fortunately Mum's hat didn't light up!  The shapes revealed were intricate and convoluted and reminded me of smocking.  It would be interesting to try this material single chain crocheted and used for weaving or as a base for stitching into and burying items in the convolutions.

I've found organza hard to photograph; I only seem to be able to get a hint of the reality. However, the shadows and distortions give their own new ideas for further work.

I find myself tumbling over possibilities.


Thittichai. K, 2011.  Layered Textiles.  Batsford, London