April 2013

I went away over the bank holiday last weekend (and it was lovely) but during the journey my camera managed to eat an entire bottle of shampoo. It's oozing gently in a corner. I don't think it's gonna make it.

If you're wondering where the rest of this story went, it's down at the bottom of the page...

30/04/2013

Twig Doesn't Look Like A Word Anymore.

I've updated some instructions on twig making, they're not entirely finished yet but it's the end of the month and I've already stayed up late on a work night! I'll finish off the pattern over the next few days and update again with blossom flowers.

27/04/2013

Blossom!

Just a quick update to say that I am working on the blossom twigs. I think I overcomplicated things when I started adding the stamens...

EDIT: I can't believe that worked! I've been trying to update for days and every single time it tells me my password or username is wrong. THEY'RE NOT WRONG I'VE TYPED THEM IN, IN EVERY POSSIBLE COMBINATION, MULTIPLE TIMES OVER THREE DAYS!!! But this works so it's fine. Except I don't know why it worked. Damn.

20/04/2013

Why Are They Brown?

I've knitted a twig. It's made from different sizes of i-cord on a wire frame. This twig isn't supposed to be from a specific type of tree (though that may well be a challenge for later), I was just trying to capture a sense of essential twiggyness.

I've been visiting family over the weekend, so I proudly showed my mother the finished proto-twig. Her first question; “why is it brown?”

I can sort of see the point of the question. Looking closely at trees in the garden they are coloured a more green-grey-brown, or silver-brown, or even red-brown. They are rarely brown-brown like I've used. Knit what you see, not what you think you see...

In answer to this, there are two reasons why my twig is brown.

1. If you asked a random person what colour a twig is, they would probably say brown (unless they're my mother). I've knitted a caricature of a twig and I've made it brown because it helps people understand that it is meant to be a twig that I have knitted.
2. I've used this specific brown because it is the brown my brown yarn happens to be. I'm lucky to have a good sized yarn stash. I do have paler browns, muddy greens and greys, but none of them would be any more realistic than the colour I chose. I think I've said before that getting colours right is one of the hardest things about knitting natural objects. When you can't blend colours easily you are reliant on being able to buy the precise colour you want, and that's not always easy or cheap.

EDIT: I've made a second and third twig with a lot less branches on them. I'm going to start adding pretty things onto them and I wanted a simple base.

14/04/2013

NEW CAMERA!

I've got a NEW CAMERA!!!

Not that it has much to do with knitting, but who cares because I've got a NEW CAMERA and I'm really excited about it (I love my camera).

Ahem. So my knitting hardening experiments are still setting. In the meantime I've worked out what this month's pattern will be. Get ready to knit some...

*drumroll*

...twigs.

That's not as anti-climactic as it sounds. Twigs are being pretty interesting at the moment, blossoming, budding, bursting into leaf. I'm going to make 3D twigs with a wire base, then work on stuff to add to them to make them pretty.

Here is a picture I took of some real twigs, using my NEW CAMERA.

Want to know the best part about this photo? When I took it I was standing in my living-room, this far from the tree....

...and using my NEW CAMERA's zoom. So many exciting photo-taking opportunities.

NEW CAMERA!

10/04/2013

Results

I think I should have read the instructions more carefully.

I dunked my shells and left them to dry. Within a few hours they had lost their tackiness. But 24 hours later the shells were still pliable. Looking at the instructions (that'll teach me) I see that Paverpol can take weeks to dry to solidity. I'll have to report back again at the end of the month.

I also notice that the solution is designed for natural fibres and my yarn is... miscellaneous. Most of the stuff I buy is cheap and cheerful. I also inherit a lot of odds and ends from other people. I'm not certain what sort of material my shell making yarn was made of, but if it doesn't set I'll definitely try again in actual wool.

In the meantime I'll be working on my springtime inspired project...

06/04/2013

Experiments

Last month during my knitting-of-shells I mentioned how I wanted to try hardening the knitting into shape. Well I've started my first experiment. Which I can't show you. Because I don't have a camera.

Sigh.

Since this is the first time I've tried hardening knitting I bought some actual textile hardener (the one I choose is called Paverpol – transparent). If I like the results I'll try some of the other hardening methods I've read about online.

Paverpol is a solution that you dip your fabric in. It looks/ smells/ feels like slightly diluted PVA glue, only less sticky. Once you've saturated your fabric you squeeze out the excess and leave the knitting to dry. Once the fabric dries it sets hard and waterproof.

My first set of shells have been dunked and are drying on the sideboard. I shall report back when they've set. I am interested to see how hardening the knitting affects the aesthetics of my shells. Will they be shiny? Will I be able to see the hardening solution? Will the colours change at all?

05/04/2013

About the cartoon

(And yes, I've re-ordered the webpage because having a big section at the top was getting confusing.)

How am I supposed to website without a camera?

Normally I draw my cartoons by hand, take photos of them, and neaten them up on the computer. This month I've been reduced to drawing in Paint

Actually... it came out quite well. I was hoping for something amusingly scruffy (or “charmingly naive”). Hang on, I'll give the cartoon a go just using the paintbrush tool.

Much better.

Or worse rather.