Kniting as art: The flat fox

In September 2013, one of my Ravelry groups that I play knitting in cyberspace with, challenged each other to produce a knitted wall hanging over a couple of months. We had a couple of sample patterns to inspire us. We all had a go but overall it stretched a few of us out of our comfort zone. Prolific knitters we certainly are. Creative thinkers outside the square maybe not so much.

But it sparked something in the back of my weird little brain that I think has enormous potential as: (a) a great way to stashbust some yarn, (b) a potential way to do something creative with that stack of swatches many knitters generate, (c) a cool way to sample stitch patterns you love but without having to commit to a full garment and (d) a unique and cheap way to creat original artwork to decorate your walls. I’ve had a number of ideas about how to do this percolating in the back on my mind for quite a while and it seemed like a great opportunity to finally stop thinking and start doing.

This I what I started with: 

My idea all began with this fox square. The pattern for the fox picture comes from Knit Today issue 81 January 2013 and is is from a bag pattern called Urban Fox. I’m pretty sure that this is the pattern that made me buy the magazine originally. One of my eldest daughter’s friends is absolutely obsessed with all things fox and I thought it would make a good present for her. Turns out its going to be part of a piece of urban man cave decor.

So this is to go on the walls of my boy’s man cave to go with the taxidermy stuffed animal heads he is creating. (There are a lot of dismembered moose and deer stuffed toys in my house currently waiting for the woodworkers to finish varnishing their plaques).

Then I decided to frame the fox with a series of strips and squares in the cream/fawn wool of the background used for the fox. I took the opportunity to play with some patterns that have caught my eye (or appeal to the boy).

Strip 1: The leaf pattern used in the free scarf/stole/shawl pattern Physalis by Anna Kuduja. Knitted leaves are such fun to make.

 

Square 2: The Tardis from Bigger on the Inside from Knitty Spring + Summer 2012 by Kate Atherley. (The boy is a missive Doctor who fan).

Square 3: Lace pattern from Friday Night In Jacket by Amanda Jones from Simply Knitting Issue 102. I'm really having a bit of geometric lace phase at the moment.

And here's where the cool bit of the idea for this artwork really comes in. I decided that in order to make this a picture I wasn't going to go the traditional wall hanging route by adding a backing or edging and some sort of hanging rod to the top. I decided to use my knitted fabric to stretch over a purchased canvas.

So then I had to knit two long stocking stitch strips, one for each edge to wrap around the picture frame. I also knitted a small section of stocking stitch onto the top of the Tardis square to make this strip the same length as the others.

Assembly: I bought a pre-stretched canvas frame from our local Warehouse. (Cost $12 for three - they are about 55 cm high by 45 cm wide). I sewed all pieces together to make a large square. I blocked the individual pieces before sewing them together. Steam pressed a few stubborn seams flat. Stretched the knitted piece over the frame. On the long edges it is long enough to wrap right around the frame and tuck under. Enlisted help of the head of the household to staple the piece to the frame around the back using a staple gun. Folded knitted piece carefully at the corners and stitched in place along folds before stapling for extra security. I’d show you the back but it’s messy. Added a string across the frame about 1/3 way down for hanging.

So, I’m proud of this. Proof of concept established. I think this would work great with swatches too. A million ideas dancing in my head (and I still have two more canvases). Stay tuned.

 

(Sorry about the wide variety of colours in these photos. The yarn  I used to make this is the most frustrating wool to photograph even close to its true colour and it depends too on whether I photograph under artificial light or not. It's closest to creamish warm fawn with an undertone of grey).

2013: The International Year of Stats (no make that Hats)

I wasn't joking. 2013 is indeed the International year of Statistics or Stats for short. From a purely professional point of view this has been great. I feel extremely vindicated teaching first year stats when the whole world is having a year to acknowledge how vital, useful and cool they are.

From a knitting point of view though in a bizarre way, 2013 has become My Year of Hats! I have knitted 13 hats this year!! I didn't intentionally start off 2013 thinking, "Oh! This will be the year I knit pretty much nothing but hats", but that's the way it turned out.

Let me introduce you the hats that have flown off my needles this year...

Hat number 1
My middle daughter Mel is directly responsible for the start of the madness. She is currently in Padova in Italy near the tail end of her giant European adventure. When planning for the trip began in late 2012 she very thoughtfully put in a request list of knitted accessories to take with her. And so the first hat I made was for her. I began knitting the first hat in late December 2012 and finished it on New Year's Eve.I'm still counting this as the first hat of 2013 though. (For the full story see Newness for the New Year).

Pattern: Cables and Lace Hat by Lion Brand (Free pattern). I have to admit, I wasn't all that enamored with the picture of this one on the pattern but the reality is perfect.
Needles: Set of 4.5mm double pointed needles (dpns)
Yarn: Paton's Romance, 90% Australian Merino Wool 10% Cashmere 50 g ball (84 m per ball). It's an 8ply (DK weight)  but thick and squishy and knits more to 10 ply (aran weight). Colour: 4161 White. It took about 1 and 1/3 balls. 
Cost: Approx $9 per ball.  Bought at Clegg's Melbourne City store. Expensive beanie I know. But everyone deserves cashmere at least once in their life.

Hat number 2
aka The Birthday Beanie. My nephew seems to have had a beanie stapled to his head for the last few years. The beanie has a twofold purpose. It hides his ears and keeps his incredibly curly hair under control. The current beanie may now be qualifying as a health hazard as he never washes it, so I made him a new one for his 21st. Thanks to my boy for modelling this. (See What's on my Needles).

Pattern: Wurm by Katharina Nopp (Free pattern).
Needles: 4mm dpns (actually they are still labelled as size 8 - antique jumper length Aero dpns)
Yarn: Mystery ball of what appears to be handspun from my stash. I have no idea where this came from but it's meant this was free to knit!

Hats numbers 3, 4 and 5.
The boy enjoyed modelling the birthday beanie so much that I had to make him one of his own. Let’s call it an Easter Present. This is the first clothing item I have knitted him since he was a baby. Then I had to make a matching one for his eldest sister to stave of her theft of said hat. I am so proud of having made items of clothing so cool my hipster kidlets will wear them. And so the Matchy Matchy beanies became hats four and five for the year.

I also knitted another Wurm in a beautiful soft lofty recycled op shop wool in a light cream tan (Hat number 5). Here it's being modelled by the middle daughter in the red coat and it's at this moment starring in its own modelling trip across a European winter. I can't wait to see what its been up too. (Actually there's a sneak peek at the bottom of this post).

Pattern: Wurm by Katharina Nopp (Free Pattern)
Needles: 4mm dpns (actually they are still labelled as size 8 - antique jumper length Aero dpns). I love these needles for knitting hats. And only $2. Best op-shop buy ever!
Yarn: 8 ply op shop sourced homespun fairly greasy wool with some flecks of other fiber. Cost about 50 cents per 200g or about 50 cents per hat.

Hat number 6
And we were back to a request from the middle daughter again. She already had her eye on a cute little owl head hat from Simply Knitting issue 100. So I knitted this up in a weekend and had a ball doing it. Its so much fun to watch the face building up row by row. This classified as one of those "just one more row" knits, perhaps explaining why it took so little time.

Pattern: From Animal Hats by Rachel Henderson via Simply Knitting Issue 100.
Needles: Set of two 4mm needles.
Yarn: Cleckheaton Country in cream (1 ball - sourced from an op shop), Cleckheaton Country in Beige (Seconds from the Australian Country spinners Wangaratta Woolen Mills, a present from my mother after a recent trip there - she knows what it takes to make me happy) and the orangey mustard is aran weight wool from the stash which is so old I have no idea of its origins.

Hat Number 7
This is the point in time where where my hat madness stepped up a gear or so. In early winter we went and met the eldest daughter at her house in Melbourne and spent a chilly Sunday morning wandering around an eclectic Sunday Market whose chief specialty is second hand and vintage clothing. We were looking at what was on sale and what the young hispters were wearing and she turned to me and said, "Hats! You should knit some hats and we'll come here, get a stall and sell them. Your hats are so much cooler that ones around for sale here. My housemates keep trying to borrow mine and would pay for you to make some for them". And so the seed of an idea was born. I'd knit a stockpile of hats and we'd sell them (somehow). And so Barnaby was born, a hat  knit for the future hat stockpile with no specific person in mind. (See also Meet Barnaby - an unclaimed hat).

Pattern: Lee by Ysolda Teague
Needles: 4mm set of 4 jumper length Antique Aero needles, a 4mm medium length circular for the brim
Yarn: Cleckheaton Country Naturals (85% pure wool, 10% acrylic and 5% viscose), colours Coal and Burnt red - fully machine washable on a delicate cycle.
Details: Double layer brim lined in red, decorative raised stitch detail offset to one side in red.

Hats numbers 8 and  9 
May I introduce Twisted Silver and Latte with a Twist? When I decided to be serious about knitting hats for potential sale, I went looking for interesting free patterns on Ravelry that looked like what my girls would wear, had a sort of Unisex appeal or were something that looked captivating to knit but still trendy enough. Lina by Johanna of Joko Knits fit the bill. I knitted this originally as written using a silvery grey subtly variegated wool. And so Twisted Silver was born. I love the crown shaping on this. The cables magically diminish into the crown. But the first beanie is too exact a fit for the girls and a little too short in length (I Think this is more a large child's fit). So I made it again adding extra repeats for a more modern slouchy look (Latte with a twist).

Twisted Silver

Latte with a Twist

Pattern: Lina by Johanna of Joko Knits

Needles: my favourite set of size 8 (4mm) antique Aero jumper length dpns

Wool: Grey and fawn recycled 8 ply pure wool from the op shop,

Hat Number 10
The Graeme Street Slouch. This is a hijacked item. I swear was making this for the hat stockpile. But no sooner did it work its way off my needles than it was firmly ensconced on the boy's head. I have to admit it does suit him and he wears it heaps.

Pattern: Graham by Jennifer Adams (a free pattern)
Needles: A set each of 4 mm and 4.5 mm dpns
Wool: Brownish red 8 ply (DK) tweed courtesy of the op shop again.

Hat number 11
OK, I’m getting there with this design thing. This is my first self-designed hat pattern. The inspiration is the stitch pattern from Martin Storey’s gorgeous cowl necked cable jumper Winterbloom from The Knitter Issue 55. I knew I wanted to make a long slouchy beanie that was soft enough to drape neatly on the crown. This is a 21st birthday present for my daughter's friend and European Traveling companion Louise. (See Happy Birthday Louise - I made you a hat!).

And here it is in London. Mel is wearing her Wurn. There two are both knit from the same yarn.

Pattern: Adapted stitch pattern from Winterbloom Jumper by Martin Storey
Source: The Knitter Issue 55
Needles: 4mm set of 4 jumper length Antique Aero needles
Yarn:  Upcycled 8 ply (DK) op shop wool. Creamish brown blend. It has a really soft fuzz and light halo and blocks up with a light soft squishy feel and drape.

Hat number 12

This one is just a sneak peak at this stage. There are two reasons for this. 1. I need to take some modelling shots of this one. And seeing it is for me, I need to smile nicely at my boy to play photographer. (And it is the middle of an Australian summer so it needs to be a coolish day so I don't die of heat stress) and 2. There is a story that goes with the knitting of this that deserves its own blog post. Stay tuned.

Pattern: as the leaves begin to fall by Eliza Jarvi (ifandany designs) (Free pattern)
Needles: 4mm set of 4 jumper length Antique Aero needles
Yarn:  For the leaves: Moda Vera Pure Wool 8 ply yellow green. For the background: upcycled 8 ply (DK) op shop wool, alpaca and, I suspect angora, blend in winter white/cream with small gray and black fibres.

Hat number 13
This one was a Christmas Wurm for another nephew. It's the same silver grey as Twisted Silver above. My eldest daughter and I were Christmas shopping about a week before Christmas and she bet me that I couldn't make a hat for the nephew between then and Christmas given that he clearly needed more for Christmas than the present we has just bought him. She should know better. It was finished and blocked three days before Christmas but still damp went it went off to its recipient. I didn't remember to take a photo of it though.... You'll just have to take my word on the actual existence of hat number 13 till I get some pictures of it!

The Mad Hatter

OK, so I have been having a small obsession with knitting hats... I have made three hats this month (and by this month, I mean April which was actually a couple of months ago)... One of them in just one weekend!!!

My favorite Mad Hatter: Johnny Depp is just so cool. If you haven't watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland I suggest you go and treat yourself.

So I made a hat for my nephew for his 21st. My son was lucky enough to be the hat model. He so liked the hat, he requested one for himself. I was happy to oblige and then came to the sick realisation that this is the first garment I have knitted him since he was baby. I felt slightly ashamed to call myself a mother who knits. However, this was balanced by the fact that something I had knit was considered a cool enough clothing item to be coveted.

Here is the boy modelling his cousins hat. And here is the boy modelling his own hat. I made this from the same op shop wool from which I made the homework help pouch for a baby kangaroo. It's such a cool neutral-ish colour and can come across as a dirty cream, a light grey or a fawn-ish brown depending on the lighting and what clothing your pair it with. I finished this in time to call it an Easter present. There were some really bad taste jokes running around that we had turned the Easter Bunny into a hat.

Pattern: Wurm by Katharina Nopp
Needles: 4mm dpns (actually they are still labelled as size 8 - antique jumper length Aero dpns). I love these needles for knitting hats. And only $2. Best op-shop buy ever!
Yarn: 8 ply op shop sourced homespun fairly greasy wool with some flecks of other fiber. Cost about 50 cents per 200g or about 50 cents per hat.

So one highly satisfactory hat commission down. I thought I might have time to sit on my laurels and luxuriate in the glow of a job well done. However, the boys eldest sister, the future doctor daughter came home for Easter. She saw the boy's hat, promptly grabbed it, stuck it on her head, claimed it went so much better with her curls and refused to give it back until I promised to make her one too. This is despite the fact that she already has four handmade berets (see: The Beret Project Project: Chapter 1, The Beret Project:: The Second Installment and Winter Smoke: Selbu Modern Beret). We had to search her bags when she went back after Easter to make sure she hadn't accidentally on purpose absconded with the hat. (As an aside I'm patting myself on the back here as I also clearly make clothing cool enough to be the object of petty thievery!)

So there was nothing for it but to immediately cast one for a second hat. Surprisingly, it wasn't any hardship to knit the exact identical article twice in a row (The first time in my entire knitting life that I have down this). It was even fun.

Twin hats drying in front of the heater.

So now I was two hats down but I have, in fact, three children. OK, you don't have to be a mind reader to predict what is coming next. Mel, the middle daughter was pushing for it to be her turn. But not an identical beanie. She already had her eye on a cute little owl head hat from Simply Knitting issue 100.

Pattern available here

Intarsia should look just as neat from the back

Pattern: From Animal Hats by Rachel Henderson via Simply Knitting Issue 100.
Needles: Set of two 4mm needles.
Yarn: Cleckheaton Country in cream (1 ball - sourced from an op shop), Cleckheaton Country in Beige (Seconds from the Australian Country spinners Wangaratta Woolen Mills, a present from my mother after a recent trip there - she knows what it takes to make me happy) and the orangey mustard is aran weight wool from the stash which is so old I have no idea of it origins.

So I knitted this up in a weekend and had a ball doing it. Its so much fun to watch the face building up row by row. This classified as one of those "just one more row" knits, perhaps explaining why it took so little time.

And here is the owl hat in its natural environment.