lambswool; differing tensions.
Following the week spent in the knit room partaking in the Skills Week, I went back with a renewed enthusiasm for my project and how to translate the development work I had drawn into actual knit samples.
The first sample that I created was this one to the right. It was created with charcoal lambswool and I then played around with the different tension settings on the knit machine. Changing the tensions could give the same yarn a completely different look and I feel that it would suit my work.
lambswool and cotton; differing tensions
Using the same technique as above, I then introduced cotton yarn; which is both smoother and thinner than the darker lambswool. I also like this and think it suits my work even more as I like the idea of transparency and layering my work.
lambswool and cotton; e-wrap and weave
The other techniques that I had learned in skills week that I thought would greatly relate to my work were e-wrap and weave. I really liked how you could add dashes of colour and texture atop the original knit you were creating and again suited my layering. So in this sample I combined both lambswool and cotton in my chosen colour palette and then added both e-wrap and weave into it. I liked mixing the colour atop the thick black of the weave; thinking it added an interesting pattern. Once completed I placed the sample in the washing machine to felt it. The lambswool when placed in a washing cycle will fluff up, but the cotton isn’t affected so it creates a really interesting comparison in textures; especially when the yarn I used to e-wrap over the cotton was lambswool. Then, when it was dry and ironed I used a brush for suede over the e-wrapped lambswool which fluffs it up giving a more mohair type texture.
lambswool and cotton; e-wrap and felted.
I then experimented with the different colours from my colour palette and seeing how well they work together. However, in the sample to the left, I had added bronze thread in an e-wrap across the centre; but when placed in the washing machine to felt, it came loose. I did like the colour so I plan to persevere with the bronze thread and hope to make it work better in my future samples!
kirstin louise. 