Knitting combines several of my deepest aesthetic pleasures—the play of color when both depth and sunlight are at work, the textures of textiles, and the work of sculpture (art that you can enjoy walking all the way around it). Of course, it is hard to balance all these elements in any particular object, even harder when one would like it to fit a particular body. So I’ve decided to write here about my varied experiments, the victories and pitfalls. You’ll see I’m a knitting techno nerd, a tendency only made more extreme by the explorations that Ravelry allows. As an academic, I always try and note a source when I’ve borrowed part of someone else’s design or began with something as an inspiration. I sometimes comment on my Ravelry page about the quality of a published design’s notes or shaping; here I’m mostly recording my own adaptations and ideas.
The delight of knitting is that it really can be three dimensional. You can shape the fabric as you make it. The problem with this possibility is that sometimes garments require the stabilizing force of things like hems and seams in order not to become a baggy mess. The other hazard of making a single piece of knitting in three dimensions is how hard it is to alter in the end.
I love musing on the possibilities presented by a particular yarn when I buy on impulse, or what might work when I have started with a design idea.
Occasional diversions into more restful knitting may or may not get mentioned.
No comments:
Post a Comment