Knitting with different materials

After doing research into artists that use knit with metallic materials or materials that could be used to make jewellery, I decided to try hand knitting with different metallic materials. Artists that I found interesting were Nora Fok who creates unusual nature inspired jewellery pieces. I like how fragile her pieces look, like they could be destroyed by a swish of a hand, like things in nature.

I also liked the work of Jurgen Eickhoff that I saw in a jewellery exhibit at Manchester Art Gallery. He uses silver and stainless steel wire with jewels. This piece had synthetic rubies, sapphires and zirconia in it.

I also liked pieces from Lawrence Steele's autumn/ winter 2000/01 collection. He decided to over print gold leaf onto some of his pieces that were knitted with camel hair. I like that the camel hair looks fluffy, making the cracked gold effect stand out more. I would like to try applying gold leaf over a piece of my knitting in the future.

The first material I tried knitting with was a small piece of wire I had found, because this was so thin it was hard to control as it was quite slippy, but once I had finished the piece it was nice to mould into different shapes.

I then wanted to try knitting with a thicker wire to see if it would be easier to knit with and if it would change how the knitted piece looks like. I found that it doesn't really change how the stitches look, they are both very similar. I was in more control of the wire but it was a bit stiff with the smaller stitches. As using bigger stitches was easier to use with this wire, you cant see much difference with my tension stripe I tried to create. This is easier to see in the close up photo. I enjoyed using this wire as I had a lot of control over it, I might use it again in the future.

I then wanted to try using different metallic materials that can be found around the house. I first tried using Christmas ribbon, this worked really effectively as its strong and the difference between the two sides, with one side shiny and the other matt added something more interesting to the piece. I started this piece by doing alternating two stitches knit and two stitches pearl, but this didn't look that interesting so I started to put wholes into it and taking stitches out so it looks like its deteriorating and falling apart. I liked the outcome of this piece and the flowing shape of it created by the rib effect of my alternating stitches.

I then decided I wanted to try using foil to knit with, so I first decided to rip a long strip of it off and squeeze it into a thick string shape. Because of how thin the foil was, when knitting it it broke a lot. So I then decided to use a whole roll of kitchen foil and squash the length into a thick string. I used this to create a large hand knitted piece. I thought this worked very effectively, I liked the surface of the metallic rough curves of the stitches. I would like to experiment more with larger materials. 

Monoprinting on different metallic surfaces

I decided to do some monoprinting using the images from my photos for inspiration. I also thought the outcomes of my monoprinting may give me inspiration for my future knits in terms of structure, pattern or use of colour. I decided to use metallic surfaces to print onto as I thought this would resemble jewellery more. I used foil and silver and gold paper. I also sprayed cartridge paper silver, putting the can closer to the paper in some parts to change the intensity of the colour which I thought would look more interesting under the monoprint, I found this worked effectively and adds to the textures of the monoprint ink. I then decided to spray over some gold paper with the silver paint to give a two tone look under the monoprint, I found this also worked very effectively. I have decided that I would like to stitch over the top of some of these pieces to add to the texture and make the images and shapes stand out more. I also tried spraying over the top of some cling film which created a rippled water effect, I would also like to try stitching into this.

Monoprint on gold paper I am going to stitch over.

Silver spray paint on cling film.

Monoprint on sprayed cartridge paper.

This is a drawing I coloured in with metallic marker pens, I then created a light wash using the colours of the marker pens to create light shadows. I have decided that I want to put a sheet of tracing paper over this to dull the colours and then stitch more chains over the top in black thread.

Ink drawings

I decided to edit some of the photos I have taken of jewellery and knitting. I then used these for inspiration to draw as the colours and shapes are bold. 

I used ink with a paintbrush and stick to create this picture, the top photo is of the photo I edited.

This piece was created by painting with my fingers with gouache paint copying a edited photo I took of a silver chain. I then drew shapes from a piece of knitting with ink and stick over the top. The following photos are other ones I took of jewellery and knitting that I edited. 

Beginning experimentation with knit

I started doing research on jewellery on high street stores for inspiration. I started to think about the different patterns and images jewellers use when placing diamonds and jewels together. I found that they use heart shapes a lot in jewellery so I decided to try and recreate this shape with lace holes in knitting, but I don't think this worked very effectively as the stitches are created in a structured linear way so I couldn't create the curves of a heart. 

I then tried creating other different patterns using lace holes and ladders which are created in the same way by transferring stitches between the needles. Other ways I created patterns were by experimenting with stripes and changing the tension so the stitches change size. I chose to use cold colours to knit with as this is what          initially think of with jewellery, something cold and hard. 

This piece was created by e-wrap which adds texture and colour to a plain knit.

Manchester Art Gallery visit

 For my initial start to the new project: Sampling, I have chose the beginners knitting workshop and jewellery as my theme. I decided to concentrate on jewellery as my theme as it is constantly around us, but mostly goes unnoticed but yet is such a beautiful art. The subject and way of forming jewellery is so broad.
     I decided to visit Manchester Art Gallery as they have on a exhibit on jewellery. It exhibits work from international artists which was produced in response to their impressions of Mexico when stranded together in April 2010 in Mexico city under the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud.

I liked this piece by Caroline Broadhead, a bracelet made from beads using traditional embroidery. This gave me the idea of using imagery in my knit, or including other materials combined with yarn to produce my knit, such as beads, ribbons or sequins. I also liked the following pieces but they did not affect me as much as theses humorous bracelets by Caroline Broadhead.

Jiro Kamata 'Arboresque' brooch. What I liked I liked about this piece is the circular pendants on this piece were camera lenses painted, I think this is an interesting way of reusing old items.

I liked this brooch by Juergen Eickhoff because of the business of it, it creates real movement. I would like to include wire in my knitting or create knitting entirely out of wire so I could create structures.

Tord Boontje 'Wednesday Cabinet' wood frame pierced with stainless steel and resin. I like this piece a lot as it looks so feminine yet the materials are harsh and cold. It reminds me of some small samples I did with gouache paint and other materials, copying different ways you can transform a sheet of metal. 

I created the top one by punching a design into the paper using a needle, and the bottom one by scattering coffee granules onto the painted  surface and dripping water on top.

I also liked these bracelets by Jason Chart- Davies made from polypropylene and brass fastenings. I like the flowing shapes of them and the monochrome colour, this is another thing I have chosen to focus on in my project. Monochrome colour, so I can then concentrate on my shapes and patterns.