now we're starting to get warmer temperatures on this side of the world, keep in mind to clean your woolens before storing. the age gives the lowdown on the nasty cashmere eating critters:
"Alexandra Shulman, the editor-in-chief of UK Vogue, recently revealed that her own extensive wardrobe was under attack. The blighters had destroyed Jean Paul Gaultier, Rick Owens and Clements Ribeiro sweaters without compunction, she revealed. "This is war," she declared." read the full article.
bring in the troops!
if you're looking for a free knitting lesson, this week you're in luck. the handknitters guild is open in ross house, flinders lane from 12-2 and offering their help with whatever burning knitting issue you have. more info - handknitters guild site.
the knitters workshop - a wonderful store which was our (great time) working in retail. being surrounded by yarn, patterns, and people just as suckered in as you are on a regular basis was a total treat, and a great experience. so, it's sad that the store in closing in october, however, make lemons out of lemonade and hit the sale, which starts on saturday, the 18th august. more info - knitters workshop site.
we're getting into melbs scarf festival time once again...this time around, yarn magazine is ponying up a prize - so it could be well worthwhile to get the grey matter thinking on the topic of "spin" and how that could relate to a scarf of your making. for more details and how to apply, check out craft vic's scarf festival info.
there's a few things coming up which might be of interest to knitters and the like:
for those in the u.s. or u.s. bound - happening in jan 2007 is knitting cruise stitch'n'beach.
for something a little more local and pocket friendly, there's a few upcoming get togethers for sunday jazz and knitting.
the bead symposium & fair (how swanky is that?) happens friday to sunday oct 27-29 at kingston city hall moorabbin which we reckon will have the most beads you've ever seen in one room, along with workshops and demonstrations. more info - the bead society.
for the florence broadhurst fans, there will be a talk with author of the unauthorised biography "A Life by Design: the Art and Lives of Florence Broadhurst" siobhan o'brien at the sorrento cinema thursday 16 november at 6.00pm- 7.00pm. drinks and nibbles beforehand commencing at 5.30. tickets for members are $12.00 and guests are $14.00. bookings: phone the mornington peninsula gallery on 5975 4395.
Catherine Fargher's work was mentioned in an article written for yarn magazine. Here's the details of an upcoming exhibition at the Faculty of Creative Arts, Wollongong.
BioHome: The Chromosome Knitting Project.
A performance/installation featuring live biotechnologies.
blurring the lines between home and laboratory.
Performance by Catherine Fargher, with live sound mix by Terumi Narushima.
Opening:
Wed 16th August 5.00 pm by Natasha Mitchell, ABC Radio National Science Unit.
Performance 5.30pm.
More information - biohomeproject.com
sunday was a good day knitting wise. fixed a stuck newbie knitter, and saw the pixies documentary loudquietloud where we were chuffed to see that kellie deal is still knitting, and them's addis in her hands. alright!
we're back in melbs and in recovery mode from the alice springs beanie festival. meanwhile:
news item c/o abc northern territory - "beanie festival 2006".
looking forward to doing the lunchtime sprint to check out kate just's knitted installation in chinatown (1st floor, 12 waratah place) - "paradise".
issue three of yarn magazine is out now - if you've ever considered knitting a sock, there's seven patterns to choose from, and editor barbara coddington has done a killer interview with cat bordhi (of "socks soar on two circular needles, debbie new review" fame). we had the good fortune to write about knitting and biology, focussing on the norah gaughan and her latest book "knitting in nature" (a href="http://www.gusset.net/kip/archives/000611.html">past mention).
get more details of the current issue and this month's reader giveaway "crafty notions".
sydney based fashion designer (with a touch of knitwear, and loads of tasty japanese inspired things) akira has a sale in melbs at the gpo happening on thus 22 to sat 24 june. bottoni (our favouritest shop ever for finding buttons to go onto special garments, especially handknitted ones) are having a sale from the 19th to the 24th june at the nicholas building, level 2, 37 swanston street melbs. (button update - read the age article (thanks erin!).
a little slideshow from a week back of knitters (and their tattoos...) from the new york times (thanks, kay!).
numerous people over the last couple of days have mentioned the age's blogbit on gangsta graffiti knitters. now we're going to have to start producing ID at the wool store, who have their wares behind lock and key to stop the deliquents flogging the stuff. terrorism, graffiti...it's gettin' tough for knitters...
from the 15-17 june, the melbourne scarf festival is on, and promising to be bigger each year (which is perhaps why it seems that things have been quiet on the promotions side of things...hmmm.) it's a great theme of pods (aside - there's a new coupland book jpod which fits into the whole .com second time 'round madness..). we're guessing that more interesting details about the insider goings on and hijinks of the scarf fest will be available from handmadelife.
right. here's the official version from the guild:
Handknitters Guild Inc presents MINI WOOL & CRAFT EXPO
Products for handknitters, scrumblers, spinners, weavers, felters & lovers of handmade goods.
Yarns-hand-dyed, hand & machine spun,
locally grown, imported & commercial.
Wool Mohair Silk Alpaca Fleeces Rovings
Art & craft books Knitting accessories
Quality products, Demonstrations
Coburg Town Hall
90 Bell Street Coburg Mel 17 J 12
Sunday 4 June, 2006 10 am to 3:30 pm
Free Admission
Ample parking Trams every 6 min. #19 East Coburg departing Elizabeth St
With assistance from the City of Moreland.
here's the unofficial version from yours truly:
it's a huge hall full of stuff that you probably won't find under the same roof until the expo next year - so it's totally worth checking out if you have the time and inclination. see you there?
we feel it's our duty to inform you about international knitting in public day. while we'll whip out the needles if we can, it's also going to be international show our parents around glorious melbs day, so we hope you have a good one, and whack out your goods somewhere...
doing away with our need to check out knitting news is uh...knitting news, which kindly scours the interweb for knitting based news and whacks it all together in one handy spot. great idea, great execution.
we're famous!.
turns out that there's a new place to melbourne to get your magazine fix - magnation which happened to have knit1 in stock. (not in melbs, or prefer to buy online? stocking knit1 (amongst other goodies) is the thewoolshack.
here's a smattering of the bloggers from the spring issue article about knitters around the world:
jennifer gladwin, canada - uptownyarns.com
annabelle fourrier, france - fee63.canalblog.com
mitsuko tonouchi, japan - thread and yarn handing days
anna bell, uk - my fashionable life
sabine dahlhausen, germany - www.myblog.de/stricky
and the awesome lexi boeger, usa - pluckyfluff.
also spied at magnation, a copy of the deluxe crafts, put out by crafts council which features an article on the combination of fashion and biotechnology. a lab in western australia where art & science meet - symbiotica is featured, with a focus on the work of donna franklin who created a dress from funghi. here's an article on symbiotica, showing the dress.
it's great that someone else has picked up on the meeting of craft and science - we're looking forward to having an article in yarn about biology and knitting, featuring research done via symbiotica.
knit1's latest issue apparently features yours truly discussing the wonders of australian knitting (and boy, do we feel like we've been busted with our pants around our ankles blog wise...). we haven't been able to track down a copy (and now we understand why - subscribers get theirs early, the great unwashed have to wait for it to be stocked in maybe 3 or so melbs newsagents - should you know who stocks knit1, let us know). we're rather fond of the art/fashion issue with a spotted felted bag.
knit1 seem to have a thing for featuring eye candy for knitters - the male issue featuring a centrefold (!) and an interesting accessory on their bear rug. he doesn't look too comfy with those needles, but yarn is wrapped correctly around the right bits, so we'll let him off this time.
russell from series four of six feet under, we're not so sure:
six feet under got a touch dallas relationship wise - russell is the ex of claire due to his experimenting with their old art teacher who's now seeing claire's brothers ex girlfiend's mother. meanwhile, claire is getting keen on her new teacher billy, claire's brother's ex girlfriends brother. it all makes sense seeing the episodes, as old as they are. dvds have been coming in handy for getting through crocheting the dress - plodding along, and with any luck, maybe we'll have it ready in time for going to alice springs for the beaniefest in june/july.
Apparently it's some kinda promotion for melbs - but whatever it was, it was kinda fun to see a huge ball of yarn being rolled around by a modelling type on a rainy sunday:
unusual medical problem that has plenty of women wondering how their other halves can get a kidney transplant too.
lumberjack gets a female kidney transplant, and as a result - "I have developed a strange passion for female jobs like ironing, sewing, washing dishes, sorting clothes in wardrobes and even knitting."
view the full ananova article "female kidney turns lumberjack onto housework". thing is, we reckon the transplant is just a really good excuse...we reckon he's been a closet knitter for a while...it's tough coming out, but surely he's all the better for it now?
if you have a story of knitting gone wrong, yarnmagazine is looking for entries into their competition, which closes 27th january. heck, we have so many its pretty safe to say that each object we've knitted, if it wasn't completion, its had it's own disaster along the way. you'll be in good company - so check out the entry details - and maybe we'll see you in print!
sometimes real news seems strangely onion like. obviously a slow news day at contactmusic, lost in translation scarf in new knitting book. the new knitting book being the work of edith eig, entitled "mother of purl: friends, fun and fabulous design's at hollywood's knitting circle". example of the start of the scarf and a novel new name for the book at andknitting.
find out how you can get a print copy of the first edition of Yarn Magazine in your hot little hands. congrats to barbara and the team for all their hard work, and we've contributed an article on the stuffed exhibition in newcastle, focusing on the work on jake henzler.
Straight from their email:
For one night only, Friday December 16th from 6pm-10.30pm, Curious Eidolon will be hosting a Group Character Design Exhibition with Heart. In the spirit of the season, over 40 uber-cool global artists including artists, toymakers, urban street painters, illustrators, fashion designers, photographers and graphic designers have donated a diverse and distinctive range of special, affordable art gifts. These donations include original plush toys, paintings, artbooks, photos, vinyl toys, one-off prints, t-shirts and a FREE Gift Bag to the first 100
attendees!
100% of proceeds goes to ‘Life to Orphans’, a charity organisation providing money for the most basic survival needs for children living in orphanages in the Ukraine.
Please join us for a One Night Extravaganza of Art + Heart! CE are located at 80 Johnston St, Fitzroy.
More info - curiouseidolon.com
textile nutters, take note: now holding monthly open houses of her delectable printed goods is nicola cerini - email via contacts on the site for more info. museum is currently holding an exhibition of stunning textiles from william morris - going until feb 2006.
it's a little late, not being last weekend and all, but we've just found an article from allison in goldfrapp, singing the praises of knitting. fine by us.
there's a new mag out from interweave knits - knitscene. thanks to the incredibly creative and talented alison from sixandahalf stitches, who took photos of the freaky skirt, along with a great pic of di's creation which looks like it's straight out of a collins st boutique - they're in the gallery.
to quickly answer a quick question - those who have been requesting patterns of the skirt - sorry, but there's no such thing. the skirt was created using freeform so, it's a case of just base your "pattern" either on a sewing pattern, or perhaps a garment/thing that you already own. create shapes using various knitting and/or crochet stitches and assemble. for a better idea of how it works, do check out debbie new or prudence mapstone.
while we planned a huge update, it's our grandfather's funeral in the country on monday - so more when we're back.
unreal. google launch blogsearch, which could be a bit of a boon for knitters. you want examples of clapotis? you got em.
it's been a good day of special surprises, including the release of yarn magazine. we highly recommend the .pdf version - we just dig the way it's been designed. huge thanks to barbara for making us look good.
the new issue of knitty is also out - we're quite fond of arisaig, possibly because it has that whole hell it's cold in the UK sort of look to it, and has us a little wistful. maybe it's also hearing about uk dairyfarmer who figured he'd have a few bands on the farm - hello glastonbury.
there's a couple of things on soon - ms crafty ana voog has a performance at loop bar (23 meyers place cbd of melbs, thursday 27th 6pm). while we got all thrilled at the concept that ana was comin' to town, we're sure the case is it's a screening - it's free, ana is in the US, it's a locally funded thing.
also on - next weekend is the craft fair - as usual, caveat emptor that these things are put together as a business, so expect to pay - to get in, attend workshops etc etc. we'll be there sunday arvo with the handknitters guild (whom from memory are exhibiting to the theme of "it's not just scarves" or somesuch).
just a last minute reminder if you're planning on entering - entries for the melbourne scarf festival close this friday the 3rd of june. here's our entry:
it's vintage silk kimono fabric knitted with vintage silk, debbie new "scribble lace" style - and it's come out super lush and scribbly. it feels amazing as a scarf, and very akira as a more wrap type thing.
who's up for the opening show this thursday night 6-8pm?
ms love, creator of the big knit, is showing her ongoing knitted sculpture at westspace.
craftculture has more on the big knit and knitting.
well, we were wondering how the heck they made a buck and could afford to provide services...now we know. meetup are now charging their users. interesting to see what this is going to mean to small craftin' communities that use the service.
an unedited email forward...(we do like their stuff, a lot...)
Hurry as Emporio Fabrics will close in approximately 3 weeks. Don't miss
out on the last shipments of Italian wool suiting and coating. Many
more European, Designer excess, general fashion and Embroidered silk
dupion fabrics still available. First in best dressed!
EMPORIO FABRICS 454 Sydney Rd, Brunswick Ph: 9388 8806
OPEN 10am to 5pm Mon - Fri. 10am to 4pm Sat. Sun: CLOSED
there's a new oz fiction book out - "knitting", cover designed by the uber talented melbournite miri - check out the cover, the machine knit intarsia is miri's own - way to go, girl!
if you're based in glorious melbourne, we're doing a knitting workshop at carlton library (part of the yarra melbourne regional library corporation). we're not planning on teaching how to knit, but more how to learn, where to learn, where to get yarn and materials from, different types of knitting, a run through the 160 odd books available via the library about knitting, useful websites, and a decent attempt at any questions that you throw our way. knitting novices are welcome.
the knitting workshop is happening wednesday 20 april at 6.30pm, 667 rathdowne street, north carlton. bookings essential - phone the library on 92033699.
on again at alice springs in june is beaniefest. if you're interested in going, there's a tour in planning from melbourne with bushaus.
the victorian handknitters guild is planning a bus trip on saturday april 16 to bendigo checking out various yarn places to finish up at the mecca that is bendigo woollen mills. check out the guild site for more info.
Craft Victoria’s annual Melbourne Scarf Festival is just around the corner, and it’s time to start preparing your entries for the Scarf Lane Market. The Market is a forest of hand-crafted scarves submitted by professional and amateur makers that fills our Flinders Lane gallery for four days.
Exploring the theme of True Colours, the Festival will represent a collective expression of Melbourne’s tribes and their colours. This is an exciting opportunity to delve into the city’s identity, in a visual and tactile way. We’re looking for hand-crafted scarves made using all materials and techniques that reflect Melbourne’s true colours. What are the tribes of Melbourne? How are they represented through colour?
• Alice Euphemia Award for Most Appropriately Outfitting an Urban Tribe
• Artisan Books Award for the Most Outrageous Scarf
• Beautiful Silks Award for the Best Nuno Felted Mixed Fibre Scarf
• Beautiful Silks Award for the Best Nuno Felted Silk Scarf
• Beautiful Silks Award for the Best Painting Technique on a Silk Scarf
• Beautiful Silks Award for the Best Use of Colour in a Silk Scarf
• Beautiful Silks Award for the Most Innovative Use of Silk in a Scarf
• Cleckheaton Award for the Best Australian Pure Wool Scarf
• Coussinet Award for the Most Visible Narrative in a Scarf
• Crumpler Design Award for the Most Inspired Use of Stripes in a Scarf
• Flinders Quarter City Library Award for the Scarf She Chose
• Flinders Quarter Collected Works Award for the Most Poetic Scarf
• Handweavers & Spinners Guild Award for the Best Use of Colour in a Hand-woven Scarf
• Handworks Award for the Best Use of Mixed Media in a Scarf
• Howard Nye P/L Award for the Hand-woven Scarf with the Most Flair (made) by a Student
• Jo Sharp Award for the Most Innovative Use of Rare Fibres in a Scarf
• The Knitter’s Workshop Award for the Most Original Use of Sporting Colours in a Handknitted Scarf
• Lisa G Award for the Most Funky and Fabulous Scarf Crocheted on 8mm hook or larger
• Lisa G Award for the Most Funky and Fabulous Scarf Knitted on 8mm needle or larger
• Nicola Cerini Award for the Most Innovative Repeat Pattern Printed or Woven into a Scarf
• Panda Award for the Best Use of Colour in a Knitted Scarf
• Patons Award for the Most Creative Knitted Scarf
• Shepherd Award for the Most Original Use of Colour in a Knitted Scarf Made by a Child 15-years or Under
• Vixen Australia Award for the Most Beautiful Scarf
The Flinders Quarter
City Library Award for:
The scarf she chose: ‘… scarves wispy as those dreams of surpassing sweetness that, as we wake and yearn to draw them after us, break and disintegrate like strands of cobweb. Blindly I pointed at—I didn’t dare touch—the most beautiful of the scarves…’
Quoted from ‘The Scarf’, Joyce Carol Oates, in Ploughshares, literary journal, Spring 1988
The Flinders Quarter
Collected Works Award for the Most Poetic Scarf
This Award is for a scarf inspired by one of the following quotations from Baudelaire:
From To a Madonna
“(…) from my Jealousy, O mortal queen,
I’ll weave a Mantle in barbaric style—
embroidered not with pearls but with my Tears!”
OR
From Against Her Levity
“In all that panoply of silks
the colours you parade
awaken in our poets’ minds
a giddy valse des fleurs—”
The above quotations are from Richard Howard’s translations from Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal (D. Codine, 1982).
Scarves submitted for this award will be hung at Collected Works bookshop,
Level 1, Nicholas Building, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne.
The Scarf Lane Market will be even bigger and better this year. As well as the Market at our Flinders Lane gallery, there will be a seven-day exhibition of tribal scarves. In addition to scarves submitted for the Market, you are invited to submit a tribal scarf for exhibition. Exhibition scarves should tell a story about a tribe and its true colours. All scarves submitted to the Market and for exhibition will be available for purchase.
As in previous years, a range of prizes will reward outstanding scarves submitted to the Market.
Details about the submission of scarves to the Scarf Lane Market and tribal exhibition, Scarf Award guidelines and consignment information are provided in the Melbourne Scarf Festival Retail Kit.
To receive a Retail Kit, please register your interest by calling Craft Victoria on (03) 9650 7775 or emailing
Retail Kits will be sent to you at the end of March.
The Melbourne Scarf Festival runs from 30 June to 3 July, 2005.
yep, there's a new online australian/nz knitting mag on the boil - southern cross knitting, brainchild of sarah.
it's a weird combo, but the rise/fall of australian magazines (and great reader comments) with a focus on creative knitting from the smh with "brows knit over local mag". we're particularly fond of the boobs/shoes suggestion (just for the record, italian vogue has one of the most killer shoe booklets that comes as a supplement - maybe they do it yearly, total shoe porn).
article re: crochet with a mention of australiana in the form of penny o'neill: "caught yp by crochet".
"One yarn shop owner says she can't believe her 19-year-old son uses knitting as 'a babe magnet'." we can believe, but we can't believe that it's working. view the guardian/AP story - Summary: More Guys Taking Up Knitting .
given the current popularity of knitting and associated yarn guff books, here's a few more in the works: tracy ullman's "Knitwise: Projects and Stories for Serious Knitters Who Love to Laugh", pluckyfluff goodness, a book by anavoog that's she thinkin' about.
a bummer to crafty australians - one of our biggest chains of craft stores lincraft is in receivership.
so thoughtful of the guardian to include a knitting pattern for yr own grenade purse in their article "Political protest turns to the radical art of knitting". more info about the knitting exhibition on the london craft council site.
the challenge is on - bottle of champers to anyone who crochets a replica of a lorenz manifold (via kottke). we'll stick to dresses, thanks.
the poles are knitting a politically motivated giant scarf - a challenger to the world's record for longest scarf, perhaps?
knitters have organised a knit together during a movie in london, which has us thinking about having something happen in glorious melbs.
a lil' note from kazari:
We are having a 20% off all textiles Sale! That includes kimono, haori, obi, fabric
and zabuton. The sale begins on Saturday the 16th of October and runs for three
weeks. The furniture is also on sale with up to 30% off at the warehouse and the
shop. Also for the duration of the sale the warehouse will be open on Sunday's from 1-5. All the best.
See you soon,
Ashlee & Crystal
Kazari & Ziguzagu Warehouse
7-11 Hill Street Cremorne
Melbourne Victoria 3121
03 94271148
Kazari
290 Malvern Road Prahran
Melbourne Victoria 3181
03 9521 1107
Trading hours are:
Monday to Friday 9.30 - 5.30
Saturday 10 - 5
Sunday 1 - 5
keen on buying an already established yarn store? for sale - sunspun which includes a national mail order business, the website, mailing list, wholesaling of rowan fabrics, goodwill, import arrangements for yarns, and a stack of lush yarns around you whenever you go to werk.
the current owner of sunspun, sue green, had an interesting tale about horst schultz. apparently during his recent workshops in the uk he had a bit of an iron hand - homework set, and students not allowed in unless homework had been done. hmmm. there was a story about him in slipknot - bummer about the old clash between craft and metal.
we had our own little clash last night - on the tram after seeing metallica documentary "some kind of monster" we realised that we'd left a ball of yarn behind - obviously dropped in the cinema (the music in the movie was loud enough for no one to notice the addi turbos in motion). the mere thought of going back to the cinema and trying to explain the situation and retrieve said pink yarn (perhaps while the next session is in..) - we just didn't want to go there....
86 treble crochets, 255 knitting stitches - both accomplished in three minutes - rsi anyone? read knitting speedster...
a freaking huuuuuge congratulations to fellow melbourne stitch'n'bitcher dawn for having her quilt chosen to be part of the national wool museum's wool quilt prize exhibition.
dawn has done something that's been in the back of our mind for quite some time - make a quilt (doona cover...something homewaresish...) out of felted op shop jumpers. it must have been quite an undertaking for her to find the colours and textures that she wanted - perhaps now we're going into summer, more jumpers like this will be hitting op shops for a song.
teeny chunk of info re: the prize on a govt. website.
those crazy yanks spent an estimated $450 million last year on yarn, needles and other crafty guff, if the indystar "purl jam" article is anything to go by.
on the homefront, it's melbourne show time, which means that Genevieve Schwarze will have entered her lovingly hand knitted items - no doubt she's ready to give the judges a harsh word if they ever again accuse her of cheating by machine knitting. funky jars in the age photo - dunno about the green stuff.
debbie bliss has a new line of yarn out - maya, which we're guessing is done by the same collective that does the lush lookin' manos del uruguay.
great article featuring wendy about the knitting boon in the US from the washington post - stick to your knitting.
prudence mapstone, queen of scumbling (or freeform knitting and crochet, or some strange taker of large amounts of time, passion and cash...) is holding workshops in melbs at the handknitters guild. if you wanna go, book pronto - spaces are limited to the extreme. another good option is to take karen searle's sculptural knitting class at geelong fibre forum - prudence is going as a student, so surely (we're all learning together, right?) she'll pass on a few purls (groan...) of wisdom there.
the scary thing is, the needles look like our beloved addi turbos: the case of the exploding knitting needle (danke catherine).
a search for lorinda grant came up with the goods:
"Siobhan Maiden, East St Kilda
Production of Knit One, Purl One, a 26-minute documentary on a group of 30 older women in the Bendigo region employed as knitters for Lorinda Grant's fashion label. They knit $1000 garments for Parisian catwalks, as they have for years, but only as a labour of love. The women, many of whom babysat Lorinda as a child, talk as they knit. A story of friendship, warmth and respect.
* Ms Maiden is a freelance documentary film-maker and teacher of VCE media at a Melbourne secondary college. Her students will be encouraged to undertake work experience on the film."
info comes from a govt. media release
we're a tad confused how this can happen. two magazines, same name, kinda similar content, different countries, different ownership - creative knitting australia vs creative knitting u.s.. bummer that.
The ABC's Ultimo Centre foyer was filled to overflowing with over 1,000 listeners on Friday July 30th for the second annual 702 ABC Sydney Breakfast KNIT IN.
let the following article put a stop to the "it's not just for grandmothers..." pithy knitting news - "grandmother knits art genitalia".
"knitters gather for a good yarn" - my the puns are running thick this wintry time of year...check out the smh article featuring prudence mapstone freeforming. there's her knotjustknitting site too.
craft victoria's scarf festival starts today, with the opening night from 6pm tonight. press - the fun for the whole family "wool winds it's way into the city" and ms razer's "defiant group of radicals is out to unstitch global lethargy" we have the power.
we're guessing that helen won't be using the following copy elsewhere, and given it took a while to hammer out, here's the reprint in full:
For how long have you knitted, how did you acquire the skill?
i started knitting when i was about four - my grandma taught me the basics when she was doing the babysitting - along with all those other important housemotherly pursuits like cooking, sewing, crochet etc
when it comes to learning about knitting, it's not so much a one off thing of doing a class and that's it - there's so many different ways and techniques. i'm going to the geelong fibre forum for a week camp to learn about sculptural knitting from karen searle - a bit of a fibre arts genius.
When one knits/you knit publicly, what does this signify?
it's a time out from the everyday, a bit of a guilty pleasure and a chance to catch up with other people who understand how you spend too much time, money, and energy knitting. the biggest problem that i have when i go to meet up with other people is that no knitting gets done - you're too busy catching up, checking out what they're doing, reading the new knitterly books they've bought...
Is knitting more thrilling in contexts other than a rocking chair or CWA meeting?
we've yet to see extreme knitting take a hold in the same form as extreme ironing....although someone surely has got to give the odd knit one, purl one off a cliff a go.
it terms of people who are taking up knitting, it's a bit more across the board - the classic "it's not just for grandma". kelley deal from the breeders has probably helped things along with her knitting obsession. In an art context, there's been some more unusual stuff kicking around - such as ana voog's hats, debbie new's book "unexpected knitting" paves the way of letting go of the standard tea cosy and feathersTM scarf.
the internet has changed things for knitting in a major way. stitch'n'bitch groups have expanded (melbournes has around 150 members on its yahoo groups list), and debbie stoller's stitch'n'bitch book has sold over 100,000 copies, being a knitting bestseller book on amazon.com. Knitting weblogs, knitlists, and knit alongs (where groups form to knit the same thing and share the experience) are constantly increasing in number.
business is cashing in on the knitting trend - there's a new magazine in australia - creative knitting - which has an audience of around 13,000. yarn companies are marketing for the young hip audience - thick yarns that are quick to knit, unusual fibres like paper and rag which create more high fashion boutique type garments and patterns for items not normally associated with knitting - dresses, skirts, felted bags, shoes. wool stores are importing and offering new glitter filled huge needles, hand dyed yarns, self patterning sock wools and other unusual guff.
In your own experience, knitting an engaging hobby, an obsession or simply something to do with one's hands, mind and downtime?
all three. knitting has been work in a yarn store - it beats record stores hands down because the customers are generally female, practise good hygiene, and they want to buy. i've spent money, but i know others who have rooms full of yarn and patterns to knit, so i don't feel so bad. i've met a flatmate and gotten a job through people i've met knitting. i've knitted on public transport, in pubs, bars, coffee shops, movies, planes and houses, so it is a tad obsessive, but it's cheaper than therapy and beats smoking.
it's sale time - 30% off if you're paying cash at marta's yarns. hmm. she's open today. marta has those lovely addi turbo needles and the rayon to make the dress that we've been eyeing off. even though she usually only stocks single colours, rob point us in the direction of the magic ball method, so we could knit with every colour of pink, red, and whatever else we loved. it's very tempting to go, but sometimes, one has to face having enough stuff. for example: "'I never tell anyone to throw anything away." says Ward. "If you want to keep 572 knitting magazines, you have to provide adequate space for them.'" article about clutter busting from the financial times.
while we heartily congratulate derwent howard on another issue out, there's been a few "oops!" moments with the latest issue of creative knitting. a few garments have been sized small medium and large, which is fine, except there are no other measurements, no gauge, and no way of working out exactly how big something is meant to be. a tip - if you're submitting - please do give a recommended gauge.
here's the extra info for the "country cable cardigan" on p16:
Tension
20 sts and 26 rows equals 10 cm over stocking stitch on 4.5 mm needles
Small
Bust 98 cm
Length 55 cm 1 pattern repeat 6 cm if wish longer
Medium
Bust 106 cm
Length 67 cm
Large
Bust 116cm
Length 73 cm
the cardie comes from nundle woollen mills - contact them for a free shadecard. we also like the "time for a yarn" article about minxknits, also located in nundle.
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if you happen to be remote, bedridden or overseas, and are keen on getting a single copy of creative knitting sent to you, here's a handy option (that lyn mclean from customer service says they're happy to do, even if when we called, the lady we spoke to hadn't heard of the mag...). bendigo woollen mills offers a mail order service, with free postage if you order over a certain amount (roughly a jumper lot, depending on where you are in the world). if you also order a magazine with your postage free order, you just pay the cover price.
just churn out those 500 or so words, collect cash, and go. time for a yarn. keywords - kidman, diaz, scarf, group, london, castoff, yadda yadda. okay, maybe we're being a bit mean there - at least she introduced the public to louise weaver.
fave quote - ""It's a bit like showering under Niagara Falls," her publisher, Meg Swansen, says of Ms. New's book." debbie new featured in a great article from canadian paper the globe and mail.
"Ms. Wilson was expecting a few dozen requests a month for the pattern, but the ripple turned into a groundswell, and she estimates that she has sold about 750 Rogue downloads." tech/knitting article from the new york times. (requires subscription - hello bugmenot)
we have a little love affair with gertrude st fitzroy - it's the home of organic bakery, who do the most amazing foccacias - potato and rosemary, olive, blueberry and kirsch, and then there's books for cooks, which is exactly, deliciously that, and then there's St Lukes, home of fabulous art supplies, and then there's artisan....
"Artisan Books will be commencing our 4th annual beanie exhibition and sale toward the end of June, with a special emphasis placed on the wild and wacky. We welcome knitters/felters to send in their entries before the start of June and will be allocating a $50 book voucher to the craziest creation. Please contact us at the shop for details." need a little inspiration? check out ana's latest creation.
beautiful knitting news article with some rare research and pertinent info to it - the ancient craft of knitting.... what a way to go - cashmere and ebony needles.
well, it's meant to be out:
but after scouring the better part of inner city melbs (our treat after doing a few business things today), we'll just let creative knitting magazine find us. with any luck issue five is featuring the illustrations of loobylu, the writings of harveygal and a scarf pattern from yours truly. ok, for some folk the term scarf pattern is an oxymoron, but we've been assured that some people love the things, so much that ck is doing a scarf issue.
rowan's latest venture, a youth/high fashion oriented knitting mag - R2. (we're a sucker for their more classic gear such as panama in cotton braid).
"Issey Miyake saw the future of fashion. So he gave up haute couture to become a softwear engineer."
miyake (a japanese designer of interest to knitters due to his interesting cuts and shapes when he designs clothes which also tend to flatter) in the latest issue of wired. we've seen some of his APOC gear for sale at londons v&a museum (who are currently hosting punk rock queen of knitting vivienne westwood - check the liberty flowers dress) which recently held a event hailed as "knitting casts off its old image". that's not where it ends for the knitting done by anyone but old women (what is it with these articles?), there's also the wrestling champ, martial arts expert, and the standard s'n'b bonding story.
our virgin entry into ebay selling - vintage imitation silk, which is uber fine, slippery stuff, well suited to smancy crochet work, and possibly knitting fine lace and even undergarments (we're suspecting that was the original idea, anyway). check it out on ebay
proving that the best wool in the world is at your doorstep - "Two Australian sheep farmers have produced the world's finest wool, a mere 11.9 microns thick or about one-fifth the diameter of human hair, with a bale of the super fine wool now under armed guard inside a bank vault. " read the cnn article.
there's a small textiles exhibition at ngv australia featuring the work of textile artists and knitters such as ilka white and lorinda grant, on until july 4 - pins and needles. also happening soon is the melbourne fashion festival.
"Sales of books on knitting are soaring at Barnes & Noble, up 60 percent over last year," said Steve Riggio, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc. "In response to this trend, we have teamed up with Suss Cousins to offer our customers her line of kits for both the beginner and intermediate knitter. They are great examples of quality contemporary crafts made for entertainment and learning." view the article. view the kits.
judge tells protestor to take up knitting:
"My son's been telling me for years to take up knitting. But I can't knit. As long as there are nuclear weapons in the world, and particularly in Plymouth, I will carry on protesting." view article.
inspirational gallery of hats and other wearables at if the hat fits, which is on the site of scumbling and freeform crochet/knitting queen, prudence mapstone.
still going strong when it comes to making groovy creative inspiring hats and other goodness - ana voog.
it turns out that the knitting for the steriogram video was done by lauri faggioni, who has a shop that churns out these ultra cute felty dolls. claire robertson who does illustrations for creative knitting mag also has her own doll for sale. if you're into smaller dolls, see 'em uber tiny from bugknits.
while we thought we were pretty good in the project arena, we were amazed to find that "According to the Craft Yarn Council of America, the average yarn buyer made 15.4 projects last year, compared with 10.8 in 2000. " whoa. that's a lot of knitting. check out cleveland.com's knitting facts.
an interesting use of knitting indeed - the latest video for nz band stereogram features work by london based special effects/production shop the mill - check out the article.
how cool - "Four of us actually started an "all guys" knitting club. We met twice a week and watched James Bond movies in a bachelor pad while clacking away with our needles." - from the globe and mail article. what we need is a lil' spinster pad, complete with trashy movies, cocktails, a little womanly soul music and a crew of knitters.
wondering how anyone could come up with the 500k for wondoflex, we reckon we've hit gold. someone just needs to have a quick word in the ear of the latest person to have caught the "knitting fetish" mr crowe, (about halfway down trashy "news") and all will be peachy.
one of melbourne's oldest, largest, and well known wool stores - wondoflex - is for sale.
dudes! throw some metal at the knitting rock along, complete with intarsia pinky'n'index up metal signs...for a while there, the melbourne stitch'n'bitch
troop was a little tea cosy crazy, so we consider it our duty to inform you of the "no tea cosies without irony" site craftster.org.
cyclamen darling, cyclamen! it was a pretty quiet sunday afternoon at the knitters workshop, when the girls came in. they were doing a special knitted project for the kath & kim website - a little babies cap. so, it was kinda fun going over the yarns, colours, what noooooooice things they could conjure up...check out Epponnee Rae's Gumnut Baby Bonnet with Wattle Pompons.
interweave's knits, the american knitting mag have revamped their website, complete with a weblog from knitty's editor, and a ruvly gallery of knitted shoes. if we get it together, it would be kinda fun to submit gloves to an upcoming gallery - doing the nail polish on glove look has always appealed to us.
for those in melbs, a few of our knitted/felted bags are for sale at a new store that's just opened - The General Store, 67 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy 3065, so it's a veritable feast of culture and good food on that street, what with artisan books, st lukes, the organic bakery, vegetarian orgasm, books for cooks...
there's this thing we've been thinking of doing - cushions and throws that are a little sculptural, and dotty - an ode to yayoi kusama. someone has sort of beat us to it - check out weresheep.
being summer, crochet seems to be the thing coming back into fashion. giving the trend a good shove are the adorable lil' animals and suchlike at anneclairepetit (danke claire!).
aiming for the world's longest scarf (32,000 metres!) is the stitched up textile festival in june - july 2004. the ABC is hosting a little get together on the 26th in melbs to encourage a little knitting for the cause.
jo sharp is a western oz knitwear designer and manufacturer of some really luscious yarns who has a new batch coming out late this year in australia, but those lucky kids o/s in europe and the u.s have already got their mitts on it. knittingfever has the new yarns for yr gawking.
doing a little search of knitting news around the world, there's some pearlers....
"The knitting craze sweeping trendy Melbourne cafes appears to have spread to Shepparton judging by the outstanding response to the 2003 Guardian Angel Knitting Project. " craze? sweeping? trendy melbs cafes? yeah. right. hmmm. perhaps if we substitute "journalism craze" "infecting" and "desperate media" it's a little closer to target. full story.
there's an article about wal mart in the u.s. and how stores can compete against them...an issue becoming increasing closer to home. Big W, of all places is now stocking knitting pattern books (and no doubt, plenty of feathers, too!) and advertising through editorial in related mags such as good taste (woolworths have their fingers in both goodtaste and bigw pies, of course.) the problem is, stocking a full set of knitting needles isn't enough, because in a smaller store, customers expect the full range of knitting needles, the full range of the yarn they want to use, the full range of patterns, and the full range of pattern books at the cheapest price possible in a small store. that's a big ask. pertinent bit from the article - "He suggested that retailers should offer different merchandise from the standardized Wal-Mart—or complementary merchandise that Wal-Mart doesn’t carry to go with what they offer. As an example, he said, if Wal-Mart sells yarn but only two sizes of knitting needles, a local business could carry a complete selection of knitting needles.
He also said a local business should have exceptional product knowledge, “so that the customer comes to you to find out why it doesn’t work the way they want it to work when they’re doing their knitting,” reliable guaranteed services and the lowest possible prices, although “you don’t have to beat their price.”"
full story
proving that knitters do indeed lead interesting double lives - "Presiding over two of the largest communist spy networks in the late 1940s, Bentley earned her KGB moniker, "Clever Girl," by arranging clandestine meetings with U.S. government officials and hiding documents in her knitting bag."
full story.
interesting chunk o' news re: euro designer julien mcdonald:
"After a degree in textiles at Brighton, Macdonald won a place on the MA course at the Royal College of Art, where his flair for creating the wispiest of cobweb knits was spotted by Karl Lagerfeld.
“At the time, I was only 20. I lived in a one-bedroom flat in Finsbury Park and I knitted the most expensive Chanel couture dresses by hand, sat on my single bed. Those dresses were bought by the most incredible women in the world.
Karl saw my talent from a young age. He taught me about dressing, about sophistication, about the elegance and the beauty in a woman. Nobody understands a woman like Karl.” "
from the age.
the reason for the gap between entries is just that there's a bit on at the moment, and it's been a wee bit important to take time out - including time out from computing machine screens. the last couple of days has been spent going back to school - that is, lace knitting school, with margaret stove as teacher. she was an incredibly organised, talented tutor, who was great for catering to all levels. after all, she had us - on the under side of menopause, first stab at lace knitting, and giggling like a schoolkid at every mention of the term "faggoting" (which does have specific meaning in knitting, but we're sure that brian from queer as folk has erm...other ideas...). on the flipside were some truly talented knitters - carmel hanna (dubbed hardcore hanna for her involvement in the handweavers and spinners guild, entry and pattern in australian yarn art etc...) and the like. lace knitting was a good thing to do and practice, and going into a project like ez's pi shawl doesn't seem like such a huge undertaking now.
in the vein of a charming book "knitting with dog hair: better a sweater from a dog you know and love than from a sheep you'll never meet" is jodi redwolf's woven dog scarves modelled by her canine pals.
yep, the melbs scarf fest starts this week - there's demonstrations, a bunch of knitters to gawk at, a gallery of groovy things to buy, and a general crafty good time, really. check out the program c/o craft victoria.
in other scarf news, we were happy as punch today...a new knitter came into the store, and instead of the standard freaky fibres, she took our advice and is knitting a beautiful scarf out of wool. the benefits? it's australian (perhaps nz?) wool (supporting our local industries leaves us all warm inside), lovingly hand dyed, so no one will have a scarf like hers. she's knitting two strands of the wool together, so it's going to come out really special - a whole range of subtle changes of colour that will all work together, and look sensational together, and all she needs to do is knit garter stitch.
woohoo! the $1 a ball SEX (sheesh...we can just imagine a few old ladies going for it with the sherry to come up with this one - the gonad free Stash Enhancement eXpedition, much like those suss looking bacon wrapped sausages from the 70's...) is happening the 6th July at organic wholefoods, 452 lygon street, brunswick (as in not the italian end, but east brunswick, away from the city on the 01 and 22 tram line - check the map).
we met up with janet when she was selling off her stash from her now closed woolstore at the handknitters mini wool show last month - after snagging a garbage bag load of wool, we were silly/besotted/knit mad enough to ask if she had more. she does. a whole ute load. we'll be posting closer to the date the sort of thing that she'll have available, but treating last time as a guide - small amounts (ie..not a jumper lot) of specialty yarn, a decent amount of white yarn in various guises (baby wool, loopy mohair) summer yarns (cottons and blends) and a total grab bag of more unusual hard to find things - sock wool, complete with the little bobbins of elastic inside and the like. all yarn is at least a season old, and well known brand names such as sirdar, cleckheaton, crucci etc.
to make it a worthwhile sunday outing, just up from janet's $1 a ball extravaganza is the knitter's workshop at 506 lygon (see previous entry). strangely enough, when we posted that entry, we just really, really liked the store. next sunday, we'll be in there - working! so, if you haven't been, now you have a really lovely excuse to come check it out.
also on - it's the monthly meeting day for the handknitter's guild at 211 moreland road (simply snag a 22 tram from lygon) ...we're definitely keen on going given how we need to get a grip fast on learning how to knit continental - one of the ladies we met at the mini wool thinger offered to give us an extended lesson there, so if you'd fancy meeting up with birds of a feather (apparently they also have an awesome stash on vintage patterns...mmmm...), you might like to get along there too.
so, turn up to organic wholefoods (it's a ruvly cafe which does a mean breakfast) from 11am with your cash, a nice big bag, and a little knitting to sit and have a chat with friends new and old. should the cafe situation get a little out of control or you arrive early (organics opens at 11) there's a couple of others around on lygon that are great too - we're keen on thangs (502 lygon) and there's also small block (130 lygon).
the govt. decision to make entry into museum victoria's campuses free for children and concession holders, and $6 for adults is a fine one - we're looking forward to checking out the holes surrounded by thread exhibition. smart curating in action by showing the history of lace, but also bringing in lorinda grant for a bit of modern work too. the melbs knitting.meetup is tonight - see you there.
"The head waiter told us all that knitting should be done at home and he told authur that he shouldn't knit because he is a boy, and he should get up and fight instead!" - from the castoff message boards, regarding getting kicked out of the savoy hotel. we thought the savoy was meant to be this uber posh, terribly expensive place to go - when we were in london, we didn't dare go in, but just ogled the swish frontage of the place.
love the idea of knitting somewhere like that though - guess that the closest thing we have in melbs is the hopetoun tea rooms - it would be fun to dress vintage style and have a grand get together with tea, scones, cucumber sandwiches and a bunch of people knitting.
just in case you've seen the australian creative knitting mag, and an added bonus for those who didn't - where did the cyberknitting picture come from? claire robertson does deluxe illustrations - you can find her at loobylu.com and clairetown.com. before going o/s for a while, we caught up with claire (her version | ours), and it was one of many reasons to move to melbs. one of the first things that we knitted on arriving here was a little hat and scarf for babies c/o debbie bliss. here's the hat on claire's daughter, amelia.
"Suddenly it's chic to knit. How has that once-dowdy pastime captured the interest of bright young Melburnians and Hollywood stars? Michelle Hamer reports." - that's all that I can get from an online search of today's age. hopefully, the whole article will turn up soon, but it's basically a story on how the hip young things are taking on knitting, with photos and commentary from a group that knits at revolver.
also in the article is mention of a book about knitting coming out by sharon aris - It's My Party and I'll Knit If I Want to!. odds are that this book is the one that'll feature info from/about kelley deal (from nz news):
"Kelley enjoys the creativity involved - she reckons the artistic process in knitting is similar to that of making music, and the 40-year-old musician now sells her original, one-off knitted bags on her website.
In fact, she's becoming so well known for it that an Australian woman writing a book about the craft called to ask for an interview - "nothing to do with music at all", says an astounded Kelley. "