PE Task 2

I have found the first half of this term at university challenging on completing the 'sampling' unit. Although, I feel I have learnt an awful lot more having been so new to the equipment we have been using. Even though I have enjoyed my time in the 'construct textile world', I feel that I was out of my comfort zone compared to last term being in embroidery. I am glad however that I had the confidence to try something I was almost completely new to and give it my all. The last 6 weeks have been very intense with the amount of skills I have learned. I would say I prefer knit over weave, however with time, practice and patience I'm sure I could grasp weave quite well. These short 6 weeks I feel are not a brilliant representation of my best ability. And the things I could accomplish with more time would show this.

I primarily had a colour palette of varying shades of blue; however as I progressed through the project I injected some different colours to this palette also.

Throughout the data project i have been researching artists and their work. I have found that Jan McGarry’s work to be one of the most relevant artists to the work that I am currently doing. She works in a linear way; especially in this piece titled ‘Africa in Stitch’. With the 'world' that I have been in for the past 6 weeks that is ‘construct’; I found it very difficult of venture away from creating samples of my own in this way, due to the methods and machines we were using. I found these quite restrictive at times for the types of things that I had wanted to do. Although at this stage in my learning in this unit I feel that this is the way it is bound to be; but with time would progress.

I found that Jan McGarry really influenced my work in the minimalistic lines that she uses; especially in this piece. Even in the way I have subtly created lines in a knit sample which involves the use of only one yarn colour, however changing the knit tension gives this interesting effect when looked at from afar.

Jan McGarry - 'Africa in Stitch'

Knitting - weeks 4, 5, 6

Knitting has by far been the part of the course I have been most looking forward to. however, again it did not turn out as I expected. From a young age I was taught to hand knit by my Grandma and this has been something I have enjoyed doing since then. However, I found that with machine knitting you don't get the same enjoyment and satisfaction when you complete a piece.

It was a very surprising discovery for me that I didn't enjoy this 'textile world' as much as I had expected to. From this I have learnt about myself that it isn't so much the final outcome that I love so much about knitting (the same for weaving); its more about the process and the actual creating that I enjoy and that attracts me to this part of textiles so much. I like the idea of being able to manipulate a single yarn with only your hands (no machine) in order to make something quite interesting.

plain knit with colour change based on a drawing from my sketch book

plain knit with tension change and deliberate hole making

Drawings/ Drawing Fridays

These are few of the many drawings I have produced as a result of the data project and the Friday drawing days. 

Distort and Warp

I used the idea of flicking ink across the paper and the selected a variety of object to outline. I then used a drawing tool that I had made in the past to add water to distort the way the ink had originally dried on the paper and to smudge the outlines to see how this changes the original piece.

Mechanical Drawing

I took a simple everyday item and used it to change the way I was drawing. I used a straw to blown a pool of ink around a piece of cartridge paper. This idea then became the basis for my interpretation of 'data' in the data project this term.

Layering

I love the thought of layering a few different ideas, whether related or not. For example, in the photograph below I have taken a couple of different objects (pebbles and matchboxes) and layered them; playing around with different colour, media, size and tools.

Using light and shade as a tool

During my time in the knitting workshops I made a variety of different samples relating to my sketchbook work on the data project. One particular piece of mine caught my attention when I was looking at it backed onto a white piece of cartridge paper. I was using the paper to experiment with what the large sample of knitting would look like on different coloured backgrounds and whether this would change the 'look' of the piece.

In doing so and holding it up to have a look, the dark yarn made a shadow on the reverse of the white paper creating a rather interesting effect. I love looking at the use of light and shade in pieces like these where the small or larger gaps in the knitting make their own pattern on the paper. It reveals another dimension to your work.

I then thought of another way I could incorporate light and dark into my work and not just through the natural way. So I put a different piece of knitting into my photocopier to see the results. Not only leaving it on the normal colour setting but changing it to black and white and increasing and decreasing the intensity of the light used. This time the knitting sample I was using wasn't only plain knitting at the one before was; it had a change in tension in several parts throughout the piece. This became more prominent once photocopied.

Here are a few photos of my discoveries:

 this is the original piece of plain knitting with deliberate rough holes throughout

 

these two photos above are the shadows produced by the knitting on the other side

left: photocopy of the knitting sample with varying tensions    right: original sample of knitting

Weaving - weeks 1, 2, 3

Throughout the Christmas holidays I had been anxious to start this unit. Although weave is something I had been practicing in my work since I first started textiles, I knew it was going to be nothing like anything I had ever done before. I was excited to learn a new way of producing samples that would reflect the work I had been doing in my sketchbook. In the past I have always done weaving using a hand weave board and a a large darning needle to weave the weft in and out of the warp. Initially I thought it was quite a simple process of lifting the leavers which lifts the different shafts in the loom in order for you to be able to slide the shuttle across the width of the loom weaving the selected yarn in and out of the warp eventually creating a new material and pattern. The more complicated the pattern on the pattern card became, the more difficult I found it to get my head round the mechanics of the looms.

I would say I find it difficult to concentrate for very long periods of time which may be one reason for why I found weave more challenging. The concentration needed for counting the lines of the pattern you'd already done is great and I find getting distracted easily a problem for this. However, being in the right mindset, being done patiently and with care and thought into the pattern, the results can be very professional looking. Although we were primarily focusing on machine weaving, for the possibility of using what we'd learnt in the future; I was still drawn to including some hand weaving into my work to show a diverse way of working as well as being able to use a wider variety of yarns and thickness of yarns.

hand weave sample reflecting my colour palette