Evaluation

During this unit, I have developed a style of knitting that I find exciting and engaging. I have taken a mixed media approach, weaving in metal embellishments, plastic fimo beads and other found materials, such as a metal kitchen scourer.

I have experimented with varied techniques on the domestic machine, such as partial knit, hooking up and fringing and I have become confident translating my drawings and ideas from sketchbook to knitted sample. I have also learnt new techniques on the dubied machine, which I would like to experiment with further in the next unit.

I have interpreted my visual research of Folk Art and Turkish Textiles, in an original way by using a wide range of yarns and unusual materials, while also taking inspiration from relevant fashion designers, such as Leutton Postle, and Mark Fast.

I really enjoyed incorporating both machine and hand knit into my samples plus hand manipulating the knitting when it was still on the machine. I wanted to create an interesting contrast, both in tension, stitch size and quality. I feel that this has been successful in that the finished work has a handcrafted feel which has the essence of my original inspiration and the machine and handwork compliment each other well. I felt that it was important to interpret the textiles I was looking at in a contemporary way and not just reproduce them exactly in a knitted form.

Accessories is an obvious step to take from these knitted pieces, however I would like to develop them further as I see them as details of a fashion knitwear piece. They could almost give the appearance of pieces of jewellery, giving the garment a sculptural quality in parts.

In the future I see myself working as a fashion knitwear designer or possibly costume designer and I aspire to create knitwear with a similar aesthetic to that of design duo Leutton Postle. They also take a very mixed media approach to knitting incorporating found, everyday materials into their knit with a bold, instinctive approach to knitting which really appeals to me.

In order to develop my work further, I need to become more adept at using the dubied machine, while also continuing to incorporate domestic machine and hand knitting together, possibly using dubied as trims or decoration on heavier gauge knits. I would also like to dye my own yarns in the next unit, in order to create a truly individual colour scheme.

My weakness during this unit has been that at times I have placed unnecessary restrictions on myself, in terms of colour palette and swatch shape and this inhibited me. Once I started to look more closely at my sketchbook ideas which were not confined to  rectangular shapes, I let go of these self imposed restrictions and my samples became much more exciting, energetic, less restrained colour wise and more organic in shape. The circle figured extensively in my sketchbook so literally producing knitting on a circular format freed me up to be more inventive.

I also need to be careful with my time management in future, as I spent too long on early experimental samples rather than moving on to larger pieces.

My strengths in this unit have been my use of varied types of yarns and materials and I have incorporated them in different ways, such as weaving in metal and crocheting onto wire structures and combining pieces together to create larger, more inventive, organic shapes. I have taken risks in terms of colour, materials and the format of my swatches, which have paid off and helped me to take the project forward and I feel that I have other ideas that I would like to complete for this project.

I feel that I have interpreted the brief well and I have not been too literal in my interpretation of the Folk and Turkish textiles, which can be a problem when producing a textile using another textile as inspiration.

Leutton Postle

Developing final samples

In the past week I have widened my colour scheme and decided not to stick to a rectangular format. This immediately improved my samples and made them much more energetic and they began to reflect my visual research to a greater extent.
My swatches are made up of different elements, which are then sewn or crocheted together afterwards and I have been experimenting with different composition ideas through drawing and photographing them in different formats and combinations. This allows me to experiment with colour proportion and spatial relationships before it is all set in place and sewn down.

Tutorial

During my tutorial I was advised to really embrace the hand knit as it added another later to my work and was a more unusual approach. I was encouraged to be bolder with my colour palette, and choose more clashing colours. I really agree with these ideas as I feel my samples have been too restrained and did not reflect the energy of the Turkish textiles or fashion designers whose work I had been looking at. 

The contrast in yarn types and thicknesses had proved effective I have used raffia and chenille in combination with thin embrpidery threads, creating strong and interesting contrasts of texture and tension. 

Artist Reference

I have been looking at the work of fashion designer duo Leutton Postle, whose mixed media approach fits well with my work on this project. Their approach appears instinctive, sometimes appearing slightly random which echoes the feel of the Turkish decorative ceremonial tabards that I originally looked at. They were decorated with an array of materials using different techniques, and the work of Leutton Postle seems to echo that. They use unusual and contrasting materials such as plastic, ribbon and cable ties, constructing them in such a way so as to create sculptural, often layered fabrications. This is an interesting concept, which I would like to emulate in my own work.

I have also looked at the work of Amy Boone McCreesh, who creates collage pieces using a variety of different papers. I have used collage in my sketchbook as a way of generating ideas as it allows me to experiment with colour and texture in a more hands on way, more similar to knit. I think I can take inspiration from her compositional arrangements and her bold use of colour and layering. I feel that I respond better to when manipulating paper, fabric and materials rather than just working in a flat, one dimensional way.

Idea Generation

I sometimes find it difficult to translate my visual research into knit samples. Manipulating flat images, be they drawings, photographs etc, helps me to interpret them more successfully and see them in a 3 dimensional way. In order to generate ideas I created a crochet circle using relevant colours, which I then photocopied. I also looked back to my earlier prints using beads and I magnified on the photocopier, which created interesting compositions. I need to continue to work on ways of interpreting these as knitted samples

but using collage definitely feeds my design work. Manipulating materials in a 3 d way is a natural progression from intial sketch book drawings and photographs and my ideas for knit come from these collages.