RADICAL KNITTER

Radical knitting in Peru

2010-09-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

Two decades of conflict in Peru left some 15,000 people missing. Today great efforts are being made to help the families left behind. The remains of some victims have been recovered, but many more are yet to be found. This week’s reporter meets the people trying to make a difference.

View the video here.

Copyright © 2010 euronews

Why I knit

2009-03-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

1. It can be meditative (when I knit a mindless project).
2. It can also be challenging (when I knit something using a new technique).
3. Because of 1 and 2 I think it’s good for my brain.
4. I love the process in which an object takes form between my fingers.
5. Creating your own clothing and accessories is subversive.
6. Creating your own clothing can be good for the environment if you use recycled or eco-friendly materials.
7. Knitting can be a form of art (once you knit enough sweaters you need to diversify).
8. You can create and wear unique garments.
9. Knitting teaches you to accept flaws and imperfections.
10. It’s a great way to show someone you care about them.
11. It’s addictive!

Hooked on felting

2009-02-13T23:46:00.000-08:00

Over the winter break, when I was supposed to work on my dissertation, I instead decided to do something with the yarn I had bought in Ecuador. After making one knit bag and felting it, I discovered among my patterns this beautiful and simple pattern for a crochet bag. The name, Good Vibrations, very attractive and auspicious for the new year, and the idea that I could use little bits of yarn left over from other projects was very attractive as well. I ended up using much more yarn than expected and stayed up many nights crocheting the repetitive pattern because I was so anxious to see the final project. Seeing the stripes develop was very exciting... I love the earthiness of the colors.

Felting went great. I was worried because people posted conflicting things on the web about felting with a front loading machine; mostly that it's impossible. I have to say that all my felted projects were a success. The thing is, felting with a front loading machine is slow. It will take several cycles to see some change in your project. But the good news is, you cannot overfelt. Because things felt so slowly, it's OK that you cannot open the door and check the progress. Just relax, throw a couple of dryer balls in the machine with your project to add some agitation and expect several trips to the laundry room. Be patient and you will be rewarded. I liked felting, this magical transformation of the knitted fabric to something solid and yet so soft, so much, that I made some felted baskets as well.

Somehow I felt like performing alchemy. Insert object in machine and let it be transformed...
If only I could do that with my dissertation.... Alas, writing is a much slower and painful process than felting in a front loading machine...

Summer Knits

2009-01-06T12:04:00.000-08:00

I want to share 2 knits that I made for last summer. I love them both.

One is a sweater that I made from a pattern in The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for All Seasons

I used my favorite color in two slightly different shades. The yarn is Bella by Num ei. It's a blend of rayon and cotton. It has great drape and is really cool, which makes it suitable for summer projects. The only problem is that it pills easily (as with all cotton yarn) but the price is right. I pretty much followed the pattern except I made a row of single crochet around all edges to prevent it from curling. Blocking with a steamer also helped with that.
I loved making this, and love wearing it. It's what I wear when I really want to be comfortable, like when I travel.

The next project was this fabulous skirt from Greetings from Knit Cafe.

It's a popular pattern and it was the first time I knit lace. It turned out OK, apart from one mistake that I wasn't able to correct. Oh well... I equally loved making this and wearing it. I used the same yarn as above and the drape is fabulous.

Another radical knitter

2009-01-05T13:00:00.000-08:00

I am always excited when I find out that someone super cool is a knitter. Imagine my surprise when I found out while watching La Vie en Rose, that Edith Piaf was an avid knitter. I was frogging something with the help of my husband while watching the movie and we both chuckled...

It's funny when you think about it. At a time that knitting was mostly associated with domesticity someone like Edith Piaf, who was everything but domestic, loved to knit. I guess knitting was subversive much earlier than we think. It makes sense that someone like her would knit though. She went through so much in her life, I am sure knitting was a refuge where she could just be.

I loved the scene where she knits on the beach while being interviewed by a journalist. When the journalist asks her who she knits for, she answers: "Anyone who will wear my sweater". And this bit of the interview was beautiful:

Journalist: If you were to give advice to a woman, what would it be?
EP: Love.
Journalist: To a young girl?
EP: Love.
Journalist: To a child?
EP: Love.

The Last knit

2009-01-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

This is where I see myself a few years from now...

If this isn't radical, I don't know what is...

Last FO for 2008

2009-01-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

I spent most of New Year's Eve felting the bag that I had been knitting lately. The pattern is called Pony Express and it's a very roomy saddle bag from Pursenality Plus. I wanted a messenger bag but this design is much more interesting and easy enough. I knit it over a few nights while watching movies.

I used my hand dyed Ecuadorian yarn double throughout. Felting went well, I had to run it through the washing machine a few times and I am happy with the result. However, this yarn is very hairy and there is hair all over my apartment now! The bag is very roomy and has a nice round shape. I don’t think I will use any of the decorations (feathers etc) for now. I like it just the way it is. The hand dyed yarn already makes is busy enough for my taste…

Getting lessons from an old timer...

2008-12-31T14:48:00.000-08:00

While I am all about the appropriation of knitting and making something new with it, I cannot help but nod to our grandmothers, who kept the art alive for us.
This is my father's aunt, who has made many socks for me over the years...
I was curious how she makes them though because they did not look like the ones I see in pattern books in the US. This summer, while I was in Greece I got her to teach me how to do it while I was videotaping it. She starts from the toes and goes up and the heel looks a bit pointy. I think that is the way all women in Greece make socks. They may look a little weird but they are just as comfortable....

Crochet coasters

2008-12-27T15:53:00.000-08:00

This is how I practiced different crochet stitches. I was too bored of just making swatches and I was really confused about all the different crochet stitches. So I grabbed a book with all the stitch instructions and picked a few patterns that use a variety of stitches and voila! The result is a useful item, plus almost instant gratification. Now I am not scared of a pattern that uses double or treble crochet anymore!!!

Pattern can be found here.

Pattern.

Pattern.

I made all of them with a cheap worsted weight cotton yarn like Sugar n' Cream.

Toasty Mittens

2008-12-23T14:36:00.001-08:00

So, this winter turned out to be every bit as bad as the last one so when the temperature hit several degrees Celsius below zero, I knew I needed mittens. And not just any mittens, I realized that the ones I had were not warm enough for this temperature so I HAD to make new ones and fast! Even though I like shopping as much as anyone, I try to reduce my consumption and use what I have, so I raided my stash and came up with this gorgeous hand-dyed wool yarn I had from Ecuador. Too itchy to use for a hat or scarf but great for mittens. I had never made mittens before but it turned out to be much easier than I expected. I used a pattern called Gauntlet Mittens from the book Speed Knitting and used my yarn double throughout. It took a few hours over the weekend to make them and by Monday I had these great mittens to wear at work! The cuff is a pain to make (maybe because of the bulkiness of the project, not sure) but it's gorgeous - it looks like it's woven!!! I liked these so much that I made a pair for my husband with a different yarn and a "manlier" cuff!

I love my new mittens more than anything I would have bought in a store and they are super warm!

Last Christmas' Skull Sweater

2008-12-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

I knit this pattern from the DomiKNITrix book for my husband last Christmas. It was the hardest project I have ever made (I must say I don't like intarsia) but the result was very satisfying. I used some wool yarn I had bought in Ecuador in the summer of 2007. Not very luxurious, it's rather itchy actually, but very, very warm! I used the 6mm needles that she suggests but knit it flat. I also remember there was a mistake in the pattern for the arm, which I figured out too late and had to unravel the whole thing... Oh well, that taught me to check for book errata online before I start a project!

And here is a picture of my husband wearing it! I think it's really cute.

Radical Crochet

2008-12-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Nailed 'Em - Radical Knitting

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Knitting and crochet are beginning to appear in the most unlikely places!

Subversive knitting

2008-12-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

I always thought any form of DIY is subversive. If you think that knitting is for grannies, think again! Even though I believe that grannies can teach us a thing or two about knitting!

In this blog I want to share my thoughts about knitting and my projects as I like to share in general...

I knitted my first project when I was very young, a blanket for my doll. I didn't do much after that mainly because I bought into the BS that knitting is uncool and because I had no supplies.

My first contact with a subversive use of knitting was an exhibition of Grayson Perry's work in Amsterdam, where he used traditionally female techniques like embroidery and knitting to convey his message.

A couple of years ago a friend showed me how to crochet and I remembered how much I liked knitting as a process. Soon thereafter I started knitting compulsively. It wasn't always a zen experience but it was satisfying and I managed to create some usable items that I will be featuring in this blog. I still pretty much follow the patterns for now, until I am experienced enough to design my own creations.