Casting off...

The last stitches are stitched and the jersey complete. I think this assignment has been a fabulously tangible one. I created the fabric of my life, sit back for a second and just own that. My creation. This is something no one else can replicate. I have learnt a lot about a lot ... In the beginning my tension was so tight I was knitting waterproof garments, now I can do a row of ribbing per minute!

I've learned a lot about myself, a lot about knitting, fabric, patterns, needles, blogging and time management, the list really goes on and on....

 On Monday I wrote a post on Facebook..

One week, two exams, two reports... One garment.. 

On Friday, I'm too tired to post anything, but I've accomplished everything.

Who am I, I am perfectly me, content and happy!

 

I'm ribbed

Ribbing sleeves was some next level... Formula one... Super sayain knitting ... I could not prepare myself for!!!

If knitting was a TV game... Ribbing sleeves would be expert level. In order to increase without creating the above craters was a nightmare!!!! 

The trick for increasing is all the knits to the back... It looks better and the increase isn't so easily noticeable. 

However these sleeves took up an incredible amount of time and my colar and buttons were sacrificed... 

Take me as I knit...

Progress status

 

Half way through my front panel, three days to go!! Yesterday's knitting circle was great bonding and talking smack although knitting was happening!!

Tries and fails for my back unpicking and rekniting....

Failed sleeve saga continues...

Making buttons

My dad had donated his old equipment to his school and I had to take a trip down to Eerste River to make the buttons for my jersey. These pictures where taken at Axios School of Skills: Upholstry department.

The button machine

        Cutting the yarn fabric into circles

        Still trying very hard to cut that fabric

        Ingredients... 

        Result!

Findings: The jersey fabric is the better sample for button making as it seals the back and front, while the t-shirt and calico needed multiple layers before it closed properly. It's probably because calico is woven and has little stretch, where as the stocking stitch of the jersey curved around the buttons tops and because the fibre is more elastic allowed for the backing to seal easier.

Also was tempted to source some yarn from the schools animals:)

Baby got back

My raglin back is done... It's a lot heavier than I thought! 

Knitting is in itself a challenge, but all this diffrent fibers and their properties. I slightly regret using some of these materials... Calico is a nightmare! At least step 1 is complete!! 

My Jersey Reference

Many years ago... When my parents only had their hopes and dreams, my father constructed this head board for my mother as a wedding gift.  In this picture below you can see the original piece: 

When I turned 16 I took the old furniture and my dad and I reupholstered it in a fabric that I wanted.

I used it as a reference because it tells the story of my identity. Who I am: blue is my favorite colour and not just one shade, each shade each texture speaks to me. The fabric is like a wave of calming energy and I relate deeply to it. The fabric on the headboard also looks like water; being Aquarius a water carrier, I also find the Aquarius narrative to be accurate. 

An identity shouldn't be equated to something fixated like an ID card, it's a changing story.

 I have never stop trying to find my identity, and I've also hardly begun looking. 

In the beginning...Casting on...

Oh... how I loathed knitting.  As a little girl I would sit watching my grandmother with such envy as she  would perform this ritualistic wrist dance that entranced the needles and this motion would somehow create all these fantastic garments. With my tiny hands I would grab the needles and somehow the magic spell would ware off and the needles refused to work, in my hands those balls of yarn would turn into a chaotic knotted mess. 

After much bubbling...and trouble... I got the knick knack of those needles and I became a menace.. Knitting everything and anything in my way, including my son, elastic bands and whatever I could get my hands on.

As my family questioned my sanity... I began to question their insanity. Why not knit I say? Why the hell not?