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? 

Experience

I have been really experiencing the knitting this time around. The stitches make sense the construction language of knitting or pearl and just the muscle memory has allowed me to understand knitting on a deeper level. I chose to break found pieces and knot them together for a number of symbolic reasons however physically knitting with the textures Allow me to visually as well as tactility experience a changing shift every so often as my yarn changes from rough to delicate, frayed to smooth. It is as if I can change the settings of my knitting which keeps it exciting as my mind engages while I knit to stay within the process because the finer areas tend to simply come apart as you knit and reknit. 

An interesting observation, is the sharing of material. After going to Nazareth house and having clothes donated as well as spinning finer yarns myself there has been a almost co marauders of colour... A bartering of trade you red for blue... And as you listen to the starry eyed ideas you get as excited to see each other's product. There is no competion factor just a genuiness to share and care. 

When they see my raglan.. They hatin'

A Raglan is the name of a sleeve pattern, usually associated with sporting type shirts or jerseys. The sleeve starts at the collar, instead of at the shoulder.

I love the sporty look, although it might not seem it now, i was quite the pro-hockey player in high school.
I've attached some awesome examples:

This one is actually from my wardrobe, I love that it's a dress but isn't really girly.








This next example I found on http://www.pinterest.com/: It's pinned by an overseas magazine

These were just some examples of what my jersey may look like...

There is more than one "I" in knitting...

At the blogginning of this year I felt like an outsider. Coming into this new space... Learning this new skill.... It's exhausting... But knitting or rather the socializing of knitting together helped me bond and realize that we are all outsiders... On the inside. 

One love

....knitting is the best way to start the weekend*

Father...

As a kid I remember always being near my dad, if he was stripping a couch I'd be there asking him every single question that I could possibly think up. My parents both worked full time and on weekends and in the evenings they would run a little business from the garage. My father was the upholster and my mom the bookie, and of course she chose the fabrics. Growing up in a garage full of fabric, is it a surprise that I somehow ended up studying surface design?

 

I experimented with upholstery fabric as a yarn and knitted a test piece. 

The fabric is quite beautiful, it's both solid and plush, the two combined create a rough frayed texture. The colours are warmer, yet rather masculine. 

Test 1

Mother...

This picture of my mom inside the Swaziland tribes 'neutral' area. A place for people to come and talk, resolving their differences and keep the tribe in harmony. I think my mother represents this harmouneous space for me. She could rule the world, if she wasn't so busy keeping us together. I also adore the weaving, unbelievable crafting! 

The piece I knitted, is blue because I have always loved blue. I love the calming yet strength that is blue ... Because the Catholics always represent Mary wearing blue, I've always associates the colour with nurturing. 

We all are not made from a single strand, we are spun over time through love and pain to form perfect pieces of fabric. 

I am knit...

I find the question "who are you" so daunting. 

I am... 

..NOT my experiences they shape me, they don't define me...

I am...

..NOT my family, they add value to my life but don't control me...

I am...

...NOT where I come from, this adds little value to where I am headed.

I am...

...NOT my skin, I refuse to be categorized.

I am... 

Enchantment. 

I am...

...light...

..love...

...laughter...

...loyal...

I am...

 ...Lauren...