W H A T O N E A R T H A M I D O I N G?
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The day I hit
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ROCK BOTTOM The first week back after christmas was a rough one. Christmas and New Year were turbulant and sadly I lost my Gran in the first week of January. We had a scheduled meeting with the class and tutors the folllowing week and my head was nowhere to be seen. I could not think straight and I wasnt ready to talk in front of the class, because lets face it I had no clue what to say. I decided I’d better get on with it and boy did I crash. With Christie, Juliet and Beth aswell as Beca sitting there - I was a nervous wreck. I had set up my wall in a way so that things would come into my head as I spoke, (like I had last time when it went swimmingly)but I nearly had a heart attack when Beca asked me to present first. William had given me the second series of Twin Peaks for Christmas and I was feeling more inspired about the feel and look of the tv series. Because my head was up my arse, I decided to just run with the Twin Peaks thing. This went horribly wrong in my eyes. I had not thought about what I wanted to say or which direction I wanted to go in. Everyone must have thought I was a mad woman and especially Beca, as I started to cry when I spoke with her afterwards! I have learned from this monumental day that it pays to P R E P A R E and be C O N F I D E N T in your decisions. All of us have off days and this was a spectacularly ‘off’ day for me! But when a tutor asks you a question, it works in your favour if you know the answer (especially considering it is my own work.)
Now that the group session was behind me, I was actually feeling fresh! The next day was a new day and I was on my way to my new confident, calm self. Some of the things mentioned in my research were the ‘fundamentals’ of an outfit, in particular knitwear. I was also thinking in terms of the whole outfit. For example pencil skirts, ankle length skirts, trousers, cardigans, shirts and cinched waists with belts. I wanted to change these and make them slightly odd, however I knew I had to put Twin Peaks aside for the moment and go into more depth with my designs. I wasn’t designing for Twin Peaks now, was I? My idea was to add in the ‘weirdness’ of Twin Peaks, but I was looking at ‘mundane’ clothing - so how was this going to work? I felt so low after the meeting and needed a breather. I spoke to Beca afterwards and I’m glad I told her what had happened and why I had spoken so much rubbish. She gave me a few pointers and directions to go in and I felt prepared for the week ahead. What I wanted to do was deconstruct shapes, mini-cables, cardigans and tops... make them slightly different. I wanted to create my own workbook like the knit techbook, but in my own style and with my own ideas. Almost like ‘spec’ drawings. I decided to use some sweater shapes and play around with them. I also needed to speak to Christie about the knitting side of things.
Song of the day
MAGNETIC MAN - I NEED AIR 3
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So after Gran’s funeral, my parent’s friends came back for dinner at our house in Edinburgh. Gordon is a drawing and painting tutor at Edinburgh College of Art. Every birthday and Christmas without fail, Gordon gives myself and my twin brother an art book of some sort... he is an amzing artist and always makes sense to me, so I knew he’d be the person to speak to about my frustrating group session the week before. After a few glasses of wine, I was on a roll telling him about my frustrations in not feeling prepared for the meeting. I explained that I was annoyed and angry that I was not able to articulate myself when under pressure to answer
simple questions in front of the class and Beca. I spoke about how although the tutors’ and the class’ opinions are important to me, it is what I want in my designs that is important. I went on for aaaaages. Gordon recommended I look up Bruce Mau, a ‘design and innovation studio centred on purpose and optimism’. Bruce Mau wrote something called The Incomplete Manifesto for Growth and although it is a tiny bit contrived, it enabled me to look at the terrible meeting in a positive way!
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After speaking with Christie about my approach to knitting the necklines I felt so much better. She is so calm and helpful. We decided that it was best to ‘break it down and see what happens’. One of the points I tried to articulate in the group session was knitted C A B L E S. This is a stitch where say, every 10 rows you cross over a small amount of stiches to seem like a winding cable effect. I want to experiment with small cable which works better
on smaller gauge machines like the 7/8/10 and 12 gauge machines. This could prove difficult though, as the smaller the gauge the easier it is to drop stitches. This is my experience anyway... No harm in giving it a go though. For starters I thought i’d try a polo neck and a double-sided sandwich trim. Maybe i’ll throw in a button stand here or there too...
POLO NECK
RIBS
SILK
CASHWOOL C O LLAR S
LAM B S W O O L ROUND NECK
8 GAUGE
BUTTONS
ROLLNECK
SANDWICH TRIM
12 G A U G E
V-NECK TWIN PEAKS
SHAPE FEMININE
B U T T O N S T A N D? SHIRTING SPEAK TO CHRISTIE
NECKLINES SORE HEAD
BRUCE MAU
TRY NOT TO CRY
D O NT B E M E NTAL YOU CAN DO IT KNIT YOUR SOCKS OFF EAT E N E R GY F O O D 8AM TIL 6PM
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LETS GET KNITTING
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A N D S O T H E K N I T T I N G B E G I N S. . .
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While it is a little frustrating having to work around all the fourth years, they are actually all really nice. They even invited me down to Fairfield Yarns in Manchester with them as they had a space in the car! Hopefully i’ll get some wool to sample with. Things kicked off on the 3-gauge industrial machine but I found it rrrreally annoying getting used to the tension for the thicker yarn. I managed to make a ‘sandwich trim’, but it looks S O B L O O D Y M E S S Y. I might rip it down and try again... because I can do that! Being on the machines again has been great and I can feel myself getting more and more used to them. Another plus point is the 12 gauge machine is starting to like me finally! I am getting into the swing of it. There were a few wee hitches but those will smooth out. The 2x1 rib I did on the 12 gauge feels and looks quite good, especially in the silk. I managed to push the 12 gauge to tension 6 before it was straining. Tension 6 is really quite tight and it was one of the nicest tensions with the silk. This means more risk of stitches dropping if i’m going to be playing around with rib etc. We’ll see what happens! I think what I need to do though, is a bit more planning and drawing.
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Focus on necklines... K E E P G O I N G. What kind of yarns should I use for my collection? Money is an important factor, but so is quality. I need to think about who would buy and wear what I am designing. It might be a long-shot, but I thought of contacting a company I had once done an internship with. Hillary Rohde is a cashmere handknitting company based in Edinburgh. Would they give me some cashmere to use? It was worth a try. I wrote what I thought was a polite and coherent letter... but I never heard back from them. Maybe I need to be ballsy and call them with my new found confidence. Another thing I thought about doing was contacting BLESS, who I internshipped with in Berlin... I keep in touch with the boss Ines a lot of the time, but maybe I could approach her with an idea so that she would lend me some shoes for my show or something... Ha Ha! Let’s see what happens. But K E E P O N P L A N N I N G A N D K N I T T I N G.
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PATTE R N C UTTI N G I bought a woven, pleated skirt on ebay thinking it would give me some ideas for my collection. We’ll see what its like when it arrives... I have also dug out a checked shirt I bought in a vintage shop years ago in London, which almost matches the look of the character Donna in Twin Peaks. I am going to try and re-create the shape of it in Juliets pattern cutting class. I’m liking the idea of a shirt tucked in to the pleated skirt (although the checks on both will clash for now) The shirt is obviously homemade or at least has been darted and changed slightly. This reminds me of a story my Mum told me... when she was 16 she used to take a shirt of her brother’s, dart it, wear it on a night out and then take the darts out and put the shirt back in his drawer in the morning!
PLEATE D S K I RT
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CHECKED SHIRT Copying the shape of the shirt has enabled me to work out the different parts of the garment. Hopefully this will help me in making my own stuff and Juliet has been a great! She is very patient with me, as I keep chopping and changing my ideas... I need to remember to be confident in my decisions! I decided to leave out the collar of the shirt, as the plan was to create some knitted collars and necks to attach and play around with. The calico I used is too heavy though... thats one thing I am unsure about. I also ordered (thanks to Beca) some shirting fabric samples from Acorn . These might be able to guide me more in what feel and look I want for the shirt.
I am also thinking about doing separate shirt part patterns to play around with. However, I suspect I will run out of time. There are just NOT ENOUGH HOURS I N T H E D A Y.
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T H E S K I R T H A S A R R I V E D! I showed the skirt to Christie and she loves it - I think shes going to buy it from me when im done with it. I wonder what it would be like to knit a pleated skirt. AM I A C T U A L L Y C R A Z Y? Obviously there are reasons why its made in woven fabric and not knitted... the fact of the matter is wovens work and knit’s, not so much. Christie and I spent ages going over the shape of it and she thinks it would be better to knit a big rectangle in stiff 12 gauge jersey... but i’m not so sure. I would need to be careful that it doesn’t just keep expanding. Hmm what to do? I would need to find the P E R F E C T yarn to get the stiffness right. Maybe it would be worth making a small sample to see how it works. Yes that’s what I’ll do! Make a teeny tiny samplein knit! But first of all I need to make it in Calico. The more I look at he skirt, the more I love it. It only just fits me - but not very well over my post-Christmas stomach. It was even big on a skinny 3rd year I stopped on the 6th floor! This calls for alteration... I also need to find some cheap lining so that it slips on more easily and so that it is finished for the model fitting.
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deutsche bank
The Deutsche Bank award was won by two students on the Mdes course last year, so I thought i’d go along to the meeting and see what the big deal was. In fact it was so interesting! The girls were given the award which included £10,000 towards their own business and mentoring from a business advisor with the great name of Max Comfort. There was a chance after the seminar to sign up for a free day of information and advice from the man himself. Unfortunately it was a sign up sheet which was located at the front of the lecture theatre. As
I hate queue politics and do not like to be pushy, I was so frustrated that because I was sitting in the middle of a row in a full lecture theatre I was not able to get to the sign up sheet in time before the 25 places were filled up. But I A M P R O U D O F M Y S E L F as I emailed Lesley Black the careers advisor explaining my outrage... And I got a place! It pays to be persistent! The day with Max Comfort was of great value to me, and I hope to keep his notes and advice to help me in years to come.
SKILLS
EXPERIENCE
PERSONAL QUALITIES
knitting
moving on my own to Berlin and working for free
ballsy!
Moving to Glasgow to make a new start
cheerful
using my hands sewing drawing designing designing my living space making great coffee
mortgage and furnished flat and made it a home
kind
sociable - bringing friends together loving and appreciative to family random people seem to talk to me wherever I go polite ambitious
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W E LL THAT WAS A PR O D U CTI V E DAY
When I first got into the studio I felt incredibly crap about the set-up on my desk and wall. It is not nice feeling unorganised. I just had had such a crap few weeks and my head was not where it should have been. I found myself not wanting to use Gran as an excuse but there was no denying that my energy levels and bloomin’ emotional state were affecting me. I N E E D E D M Y H E A D T O B E C L E A R.
When I was sorting out my work for the assessment, I was pleased with a lot of my research and drawings but felt I needed to go deeper. I think I will be able to get so much out of sampling. I definitely want to concentrate more on going down the ‘cable’ route as I think it is such a staple stitch in knitwear. And this means I can play around with it and make it a bit odd... Weird but wonderful!
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This cable is a bit dodgy, some of the stitches have knitted properly but I actually quite like it... I want to come up with a way of making the cable diagonal. Surely it is not impossible.
KEEP ON SAMPLING 29
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After knitting (or trying to) on the 12 gauge on this morning, I was demented. A B S O L U T E L Y D E M E N T E D. The machine just would not cast on, it was ridiculous. But then I realised that a button was set ever so slightly on a different setting and thats what had caused the turmoil. A A A A A A A R R R G H knitting is a frustrating thing sometimes. So anyway, after the slight blip I managed to knit a 12 gauge silk half polo neck 3 gauge 2x2 rib neck trim 3 gauge full rib double-sided sandwich trim and do you know what? I am liking these. Not too sure about the colours though, this is something I need to work out. Maybe I should look back at my drawings and research and pick out some colours.
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W HAT O N EARTH AM I G O I N G TO D O W ITH T H I S C H E C K E D S H I R T B Y T H E W A Y? Should I make the shirt? Print it? Buy it? What would I do? Is it an integral part of my collection? Don’t even think I need the check... it is not as gentle and feminine. S I M P L E I S W HA T I W A N T T O A C H I E V E and I can do it.
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SCENIC LINKING
Christie showed me how to use the industrial linker first thing in the morning when it was quiet. The second she left me to my own devices in the linking room, it just decided to S T O P W O R K I N G. Can you believe it? The lock handle completely stuck and I could not for the life of me work out what had happened. Poor Christie ended up going on her lunch break to speak to the product design department to see if they could help. It is an amazing machine though and makes the joins in the knit look really slick and this is exactly what I want. So while the linker was being fixed,
I was back on the 12 Gauge again, just practising with the yarn that was there. I couldn’t quite work out what the yarn was, although it was definitely synthetic. I quite liked the lilac colour of it and against the woven skirt it had a certain look and feel of the nineties. I decided I needed to knit samples in the colours that I will actually use in the collection otherwise I won’t be able to see what works and what doesn’t work. I have been thinking though I need to move away from G R E Y. There is too much of it in my research and my previous undergraduate work. I W A N T S O M E C O L O U R! 35
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As well as fashion and textiles, I am also interested in film. I decided right at the beginning of the Mdes course that I wanted to, at some point include film in my Design Process Portfolio. I can also see myself, in the future using film with my work. First of all, the plan was to create a ‘time-lapse’ film which would track me knitting over a certain period of time. And as predicted, the course took over! Obviously my practical work is a huge and important part and I found myself getting completely sucked in to that side of things. However, I always had the film idea in the back of my mind and logbooks. Since some of the key paths in my research has come from film and television, I thought it would be of more relevance if I created a poetic film showing me working on a knitting machine. In a contrast to say, Twin Peaks, I thought a delicate film would work well. Luckily my brother works as a freelance film maker and I enlisted him for some help!
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Go to: tinyurl.com/niceknitting and enter the secret password found throughout
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After speaking with Beca, I knew she was right. I needed to come up with S O M E T H I N G E L S E to go along with my research. Something that would ‘sex up’ my collection. Beca suggested I look up anything from streetwear and unusual designers to something more obviously weird and ‘sexed up’ like bondage. I was to O P E N M Y M I N D and find something different to add in the mix. When Beca first mentioned bondage I was shocked! Is this really how weird I wanted my collection to be? (Although there is an interesting connection between the violence and tension in Twin Peaks and bondage...) I knew she was just trying to get me to think outside of the box. I do not want my collection to be predictable. I went to the library to do some research and came accross some great eighties and nineties lingerie books and I knew it would fit nicely with my work.
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SEX IT UP
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I usually am not attracted to pastel colours but this image which I found on a Japanese website is lovely and fits with my idea of all things S E E-T H R O U G H
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Looking at the lingerie photos made me think more about making my collection sexier. There are some routes I could go down, but I like the thought of the model looking like she is ‘undressing’. I also remembered the image that I used a lot as inspiration in the first stage of the girl with the see-through shirt. If the garments I was going to knit seemed as if they were being taken off, but this was actually how they were made to be worn, it could be quite interesting. So what I decided to do first was change the shape of the original 60
shirt pattern I had made. I wanted it to be sexier and maybe slightly S E E -T H R O U G H. I thought if I could make part of the shirt chiffon or another sheer fabric it would be more ‘blousey’ to tuck in to the skirt. I then need to also think about some ‘sexier’ knitted things. Here’s a thought - now that I am thinking about altering the shirt - maybe it would be a good idea to completely exhaust the scope of the skirt. I could make it... shorter, see through, knitted, with slits, more pleats... Anything is possible.
AND HERE IT IS
I am really pleased with how the chiffon shirt turned out. I managed to get the weight of the calico right this time, it is much lighter. It is not exactly perfect, especially the hem on the bottom, but for the model fitting it will do. I am starting to think however, that the shirt idea might take over from the actually knitting. Do I need this many components to the outfit? 61
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Having a wee lie in in the morning can actually make for quite a P R O D U C T I V E D A Y! I had a good few hours playing around on the mannequin and was inspired a bit more about colour. Although the organza is cheap rubbish and too stiff, I quite like the extreme sheerness of it. It makes quite an impact. I also thought it went well with the woven fabric sample I had picked up for the skirt and the grey lambswool. I bought some crimson cashwool at Fairfield Yarns and also managed to order some similar cashmere. I thought i’d splash out!
A N O T H E R P R E T T Y P R O D U C T I V E D AY in the knit room. Firstly I knitted the front left of the cardi I have been planning. It was an 8am start A N D I W A S O F F. The first attempt, I stupidly didn’t shape the armhole in the right place - but only an hour wasted, ho hum. A S U S U A L the next attempt didn’t turn out perfect but it was successful in my eyes. I am starting to really get my head around the fully fashioned idea of knitted garments. I know when I was studying my undergraduate, I worked out my own random way of making garments, but this is something I could definitely practice and really, R E A L L Y understand.
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My back and neck are so sore from knitting. It is A C T U A L L Y R I D I C U LO U S. Im going to head through to the chiropractor at home in Edinburgh and get my back cracked. Best feeling in the world. I am realising how frustrating it is not being able to get on the machine I want because the fourth years are all over the place. I wish I had my own Dubied in my flat that could change gauge whenever I wanted... I also need to work out what the hell i’m knitting. The cardigan I made on the 8 gauge was really a bit dodgy, but hung quite well on the mannequin. It needs a lot of work though.
The 8 gauge works really well and I love the lambswool I’m using on it.
Merino Lambswool Denim? Cashwool Cashmere
I I I 8 gauge I I
Silk I 12 gauge So I really need to work out what I need. Maybe for the silk knit I could look at working out the shape of my H&M polo neck? I think it could work. When I knit 2x1 rib on the 12 gauge I like the weight of the fabric for the polo neck piece, but not so much the body piece.
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D I S A S T E R O N T H E 1 2 G AU G E
How could this have happened?? I thought it was going so well. The cable silk I knitted ont he 12 gauge was going well but ended in disaster. But I then tried to knit a plain body piece and then transfer into rib and D I S A S T E R S T R U C K. I am so upset about it because it took me forever to knit and also the silk cost a bomb. As I was transferring the stitches from plain knit to rib the stitches just ripped down at the neck. It looks as though someone has been ravaged at the neck. I need to work out how to do this or I may go mad. I am so angry with myself! I must work out how to do it properly... I think it has to be to do with tension...
Aaaaaaah I had such a G O O D D A Y! I was supposed to be on the 8 gauge, but as the 7 gauge (love of my life) was free I jumped on that. I quickly knitted up a huge red cardigan front which was plain but with a couple of random cables. It is 54 inches long and when I got it down to the studio it looked pretty odd and the armhole turned out to be massive. I wondered if I should maybe make a large droopy sleeve, but when I played around wth the front ont he mannequin, turning it upside down etc, some interesting things started to happen. Now to make the other parts. I think i’ll try and use the ‘diagonal rib’ that I kind-of invented so that it droops more... E X C I T I N G!
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MODEL FITTING
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THINGS TO REMEMBER
I really enjoyed trying my samples and toiles on the model. It was actaully great fun and I was so pleased with how well everything fitted her! Especially the pleated skirt, which I was scared was going to be too small. But I forgot models are tiny. First I got the model to put on the chiffon shirt, pleated skirt and half cardigan with the neck piece. It looked great and I was happy with the reaction from Beca, Juliet and the technicians! What soon became clear, and I had been thinking it for a wee while, was that maybe the shirt wasn’t needed... It is almost taking over from the knitting. We all agreed that the knitting was the most important thing and that I shouldn’t use the shirt. I’m happy with this decision, and it means I can concentrate and focus more on the knits. I am going to look more into ‘Twin Sets’ so that the whole top part is knitted.
The skirt that I had lengthened to ankle legth also looked great. However, the splits in the pleats were too much. I think I am going to alter the pattern so that splits start further down the leg, then it won’t be so revealing. The red, long cardigan worked really well on the model. The way it hung was perfect but there are a few things I need to work on. For example the cable on the front couldn’t be seen because of the way it was hanging and this is not what I want! I want people to see it! And I think I am going to try and make another with a huge, diagonal cable running across the back. And I want the piece to have more random rib sections. Beca was right though my linking skills were a bit dodgy! But I can work on this...
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TWIN SETS
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I managed to work out the perfect tensions for changing full knit to rib on the 12 gauge! H A L L E L U J A H . The trick is making the tension 2 points looser for one row, before you transfer the stitches... So now I know!
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This stage has certainly been a rollercoaster, but an enjoyable one. I have learned a lot about time management, exhaustion, being proud of myself and getting up VERY early.
R O L L O N S T A G E 3...
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IMAGE LIST
P A G E
I M A G E
SOURCE
1 - 2
studio wall
own photograph
3 - 4
book stash
own photograph
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Twin Peaks stills
stills taken from DVD
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knit sketches
sketchbook
10 - 11
dubied stills
stills taken from film
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12 gauge dubied samples
own photographs
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v - neck sketch
sketchbook
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cardigan sketch
sketchbook
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polo - neck drawing
logbook
16 - 19
neckline studies
logbook
20 audrey pleated skirt 21 pleated skirt workings
http://www.rankopedia.com/ Favorite-Twin-Peaks-Character/ Step1/6462/.htm 10/01/11
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shirt toile and pattern cutting table
own photograph
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Acorn shirting samples
own photograph
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pleated skirt drawing
scrap paper
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pleated skirt toile
own photograph
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David Shrigley poster
own photograph
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to -do list
logbook
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cable sample
own photograph
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dubied
own photograph
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sketchbook
IMAGE LIST
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neck ideas
sketchbook
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calculation sketch
sketchbook
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shirt sketch
logbook
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industrial linker
own photograph
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knit workings
own knit workbook
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Nice Knitting still
http://vimeo.com/22054212
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cardigan idea and workings
own knit workbook
40 cable cardigan with drawing
own photograph and sketch
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neck and yarn ideas
logbook
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knit samples
own photographs
52 inspiration books 53 - 58 lingerie research 59 lovely shirt
http://www.ephru.nhs.uk/con tent.asp?page_id=96 12/04/11
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sheer shirt
facehunter.com
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chiffon shirt toile
own photographs
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wisdom tooth
logbook
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mannequin studies
own photographs
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yarn selection
logbook
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half cardigan studies and sketch
own photographs and logbook
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lambswool cardigan studies
own photographs
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knit calculations
logbook
japanesestreets.com 15/02/11 10/09/10
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IMAGE LIST
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12 gauge knit disaster
own photograph
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red cardigan toile
own photograph
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colour chart
loose bobbins
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model fitting
own photographs
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http://www.insideoutstyleblog. com/2011/02/fashion-forecasts- according-to.html
http://www.skiffvintageknitting patterns.co.uk/products-page/ by-garment/twin-sets-dresses- -suits/lavenda-twin-set-no-334/ 25/03/11 79 12 gauge silk own photograph 80 noticeboard
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Password:
own photograph
KNIT ME NOW