From One Extreme to Another

Way back in June 2012 I wrote about an extreme knitter by the name of Althea Crome. She uses very tiny needles and thread to re-create master pieces on very small sweaters. Check out what I said then about her work here.

Tools for using only 150 strands of yarn

Tugging yarn to ready it for knitting is a workout here

Today I want to write about another extreme knitter who has taken things in a completely different direction, using multiple strands to knit a mattress among other items. Rachel John from the UK is a textile artist and according to her own website:

During 5 years of research and development (2000—2005) Rachel re-invented textiles by changing the way yarn is used. She discovered that by mixing anything from 5 to 1000 strands of yarn together and, with her redesigned tools for the very thick yarn and extra wide pieces, you can easily and rapidly create stunning textiles for use at home, as gifts, as apparel. For instance hand knit a king size throw in just 2 days or an inch thick carpet rug in 6 hours.

Back in 2006 she set the world's record for the number of strands of yarn used at the same time in knitting by putting 1,000 strands together. From what I can tell from the video about it, the process looks pretty arduous to set up and then actually manipulate. (The investment of 6.5 minutes to see the process is worth it IMHO.) Here's photos of some of her finished work.

This isn't the type of knitting project I will be taking on soon, but the colour combinations used by this talented textile artist are indeed beautiful. I enjoy knitting with tools that are more portable, like #7 needles and 1 or 2 ply lace weight yarn. That's a project you can take on the bus.

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Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms. (BTW

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned out finished, and

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or how about the longest piece of finger knitting that measured 4,321.4 m

Flagel Knitting Files

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