Monday 25 August 2014

Invite To Colors

Bright colors are big inspirations in my creative work. Here is some of it knitted.
I was invited by Dorien to join a blog hop. The fact that it is all about creating made me join it. Thank you for inviting me Dorien.

So here we go - I am suppose to answer four questions about my creative work. Lets get moving.

What am I working on

From left: Nearly finished a new Viajante (and a polymer clay bird), a big shawl on my needles and the butterfly scarf.
The biggest fun in the creating process is starting something new and getting it finished. I love working on my projects but those two elements are the ones that makes me get most of what I start finished. My sixth Viajante is soon finished. 

The big shawl in the middle is a long term project I will be working on for some time and the butterfly scarf should be finished. But all things comes in waves and I knit what I like at the moment. 
Also, I make some jewelry and birds in polymer clay too. Not a lot - but enough to keep the clay feeling in my hands. I wish I could do more of just claying.

How does my work differ from others in the genre

Simple bracelets in polymer clay to fit any garment and brightens up a cold winters day.
Well, that is really hard for me to say something clever about. If I should base it on the comments I get here and on Ravelry it must be the color use and the "out of the box" way of creating. And that I am not afraid of wearing colors. But then again - a lot of creative people think the same way.

From this time of the year and until May there are mostly gray, brown and black colors all over. I wear the colors that makes me look better - and really do not bother about what others may think of just that. Does this makes sense? Or have you seen something else here? 

Why do I create what I do

I love experimenting with colors. Colorful Thirties holds 30 colors.
I simply love it. It hits a string in me that is not playable in any other way.

I express myself in my creating and the fact that I can wear both my knitted garments and my jewelry makes me feel happy.

It makes me feel free in a way that is impossible to explain. And I want to hit a nerve in the conformity we are living under - Norway is the most conform country in Europe. And start fighting that is never ever too late.  

How does my creative process work

My first cardigan in bright colors, Jacket of Colors.
I get inspired all over. From books, other people, online activity and from bright colors. Or even the lack of colors - if I se a whole shop full of gray clothes a design can hit my brain.

That is what happened when I designed my scarf Dot The I. And when flipping trough an autumn catalog from Rauma some years ago I came up with my first stranded project in bright colors, Heartwarming scarf,  without using gray, white or black.

Polymer clay earrings in bright colors.
Or I simply has to try out different color combinations. I do not like swatch knitting - I knit a large scarf instead. 

That is how one of my favorite scarves came to life. I used stash yarn and 16 colors to create my first Lifelines - and the colors went on changing regarding what other color it was put beside.

Yes, sounds crazy but it gives me a lot of fun scarves to wear. 

I have knitted a lot of shawls and scarves to test out the colors. They work in such different ways when they are put together. 

The knowledge of that learn me to put colors together in garments like sweaters and cardigans like my Sheepomania. And also makes a difference how I create in polymer clay. To be creative is like breathing - one simply has to do it to live.

Bird bracelet in rainbow colors on left. Polymer clay disk bracelet and scarf with rings on right.
 Knitting and making jewelry in polymer clay are my creative joy in life.

Polymer clay bracelets on left. And my knitted cat cardigan on right.

Monday 18 August 2014

Get It Out


Nothing is like getting a finished knitted garment out in the air. I was having a blast getting these photos taken.

My fifth Viajante is just perfect to play with. I love knitting these - and will not stop until i reach about one hundred of them. Or something like that. Or maybe one in each of the colors I like... LOL!!

And I am soon ready with the sixth one of them so I am in good spirit for that task.

I love these garments as they are big, light weighted and warm.

They are great both in summer and winter to either use as a scarf or shawl - or to get inside when it is cold where I am.

The mindless knitting appeals so much - and this is like reading a really good thick novel.

I do not want it to end. Well, at least it has to or this would fit the worlds largest building some day.

This Viajante is knitted in Holst super soft wool yarn. I love that yarn and I have planned on starting an open front cardigan with it soon.

Although there are a lot of knitting to this garment I will recommend knitting it as it is so versatile in use.

Never ever underestimate the importance of having fun
Randy Pausch

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Holst supersoft
Needle: 2.5mm for body, 2mm for lace
Size: 220 x 137cm
Pattern: Viajante
My Ravelry Page: Sunshine And Clementine
Other Viajante In Same Yarn: Color Me Red, Wacky And Woolly



Friday 1 August 2014

Blooming Knitting

This is the proof I need for having green fingers. My knitting is literally blooming. Well, it has always been growing. At least that is what the stash is doing...

Anyway, I love those large shawls knitted in the round like my Shining Star.

I wanted a new and brighter shawl. I have been searching online for a pattern with not too long floats on the back and an easy yet striking pattern.

I instantly decided for the Cornflower shawl when I saw it. But buying an over expensive kit, with pre picked colors and where I had to change colors all the time was out of the question.

But, I came over the same chart, after a long search session, in a german magazine from 2009.

The beginning - this it the bottom point of the shawl.
I made the chart in excel and got some very valuable help from Anne to get the chart right.

I wanted pattern all the way down into the pointy end and had to knit and purl pattern the first 25 rows. Not a problem at all.

Then I knit in the round and cut it open when finished some time in the future.

I am happy I got the help and that I have already knitted one of these shawls. Anne is a great shawl designer and she knows all about it. I would not have come this far without her.

I knit this in Kauni. I use a solid green for the back ground color and a purple and magenta for the flowers. The purple does look blue when it is paired with green - but that is just fine. I would prefer another green color - but the one I like is hard to come by.

I am very pleased with my project. The pattern is easy to memorize and this is in fact an easy project with enough challenge along the way.

The stitch Story
Yarn: Kauni solid, Kauni effektgarn
Needle: 2mm
My Ravelry Page: Danish Flower
Pattern: Cornflower

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards
Søren Kierkegaard