I am blown away by the detailed analysis you present of your swatches! When I work I take similar steps but here you detail them all so it's clear to the newbie where you've come from and where you're going. Did you find it difficult to break down and so meticulously record and replicate your creative process?
It
took time and it was unfamiliar. I know my own way of doing things but
knowing what you do and being able to explain what you do are two
different things! Talking through the system with Kate and Tom was vital
and it was only after going through it all with them that I was able to
sit down and write out my own creative process, step by step. Once I
could see that, it got a little bit easier to think about how to share
it with a reader. Nic also really helped with finding clever ways to
visually present the process once I had written it all down.
Absolutely.
I have an extra special love for the EDIROL digital recorder now. As an
object it was already special to me, but you would never think that
just from looking at it. It's black, plastic, boxy... the buttons are
all worn down and half of it is held together with gaffer tape! Yet when
you see it with the swatch which it inspired, it is instantly apparent
that the two things are connected. The vibrant knitting patterns somehow
bring the recorder to life. Together they seem to me to be a very
complete expression of an object that I love and a piece of knitting
that describes that feeling.
I also know my
walnut tree so much better now than I did at the start of the year after
documenting its leaves, bark, dyeing properties and resident birds, and
now when I walk past places in Reading
that I have used as inspiration for the Reading brickwork swatch I have a
feeling of connection and celebration. I wonder what people would think
if they knew that tiny details of their houses have now been seen by
knitters all over the world...
...and
I feel compelled to keep checking up on the Art Deco factory to see
whether demolition has begun yet. I worry about the day when I will
round the corner and find the pink building is gone. The security guys
keep saying "this month" but they've been saying that since August!
After all the new memories I have created with that building - knitting
from it, going there with Fergus (my brother and the book's
photographer) to photograph it at first light - I will be sadder than
ever when it is finally taken down.
Which of all the lovely swatches in the book is your favourite and why?
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I
do something very similar to this but when I look at your book I don't
see my work, I see something that is completely KNITSONIK. Are you
interested in seeing the results that other people produce using your
methods?
Yes!
I think it's fascinating that we all see the world in completely unique
ways; I love that if you and I sat at a table with the same yarn and
the same needles and the same inspiration source we would produce
completely different ideas because we would notice and be drawn to
different things.
I was thinking
about that in Shetland and wondering about developing some workshops
based on that very idea because I think it would be amazing! Then a
discussion started up in the KNITSONIK Ravelry group and now we are
doing exactly that: an online swatch-a-long based on a single
inspiration source with a big reveal at the end of February. Anyone is
welcome to join in and the only rule is that you have to use a
pomegranate as the starting point! I can't wait to see all the different
ways that the pomegranate will be translated into stranded colourwork
by all the different knitters participating...
It
is like how in my favourite field recordings I feel like I can hear the
sounds that are being recorded, but also something of the recordist and
their listening, how they have angled the microphones or positioned
themselves in relation to the sound... something to do with personal
taste and individual style, like handwriting.
I
see you are a fan of somewhat tacky beer clip art and labelling. With
the craft beer movement there are more creative beer labels around now
that ever - do you think you'll ever immortalize another beer
label/pump clip in knitting?
I'd
say it is inevitable! I love beer and especially craft beer from small
indie breweries, and the artwork on the labels just gets better and
better. As a beer drinker I am quite drawn to some of the more
minimalist labels; I adore the beer produced by the Kernel Brewery for
instance, and they have wonderfully simple, unfussy labels with black
ink printed on brown parcel paper. Their little bottles,
so unpretentiously packaged, contain some of the finest ales in the
land. However, as
a knitter, I am oddly compelled to beers featuring fussier labels. In
terms of offering inspiration for stranded colourwork, the loud and
highly pictorial designs with ships and animals and hops and Gods and so
on do offer a bit more to work with. That said, now I am thinking about
what could be done to describe those fine plain bottles of Table beer
from the Kernel Brewery...
