I hope you saw Textile Center's March show; Metaphoric Fibers; Untamed Knit and Crochet. I am looking forward to returning next month to Minneapolis for a week of intensive and engaging knitting sculpture at:
Quiet Revolution: Knitting and the Political Landscape June 13-18, 2010
Maybe Mme Defarge* was on to something. Within the framework of its recent renaissance, knitting has been more widely used as a medium of creative as well as political art. Experimenting with non-traditional materials and using knit in non-conventional ways, this class invites participants to explore sculptural knitting as an expressive art form with a focus on how to create meaning and message. By manipulating stitches and solving knitting geometry, participants will learn to ‘think knit’. The class will cover a range of dimensional techniques to help produce shape and stability as participants execute their ideas. We will examine the work of other knit artists and discuss what works and why. We will also discuss the ways in which knitting has recently exploded into the public space through the current international wave of guerrilla and graffiti knitting. Participants must know basic knitting techniques and be interested in engaging in a lively dialogue on the world around us while working on their own pieces.
In Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, Madame Defarge secretly knit a register of the names of the revolution’s intended victims.
Expand your knitting horizons and get wired! In this class we'll cover the basics of knitting using 28-32 gauge wire by making a simple knit bracelet that we will embellish as time allows. The class will cover resources and materials and various techniques for successful wire knitting. Wire working or jewelry making skill not required but students should know how to knit and purl. Finish time depends on experience level and work pace.
Expand your knitting horizons and get wired! In this class we'll cover the basics of knitting using 28-32 gauge wire by making a simple knit bracelet that we will embellish as time allows. The class will cover resources and materials and various techniques for successful wire knitting. Wire working or jewelry making skill not required but students should know how to knit and purl. Finish time depends on experience level and work pace.
Artful Knit: A Sculptural Approach to KnittingTextileCenter, Minneapolis, MN
Develop a personal language of forms by experimenting with knitting fundamentals to uncover the enormous possibilities of a three dimensional knit. By manipulating stitches and solving knitting geometry, participants will learn to 'think knit'. The class will explore the use of non-traditional materials and cover a range of techniques to help create shape and stability when working in three dimensions. Your new knitting vocabulary can be applied to sculptural or wearable creations. This is a process-oriented workshop, with time devoted to making samples and experiments as you learn each technique or concept. Time will be set aside for the teacher to individually discuss with students their ideas for future projects. Participants must be proficient in basic hand or machine knitting techniques; knowledge of crochet is also helpful.
Liberated from traditional forms, knitting is enjoying a renaissance and is now being shown widely in galleries and museums. This slide talk will cover knit artists, Adrienne Sloane’s work, its influences and directions, and also include work by other artists changing the landscape of knit art today.
Knitting Spring; Wandering in the Garden of the Knit MuseSaturday and Sunday, April 17 & 18, 10:00-4:00
Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CTwww.creativeartsworkshop.org
This class will explore the use of color and design using knitting fundamentals to create various three dimensional shapes taking advantage of knit’s natural tendencies. By manipulating stitches and working with conventional techniques and materials, students will problem solve and integrate new ideas to create their own designs and end up with a garden bouquet. For the intermediate knitter who wants to be pattern free and use up leftover yarns as a bonus. Let’s do some botanical knitting together.
Knitting and crochet are enjoying a renaissance as artists reinterpret and liberate them from their traditional forms to create new bodies of work now being shown in galleries and museums internationally. This slide talk will cover some of the recent amazing work by established and emerging artists who are helping to change the landscape of fiber art.
Explore contemporary knitting and expand your vision of what a little knitting can do.
Over the course of this class, participants will develop a personal language of forms by experimenting with knitting fundamentals to uncover the enormous possibilities of three dimensional knit. By manipulating stitches and solving knitting geometry, participants will learn to ‘think knit’. We will explore the use of non-traditional materials and cover a range of dimensional techniques to help create shape and stability while also taking advantage of knit’s natural tendencies. Techniques such as short rowing, protrusions and bulges, random pickups, ruffles, knit painting, and tubular structures will be introduced. A slide show of artists who use knitting techniques as a means of creative expression will be shown for inspiration. We will also address the ways in which knitting has recently exploded into the public space through the current international wave of guerrilla and graffiti knitting. While this will initially be a process oriented workshop, there will be opportunity to work on specific sculptural projects to innovatively incorporate these new ideas as well as design future sculptural projects.
Participants must be proficient in basic knitting techniques. Knowledge of crochet is also helpful.
Quiet Revolution: Knitting and the Political Landscape
July 13-18, 2010
Maybe Mme Defarge* was on to something. Within the framework of its recent renaissance, knitting has been more widely used as a medium of creative as well as political art. Experimenting with non-traditional materials and using knit in non-conventional ways, this class invites participants to explore sculptural knitting as an expressive art form with a focus on how to create meaning and message. By manipulating stitches and solving knitting geometry, participants will learn to ‘think knit’. The class will cover a range of dimensional techniques to help produce shape and stability as participants execute their ideas. We will examine the work of other knit artists and discuss what works and why. We will also discuss the ways in which knitting has recently exploded into the public space through the current international wave of guerrilla and graffiti knitting. Participants must know basic knitting techniques and be interested in engaging in a lively dialogue on the world around us while working on their own pieces.
* In Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, Madame Defarge secretly knit a register of the names of the revolution’s intended victims.
ATASDA Epping Creative Center, Epping, Sydney , NSW, Australia Artful Knit Workshop Sept 19, 20, 21 www.atasda.org.au/
The Geelong FORUM 2009 Corio, Victoria, Australia PINS AND NEEDLES – What A Little Knitting Can Do September 27- October 3 www.ggcreations.com.au/tafta/
Aotearoa Creative Textiles Textile Fiber Forum NZ Wellington , NZ Artful Knit: a sculptural approach to knitting October 5-9, www.aotearoacreativetextiles.blogspot.com/
