Modular teapot hat
I have been spinning and knitting this fun fibre project for the past six or seven weeks, relatively quick by my standards. I created it for the Five Counties Guild Challenge, which will be displayed Sept. 21 at an annual conference of five spinners and weavers guilds in Burlington, Ont.
Each guild was provided a photo of a ceramic art teapot to inspire our project. Our guild received this photo of a work by Paul Mathieu. Our guild elected to work on individual projects rather than doing one together.
Earlier in the summer I started to get the hang of the long draw method, used for spinning a loftier, airier yarn also known as woolen style as opposed to worsted (not to be confused with worsted weight yarn, which is a certain thickness). Woolen yarn is ideal for soft, warm textiles that won't take too much wear (hats as opposed to socks). Worsted spinning is what most people seem to learn first. The long draw requires a leap of faith, I think.
So I took this funky project as an opportunity to practise long draw using a variety of rovings. I drew inspiration from the colours and structure of the pot.
It suggested modular knitting, so I found a free pattern online for a modular hat. I guess you get what you pay for because the pattern had a lot of errors in it, so I won't send you to the link. Fortunately I have some experience with these mitred squares from the Story Blanket, a big creative project that has been on the shelf for several years. So I figured it out.
The fibres I used were mostly merino wool or merino-silk blends; the red is wool-mohair-alpaca; the white is mostly blue-faced Leicester (a different sheep breed). So I used what I had on hand, and got practice with a lot of different qualities and preparations of fibre. I decided what I needed, spun the yarn and knitted as I went along. A few squares were based on specific parts of the pot; others were more impressionistic.
I don't think I have ever had so much fun knitting anything before, and it was entirely from yarn I spun myself.
Each guild was provided a photo of a ceramic art teapot to inspire our project. Our guild received this photo of a work by Paul Mathieu. Our guild elected to work on individual projects rather than doing one together.
Earlier in the summer I started to get the hang of the long draw method, used for spinning a loftier, airier yarn also known as woolen style as opposed to worsted (not to be confused with worsted weight yarn, which is a certain thickness). Woolen yarn is ideal for soft, warm textiles that won't take too much wear (hats as opposed to socks). Worsted spinning is what most people seem to learn first. The long draw requires a leap of faith, I think.
So I took this funky project as an opportunity to practise long draw using a variety of rovings. I drew inspiration from the colours and structure of the pot.
It suggested modular knitting, so I found a free pattern online for a modular hat. I guess you get what you pay for because the pattern had a lot of errors in it, so I won't send you to the link. Fortunately I have some experience with these mitred squares from the Story Blanket, a big creative project that has been on the shelf for several years. So I figured it out.
The fibres I used were mostly merino wool or merino-silk blends; the red is wool-mohair-alpaca; the white is mostly blue-faced Leicester (a different sheep breed). So I used what I had on hand, and got practice with a lot of different qualities and preparations of fibre. I decided what I needed, spun the yarn and knitted as I went along. A few squares were based on specific parts of the pot; others were more impressionistic.
I don't think I have ever had so much fun knitting anything before, and it was entirely from yarn I spun myself.