Fair Isle Knits

Fair Isle is really common in basic patterned knits. Essentially, two yarns are carried throughout each row of knitting, but only one yarn is knitted in each place on the row. The other yarn passes along the back of the fabric and creates a loop effect on the back side. Here is a picture of the front and back of a Fair Isle Knit.





I want to experiment with printing on sweaters with this construction before de-knitting them. I am hoping that if I print with a light layer of pigment, perhaps through the use of the heat press or a light layer applied through a silkscreen, I can keep the dye from reaching the back layer of floating fibers. This, in affect would preserve the original fair isle design when the garment was de-knitted, as only the parts of each yarn that were on the knitted layer would receive pigment.

Knit De-Knit

In our Fibers and Dyeing lecture class way back in sophomore year, we learned about a processing technique for yarn known as “Knit De-Knit” in which yarn is knit, washed, and then unraveled, giving the yarn texture. As I will be using pre-knitted fabrics as a materials source, I will explore how to use this feature. I hope to find a few sweaters with interesting knit structure to take apart, as I hope the yarn will continue to hold remnants of it’s previous shape. Something with cables or perhaps tuck stitches would seem to be a good resource.

Here is a picture from a yarn processing plant of a strand of de-knitted yarn:

Sock Dye Blanks

Here is the basic idea, 2 strands of the same yarn are knitted together into a strip of fabric. This fabric is then dyed in any number of different ways, stripes of color, tie-dyed, or perhaps printed with dye. Then, a knitter will knit one sock from each of the two strands that run throughout the fabric. This ensures a fairly even, symmetrical pattern from one sock to the other.

This picture is from Knit Picks, where they sell the blank pre-knitted fabric for customers to dye themselves:

Wintersession Work

During our 6 week interim semester, I took a class called "Take that Chair and Stuff it" The basic idea of the class was that each student learned the basics of upholstery by re-inventing an old, beat up, and outdated chair. In addition to the actual upholstery, we also had the option of changing the general design of the chair base. I really took to the project as an interesting way to learn about a practice and allow it to inform the end product. In affect, we learned how to upholster in reverse, by removing layers of fabric off the pre-upholstered furniture. We then used the raw materials from that chair to construct a new piece. The limits of working with a pre existing piece is challenging, as you have to work with what you have, but I also find it to be a comforting guide and inspiration.

This class and the method of working with pre existing pieces is something I wish to continue in my thesis project (hence, why I'm putting it up as my first entry for this blog).

Here is the chair I acquired at the Salvation Army now a bit over a month ago:





My final chair is due on Friday, at which point I will post pictures.