when I looked at the sky it was wool
Finally I’ve finished this project, but I’m not sure how I feel about it! Interesting though that it looks exactly how I envisioned it. Best leave it alone now for a while and come back to it later…
To refresh: I took a photo of the sky every day in the morning for a week, then matched the colour of the sky to wool then knitted a piece to fit a frame. I bought the frames second hand, some of them still had pictures in them (intriguing but more on that later).
I wanted to create a homely display for the frames and used second hand wallpaper. I remember researching a little into modes of display in the home when I was doing an MA, though for the life of me I can’t find these sources. The MA was years ago now but I discovered my essays and research papers today and they make interesting reading. It appears that I am still on the same tracks with similar interest which is handy; my research is still pertinant.
From top left to bottom right, Monday to Sunday. Below: date, wool and code, stitch.
Monday 6th – Denim 1302, Garter stitch.
Tuesday 7th – Aster 1003, Rib 2 by 2.
Wednesday 8th – White 1001, Stocking stitch.
Thursday 9th – Silver 1203, Seed stitch.
Friday 10th – Cloud Blue 1019, Basket Weave.
Saturday 11th – Cloud Blue 1019, Lattice.
Sunday 12th – Silver 1203 Box stitch.
when I looked at the sky it was wool
The knitting is going well, almost finished. It was slightly unrealistic of me to set myself the task of finishing the day’s sky piece on the day but it’s almost there. I didn’t really take into consideration that I would be at work and that I was new to knitting – hence having to start Wednesday’s piece four times as I’ve yet to unpick successfully.
So, by the weekend I will have the project complete; 7 days in 7 frames. I have the photos to prove that the wool matches each day’s sky, as yet I don’t know what to do with them – how do they figure, if at all?
The subject of pinning a piece of work down to a specific time and place is very interesting for me and I think something that I will investigate pretty soon. Although this project has taught me to reconsider logistical issues that might get in the way.
I read somewhere that Cardiff University of Psychology was researching the benefits of knitting for combating the complexities of stress, pain and depression and eliminating negative thoughts… but I haven’t been able to discover their findings. It’s something to do with regulating breathing. I found that I held my breath until I finished each row.
I don’t know if anyone else has this issue, but by the time I get to photograph my work it’s the evening and interior lighting is a nightmare, what with all the shadows! The weekend seems to be the only time that I can get a good picture. Roll on summer.
I’ve been thinking about the impossibility of colour matching and the absurdity of representing the sky with a piece of knitting. Trying to make some sense of the world.
when I looked at the sky it was wool
Turns out that knitting is both tedious and meditative in equal measure. It’s so slow. Somehow I thought that each piece would only take an hour, how wrong I was. Whilst knitting I had a copious amount of time to think, repeating the stitch again and again really I was thinking about my life rather than this project.
I’m not a knitter but as I’ve mentioned before, I couldn’t stick with just a plain knit, I wanted more: – I got hooked on new knits. Thank god for YouTube knitting tutorials.
This has been an intuitive project from the start, plain and simple: – I’ve not attempted to contextualise it just yet, but it’s a good feeling to see a project (however small) through to the end.
Recently someone told me that to be considered for an exhibition an artist should have at least eight serious pieces/ projects. So this is my personal goal right now. I’m aiming to build up a strong portfolio of work that I don’t hate that will feature on my own website.
Knitting the sky – Knitted Week
I’ve taken a photo of the sky every morning since Monday with the intention of recreating the mood and colour of the sky through the medium of knitting. I’m not a knitter but it’s proved to be an eye opener. I started off with the bog standard beginner’s knitting stitch but now I want more and have found myself browsing knitting sites searching for new stitches.
Each knitted piece will belong to a frame and I’m looking at displaying them like this… which is to say that I want to mimic the way people hang frames in their home. The way people arrange and display their possessions in their home space is fascinating to me and something I looked at breifly for my MA. I will have to revisit some of the research to help contextualise this project, perhaps it will push it in a new direction.
I miss uni, there was always someone around to give you a hand! I attempted to hang the frame high enough to get a photo of it against the day’s sky but it proved virtually impossible and so frustrating. That’s my guttering you can see top right corner.
It’s a bit of a challenge to produce a piece of knitting each day but I’m getting there. I can visualise what this project will look like when it’s finished; homespun, bland and mundane.
Stephen Fry with Care Bear Head
The blind drawings went well, I decided to use the old wallpaper up and make it life size. This one here was only a ten minute sketch but actually needed longer… more time for detail, but when you are asking people to pose for you, you’re stuck with their time constraints. It almost came out as I had hoped.
I’ve said it before but this method really frees up your hand, in your mind you can visualise what your marks are but it’s always a surprise as to how messy it is when you finally get to look.
I like the way it’s messy. It makes me think of a naughty child’s drawing on the wall. It’s a drawing devoid of responsibility – the knowing mark making process has been removed and replaced with guesswork.
I have two separate pieces developing for this project which is interesting: the blind drawings and the photographic re enactments. Now I have to decide exactly what to do with them. In the past I’ve been prone to over complicate work by exploring too many options, which is really about losing focus. So now I’m out of my comfort zone, time to make decisions and focus back in on what this project is all about and what I want it to be.
