Treble Trunk

100cm by 100cm crocheted  blanket around trunk of tree
University.

This piece of work proved to be very interesting in that it highlighted a tree which even though beautiful in the grounds of University, was not noticed amidst the other trees there. It made one look specifically at it and question the viewer as to the reasoning of how art can change the whole concept of an object. The Jafagirls are a group of artists who have challenged the use of displaying brightly coloured  wool either in installations or with objects in sculpture in the environment. They originate from Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Janet Morton is another Canadian knitting artist, who has produced knitted sculptures around trees. An example of her work is Frosted Tree,2004.White intricate crochet covers a large section of tree which totally changes the whole original object. Please see below.

'Follow the Violet Brick Road...'

Knitted shoes  30cm long by 12 cm wide. Violet uppers with green edging and black
seams .Heels 5cm high in black wool. Inside  frame made of paper mache and
heel made of wood.

These sculptured shoes caused a lot of attention due to their bright colour.

Colleagues stated that the simplistic style with bold violet hue, projected some similarity to Patrick Caulfield's prints.(pop artist).  

I had other ideas,however believing they appeared somewhat like Dorothy's shoes(even though a different colour!), from The Wizard of Oz film. 

Citrusituation

Knitted floorlamp 180cm high in bright orange and green
wool, fully workable. Fluorescent green, yellow and
green wool knitted chair.  

Both these pieces serve as an installation in the White

Room, but can be presented separately as sculptures.

I think the lamp is the most successful because it creates an arresting representation of a metal lamp in another context. The chair took the longest to complete and is really comfortable to sit on. There is a large orange cushion to cover the Lacanian(Lacan Jacques , "Out of the Blue", Time and Image, translated by Parveen Adams, Manchester University Press 2000) hole to the side of the piece, creating an interest of what is visible through it, normally ignored. There is also an element of play, with the desire to be tactile with the suggestive yellow and orange knitted soft forms.

I like my work to project happiness and fun.It's also important to me that my sculptures can continue to be of valuable function after making them.

Luminous Loops

These lamps are smooth, simplistic and give a Swedish design in appearance.

Floor lamp 180cm high, knitted in orange and green wool.
Fully functional.

Table Lamp knitted in yellow and green wool.
52cm high.Fully functional.

Knitted glow

I received a second-hand, 1980, manual, Bond Knitting machine  at the
end of March,2011. It took me over 7 days to be able to work it. This is
me  making my next project. The two knitted lamps, one an orange and
green floor lamp and the other, a yellow table lamp with wool. Both lamps
are in full use in my conservatory below.

The intriguing part of these lamps is that they appear  switched 'on'  even when not, due to their dynamic fluorescent quality of their colour.

Lamps in my conservatory at home.May 2011

Hypertextural Link

Knitted Installation using long (180cm) needles with
turquoise knitted piece 180cm long by 80cm wide.
Linen box 65cm long, 35cm wide and 35cm deep. In
white room.

I was inspired to choose the turquoise coloured wool

 after researching and being totally overwhelmed and interested in the works of artist Sophie Horton.The disparity with a normal sized box next to a huge piece of knitting, carrying enormous stitches held on hanging needles, created an interesting concept related to how a change in sizing of objects,either by themselves or with others, alters our perception to form a totally  refreshing viewpoint.

Julia Hopson of Penzance, Cornwall holds the Guinness Book of Records for the largest Knitting needles in the world. She knitted a tension of 10 stitches and 10 rows in stocking stitch using the needles that were 6.5 cm in diameter and 3.5cm long!

The yarn was rope with a diameter of 1.2cm.Please See below.

Hypertextural Link

End of large gold sprayed Knitting needle 180cm long by2.5cm wide.
Tip of needle made of wood below.

These are shots of one of two  long

knitting needles I made. The wool I used was the chunky type and the stitch used is stocking stitch. The turquoise colour  of wool, worked in harmony with the gold sprayed needles.

The difficulty lay in the actual awkwardness of holding the needles, due to the weight and length of them and the transferring of one stitch from one needle onto the other needle.

The sizing of the needles was inspired by Claes Oldenburg who giganticizes  every day objects. Julia Hopson holds the Guinness Book of Records record for knitting with the largest needles in the world.                                                                              

However after 3 weeks of sore hands and perseverance I managed to complete a knitted piece the size of a standard door!