Thursday, April 27, 2017
As I Was Still Saying
As I Was Still Saying
I was going to blog again yesterday, yeah; but I had to do stuff. Christmas-type stuff, with the ribbons and the glitter glue and the peace on Earth and the what–another party, and the hey–what did you put in that egg nog and the excuse me–where are my pants.
But I woke up eventually, and so heres something else from my stack of backlogged blog topics.
Thing Four.
Look at this. What does it look like to you? Besides an indifferent cell phone shot? Stripes, right? White and purple stripes?
But...lets look at it from a slightly different angle.
Huh. Whats that? Is there something weird going on? Lets try another angle.
WHAT? A GRIFFIN?! IS THAT A GRIFFIN?!! HOLY CRAP! WHAT DID YOU PUT IN THAT EGG NOG?
Calm down, please. I didnt put anything funny in the egg nog. However I did put a griffin in the stripes. He was there the whole time–you just couldnt see him at first.
His name is Merv. Merv, say hi to the people.
Merv is very street.
This technique is called either Shadow Knitting or Illusion Knitting, depending upon who is doing the calling. I started fooling around with it this year, just as a goof. Merv was one of my early experiments. Now Im unabashedly in love with it. Its a technique lots of folks look upon as a mere parlor trick. But I believe it has potential that hasnt yet been fully explored, in spite of Vivian Høxbros excellent book from 2004 and the further elaborations of the UK outfit Woolly Thoughts.
Also, its the only knitting technique I have yet encountered that makes non-knitters literally gasp. They gasp!
Exactly so.
I felt so strongly about Shadow Knittings potential that Ive spent a great deal of 2013 exhuming every bit of information I can find about it; and playing around with different ways of designing it, charting it, thinking about it, and putting it to use. In 2014, it will be a new addition to my menu of classes.
The début at the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat is sold out, but I will be teaching it at the Plucky Knitter Shindig, the Squam Art Workshops, and a bunch of other gigs thatll be added to the calendar as theyre confirmed in full. Well learn the technique, of course; but well also learn to make new motifs, and ponder larger philosophical questions like the merits of mystery, opacity, surprise, and subterfuge in design.
Precisely.
That may seem dreadfully ambitious for one knitting class, but if youve taken classes with me before you know Im not kidding.
Yes. Thank you, Merv.
Yes. Thats quite enough, thank you. Goodnight, folks. More soon.
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