In the loop...day 2

Today was great, I learnt some things, but it was more discoverng and re-discovering interesting knitted objects and ideas than learning.

The day was started on the subject of knitting and wellbieng where topics ranged widely from knitting and introversion to knitting as rehabilitation. The first discovery was of the work of these two artists Miller and Shellabarger. The piece that was discussed was their 'pink tube' which they work on always together and always in public, it was described as a record of their relationship...

 

When looking at their work today, I found this project of theirs that I also really like, they have made a hole so they can join hands whilst in their 'graves'. Their work speaks of public unity, their performances always being together.

 

 

 

The next discovery was of the health benefits of knitting, and of the project Stitchlinks, a movement which utilises craft, in particular knitting to improve wellbieng. Thanks to their work, theraputic knitting and knitting groups are now being recognised for their benifits in mainstream healthcare which is an amazing feat, I am quite in awe of the great work they do.  

 

The next is a re-discovery of this film, Wool 100%. I own this film and really like it, but it hadn't entered my conciousness for a while. Anyone with an interesting in knitting, old ladies, hoarding or Japanese films should give it a watch.

 

 
The same presentation talked about the use of red yarn by artists, and showed this work of Lindsay Obermeyer which I have seen in books before, but today I saw it differently.





 

This inspired me to look into her work, an I'm glad I did.

 

 

This painted piece shows the diversity of her work, she uses knitting in her work but this is not her only media. This piece also reminds me of the work of Yayoi Kusama who I love.

Next was another re-discovery, this time of Shetland knitting. The last in the loop conference was held in Shetland and I was lucky enough to go there. I had forgotten how striking the patterns of the Shetland fairisle knitwear was, and how there were so many stories to be told around the history of Shetland knitwear.

This image is from the Shetland Museum and Archives website, where they have hundreds of great photographs of knitting! This young lady is Jean Jarmson, she is wearing a sleeveless Fair Isle rayon jumper. She won a 3rd prize in a Daily Mail Knitting and Needlework Contest in 1931 for this jumper, the 3rd prize being £10, the equivalent of about £500 today.

We also heard from an Australian criminologist with an interest in the legality of yarn bombing, which I think has crossed my mind before. Turns out it's not really legal, but no action is usually taken against it, nobody has been arrested for yarn bombing yet....long live that attitude!
 

 

This yarn bombed tank brings me onto the final discovery of the day which was of the awesome artist Adrienne Sloane who spoke about political knitting. Her passion for the subject really shone through in the presentation, her views, values and the work she showed were really interesting.

I hope you have enjoyed discovering some of the things that I discovered.....I have just realised, the venue we were at is called the discovery centre, wow!

After all that, I just couldn't stop discovering, so I tried some new foods, and guess what....I discovered...that spicy vegetable dim-sum and butternut squash curry are both delicious.

 

 

Kandy x

Today I learnt...

I am writing this from a hotel in Wincester, drinking fruit tea after a day of listening and learning with like-minded knitters at the in the loop 3 conference.
 
I learnt..speedo made a swim suit where the fabric was like shark skin, it made swimmers SO fast it got banned, like steroids for the skin!

 

That before there were the olympics as we know them, there were other events called 'olympian games', one of the most famous of these in the UK was the Wenlock olympian games, started in 1850. At these games they had an 'old ladies race' where the prize was 1lb of tea...and they had knitting! Yes, that's right, knitting at the olympics. The medals were awarded for the 'quickes and best quality knitting'.

 

There was also talk of knitted bathing suits, and it was declared that they don't all go saggy in the water. I am inspired to try this theory out and knit one for myself! These designs from 1928 are particularly lovely.

 

 

There was also talk of machine knitting, and it was a relief to hear that there were other knitters who 'do both' and see them as one and the same, one stated "It's the same thing, just with different tools." which is exactly how I see it, glad I'm not the only one.

 

Excited to see what tomorrow holds!