Dear Kay,
KonMari can mess with you. You think you’re done. You think you’ve got the joy sparked, but once you’ve raised the question, it comes back sometimes, a haunting little question mark.
Does this thing really spark joy? I dunno, I mean, I like it. It’s, um, a good thing I think.
Consider this item, for example. This is the first sweater I made, back when when the boys were short and the days were long. It’s Sarah Dallas’s Emmeline from Rowan 28, my gateway Rowan. (Go ahead, take a peek. O the memories!)
Recalling the joy that this cardigan sparked when I made it was joy aplenty for this to stay in my house.
However.
I keep looking at it and thinking, This thing could spark more joy than it’s sparking. It could be less literal. I could maybe wear it sometime.
Mulling what to do, I recalled a shirt I saw two years ago at Shakerag Workshops. It was a shirt brought by the master shibori dyer Yoshiko Wada. She wanted to show an example of work made by developmentally disabled people as part of the Nui Project in Japan. So glad that textile artist and fellow Shakeragger Jody Alexander caught a photo of this shirt. (Please, lordy, click on that link and scroll down to the extravagant stitching photo.) I just found it today, like a lost set of car keys driving me crazy.
Isn’t that extraordinary?
The abandon of it all really comes clear when you look at a lot of the Nui Project work. Here you go. (Again, if this is the last click you click all day, it’s a pretty extraordinary click.)
The looseness of it all, wow. The intuitive color play. The all of it.
Another haunting project on my mind was a plain dark cardigan that I saw eight years ago at Downtown Yarns in New York. It was a plain cardigan, maybe not even a handknit, but stitched all over with embroidery floss in the most wandering, random way.
I don’t know where this is going to lead, but I’ve got two long flights coming up, and this is going with me.
Remember how our Tilleke Schwarz embroidery class had us making tiny stitches? How we ended up with six (lovely) square inches of embroidery after five days of sewing? I’m going in another direction on this, namely: how fast can I pile a new layer of additional joy sparkation onto this previous-joy-sparked cardigan?
Love,
Ann
PS Yoshiko Wada has a gorgeous Instagram feed at @yoshiko_wada_, in case you’re looking to stock up your Instagram larder.
PSS Here’s an article about the Nui Project in Kagoshima City, Japan.
This is very exciting and I love the overhead shot of the whole sweater and the tumble of embroidery skeins. Because although I lack the Intuitive Color Play gene, I fully appreciate it in others.
Fly, Ann! Fly!
It may turn out that I lack the Intuitive Color Play gene, too . . .
When I saw the pic of your sweater I thought “ooooh! I like that sweater!” But after the links I thought my head would explode with how much more I’d love it after your flights. It’s nice to be reminded that our finished knitting projects can evolve along with us. Often we think of them as static rather than fluid. Rock on!
Literalness is on my mind these days. If knitting is not a necessity anymore, then it’s a diversion, a game, a luxury. So . . . let ‘er rip!
It’s such a beautiful sweater as is.
I know! But it’s just itching for some . . . thing . . .
Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Wow, definitely inspiring. It will be fun to watch it all unfold.
Robert Redford’s Sundance catalog features colorful knitwear complete with embroidered areas.
I covet those catalogs. I made my own “raine” with bulky alpaca http://www.sundancecatalog.com/product/raine+tunic.do?sortby=ourPicks&refType=
Ann, that cardigan is a classic as is. Grey seems to be the perfect foundation to let all other colors show off.
That is a beautiful sweater. I see why you wanted one.
I can’t wait to see progress on this! I am considering doing this with the hideous drapes my husband hung in our entire house. If our house had a title, it would be Fifty Shades of Beige.
Great post! So inspiring!
I love this post so much! You two continue to grow and inspire us all.
Highly mutual, just saying.
“… grow as ARTISTS” I mean, not literally grow … Sorry, I need more coffee here …
Don’t know if you’re familiar with Clara Wainright – Her work is community based and collaborative. She sets up shop in a museum or community center and makes quilts that tell a story and encourages people to join in and quilt. This quilt is about the Boston Marathon : http://artery.wbur.org/2013/07/06/mending-boston-clara-wainwright
Can’t wait to see the finished project. Such a big, brave move since the sweater is great looking already!
That Rowan book is one of the best. I wear my Kiri a lot still and have a nearly-finished China Clouds I should get back to. I loved the old 100% wool Rowan yarns and miss loving their yarns as much as the designs.
CHINA CLOUDS. That is an all time favorite Mountaintop Knit right there. Please show!
Gateway Rowan–mine was 36. Oh, those were heady days.
I’ll be keenly watching what you choose to do with the cardi and the pile of threads.
I wonder if crewel threads would be a nice addition to Joy? I’ve used it for small repairs to knitted items when the original yarn wasn’t available. I have some lovely soft little skeins from this place: http://www.renaissancedyeing.com/en/category/threads-yarns/crewel-wool/
Kristin Nicholas of Classic Elite fame does a lot of embroidery on knits.
http://www.kristinnicholas.com
http://getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com
enjoy
Oh, you’re giving me ideas, Ann. Can’t wait to see what you create.
Are you familiar with Dottie Angel and her wooly tattoos? This might be a fun way to embellish your sweater. http://dottieangel.blogspot.com
Happy to see Dottie Angel–thanks for the link!
Love the sweater, but can’t wait to see what you’ll do with it. Light it up!
You might want to look at Addison Embroidery at the Vicarage to see how she uses embroidery to spruce up old sweaters.
Thank you, Bev! I didn’t know this blog, and it’s great!
Love, love that sweater (I knit one years ago, but in a fit of doubt, left off the patterning. I need a do-over). That little pleating around the bottom just does it for me.
My daughter does cover-up-the-knitting embroidery a lot. She made a whole sweater with log cabin blocks, then took the ends from the yarn and did crazy-quilt type embroidery all over the surface. It is truly amazing. Alas, she has not posted a picture on Ravelry. She is working on a similar project now, and I gave her a holiday present of fingering-weight wool, silk, and wool/silk blend needlepoint/crewel embroidery threads.
My point (and my suggestion) is this. Look in your local needlepoint shop, and seek out their wall of wool threads. (If there isn’t one in Nashville, take a trip to Stitchers Inc. in Memphis.) You will be amazed by the range of colors available, and all in thread types that are more compatible with your wool sweater (at least it Looks Like Wool to me?) than cotton floss. Also, don’t forget to take a peek in their metallic drawer — gotta love Kreinik braid for a little sparkle.
Anyway, your project looks like a lot of fun. I suppose it all depends on the end result you are envisioning: Anna Zilboorg’s Splendid Apparel (go with the floss for a delicate look), or Valentina Devine (go with the wool threads for a more robust finished product, it will also weigh more).
Have fun!
Ann, I was going to jump in and suggest you use crewel wool rather than cotton embroidery floss, so I heartily concur with Lee Louise.
Excited to see how this turns out. I love revamping and repurposing.
Love the sweater just the way it is, but I can see why you might want to change it up a bit after all these years. Can’t wait to see the finished project! Have fun!!
I can hardly wait to see the results! I love to do simple hand stitch on fabric and never thought about hand knits.
Have you looked at any of the “visible mending” stuff? That will send you right down the rabbit hole.
Are you going to embroider all over the sweater? I’m excited to see the “after” picture. Since you’re not very excited about the sweater now, I think you have nothing to lose.
Ohhhhh, I just found a handful of pinholes in my hubby’s favorite Pendleton wool shirt – I’m toying with the idea of mending them with tiny darns – the idea being I’ll make them as tiny and invisible as possible. Maybe I should expand my darns to make them a bit more visible?
Well, gotta say that the Nui stuff isn’t my cuppa, but I second the idea of using the needlepoint wool. Also, either way, you may want to check for colorfastness on whatever you use. Sometimes floss isn’t colorfast. Or maybe the colorbleed staining might go with the look?
Ann, I cannot WAIT to see what you do with this! I think this could be more exciting than the cream compilation sweater project! Have fun 🙂