I haven’t knitted a whole lot, but I have completed two short-ish projects this year.
This project and yarn was bought all the way in this beautiful shop in Nelson, New Zealand, but it took awhile for me to pick up. Loved the yarn and pattern though.
And this children’s vest (using an old favourite of a pattern) is for my cousin J’s under 4 year old sons. Hopefully it will get some use from them both.
Hope you’re going alright out there in isolation. I’m alright here in Sydney. It’s certainly given me a reason to complete things that were let go months ago.
At the moment, I’m going through my photo archive for things that I missed out on posting in recent years. I’ll be posting these in the coming weeks. They might not always be related, but a bit of randomness these days isn’t a bad thing.
These pictures hail from all the way back from winter 2018, when we had a run of frosty days in the suburbs. Frost is a rare thing in our part of Sydney so I had to get my camera out.
Winter might be just around the corner, but as long as you’re warm and dry, it’s not such a bad thing. It certainly gives me a better reason to hibernate, and not regret it.
The majority of the year was taken up in doing much more substantial knitting. This cardigan had been on my knitting queue for awhile, so it was great to be able to see it to the finish. It’s made with a combination of two thin-ish yarns held together (one variegated and one solid). The buttons were bought at the op shop in the tiny NZ town of Granity by a local maker (not sure who).
This vest was actually completed in early 2020, but the bulk of the work was done in 2019. The wool was actually bought by Mum while she was in Reykjavik, Iceland (thanks Mum). The buttons were bought in Hobart, Tasmania, but was machine-made, I think. It’ll be a cosy garment mid-winter, worn underneath my coat.
I know, it’s been a long time between posts. I’ve lost much of my blogging momentum last year but hopefully I can still continue on this year, catching up on my photo posts. First, my knitted works for last year.
I made two sets of baby booties last year for various new mums of my acquaintance. I hadn’t knitted these for awhile so it was a bit like a trip down memory lane.
Built environments can also be depicted in paint.
These works are in oil, and depict my home.
There is a warmth and coziness about these scenes that is very different from the starkness of charcoal.
The second knitting project completed this year was a much quicker project than a jumper. This past winter had been so long and at times exceptionally cold that I was compelled to make myself a pair of convertible mitts using this pattern.
A very clever design, it’s toasty and warm and yet enables access to your fingertips for those times when you need it.
This year’s main project was a jumper for Hubby. We agreed on this lovely pattern by American knitwear designer Jared Flood. Knitting started in February and I casted off the final stitch in September! Thankfully, it fitted well.
It wasn’t quite winter by the time I finished but the cool Spring meant that Hubby managed to get a handful of wears out of it. Hopefully he’ll wear it a lot more next winter.
Being ‘in the field’ could also mean exploring my suburb, as I am compelled to do for time to time. I called the latest installment Lost Suburbia, and it was part of my TAFE Diploma of Visual Arts photography major work.
I wanted to capture these brick bungalows and their details before they are all replaced by McMansions. I used black and white film – the medium most commonly used when these houses were built in the 1940s – and developed each shot in the darkroom myself.
Week 3 saw us delving into the world of portraits. I must admit it’s not a genre that I’m very comfortable working with – it’s quite confronting to work with people! But I gave it a try anyway.
As always, I started close to home – Gary is our local butcher. We’ve been his customers for many years, and he in turn has been working in the same shop for 53 years! Even chronic arthritis won’t slow him down.
He is an old-fashioned butcher who makes most of his products himself. You’ll find him at his shop early in the morning, every morning. His products are so good that he frequently caters for the surrounding cafes, clubs and schools. Sausages, anyone?
The second genre we tackled in Camera Craft 3 was landscape. It is once again an old genre that originated with the landscape artists of the 18th century. In Australia, it is mainly utilised outside of urban areas to capture the wildness of the country, but I decided to focus much closer to home for my assignment – in fact, my very own street.
Ah, those brick bungalows are iconic, aren’t they? So, it seems, are the palm trees.
But turn down the lights a bit, and the street becomes a bit more David Lynch.
Static and Silence 