More Experiments

A while back I wanted to show a friend a strange phenomena I had noticed while spinning.

In each creative step, as the artist applies more constraints to the materials being fashioned into art, the natural beauty of the material is diminished. I believe it is diminished because with each manipulation the number of possible potential uses for the material is diminished. I think that humans can see potential and that is part of what they consider beauty.

First I showed her some raw wool that had only been washed, then roving that had been industrially prepared for spinning in a mill, then the roving that was space dyed in a roaster pan (and it was still breathtakingly beautiful). Then the yarn which is pretty darn special and now the beret. And the beret is something. Well, she liked the beret best of all ... so much for my theory.

I've also started using more than two needlework techniques at a time on a piece. Usually I just crochet and perhaps sew to finish, or knit and perhaps sew to finish. In this case, though, I've spun some white and some green yarn. I knitted a ribbing and then extended that into 5 repetitions of Double Leaf Lace and bound off so that the zigzag of the lace is retained. I then used the green yarn to crochet a small leaf, attach it to a point, single crochet down on zig and up one zag ... then single crochet the zig and zag together.

While I like the five points at the top of the hat and believe that I'll be using the crocheted leaf motif in other ways in the future, I've decided this combination of circular and Lace knitting is best presented in a single color (or a subtly variegated yarn that is created by hand). In this way, the lace and the hair beneath it are the true stars ... and that's what it's all about isn't it?

Enhance the person who wears the piece ... because the piece is at the end of it's potential and the human that wears it is always in the process of self-creation, has limitless potential and so is the beauty to be framed.