University (year 3, semester 1): Experimenting with Unconventional Materials and Knitting

Hello, 
    I can’t believe that this week’s blog brings us to my third and final year at university. I also can’t believe that this is my thirteenth consecutive blog post. When I started this I didn't know what I was doing or where it would go, or if I would even stick it out. But I am overwhelmed with the views that I have been getting so I want to thank you so much. 
    Anyway back to my third year, like last semester we had to pick our own brief. Luckily we had all of summer to decide. 
Summer Project/Brief:
    You can probably see the pattern as again I chose the similar theme of 1960's Paco Rabanne. However this time instead of looking at his inspiration of space age, I decided to instead look at his other inspiration which was the future. Obviously my collection is still influenced by Paco Rabanne and his 1960's work, but I wanted to go in a slightly different direction. I did this by looking at futuristic fashion and designers who used unconventional materials. (Closely linked to my dissertation, which we did during this semester as well). As you can see below I looked at a variety of different designers including: 
·         Paco Rabanne
·         Gareth Pugh
·         Loewe
·         Hussein Chalayan
·         Iris Van Herpen
·         David Koma
·         Avtandil
·         Balmain
·         Jane Bowler 
·         Marina Hoermanseder 
·         Noa Raviv
    Another huge influence for me also happened to be the theme of The Met Gala Ball that year which was Manus x Machina, which was also the exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I really recommend that you check it out if you don’t know anything about it. I fell in love with all the amazing work in the collection. (Again this was another huge feature in my dissertation. If you are at university I recommend that you try to link your studio work with your dissertation).
Futuristic fashion (collection of images from Google).

Paco Rabanne fall 2015.

Paco Rabanne fall 2013.

Paco Rabanne spring 2013 and fall 2012.

Paco Rabanne spring 2012.

Paco Rabanne spring 2012.

Manus x Machina theme spider diagram and images from The Met Gall Ball 2016.

Iris Van Herpen fall 2014 and spring 2015.

David Koma fall 2016.

David Koma fall 2015 and 2014.

Junya Watanabe spring 2015 and Christopher Kane pre-fall 2016.

Avtandil fall and spring 2016.

Balmain spring 2016.

Balmain spring 2016.

Knitting:
    This collection was mainly about experimenting with what unconventional materials I could apply to knitting. I started off on the domestic knitting machine where I mainly carried on where I left off last semester. This involved trying to create block patterns with the weaving in technique. I then moved on to creating big holes by using the cast off and on technique. Next I then tried fringing as well as applying materials similar to the washer’s technique, which can be seen below. I then decided to move onto the Dubied, where I learnt how to create pockets. This was it; this would allow me to entrap all sorts of unconventional materials in knitting. Here is a list of all the materials I experimented with on both the domestic and Dubied knitting machine:
·         Metal silver washers (in a variety of sizes)
·         Can lid pull tags
·         Plastic wallets
·         Black rubber washers (in a variety of sizes)
·         Small sequins white
·         Thick clear straws
·         Pom poms (also called iridescent snowballs on the packet)
·         Furry metallic yarn
·         Square mosaic mirror tiles
·         Circle mosaic mirror tiles
·         Clear straws
·         Black straws
·         Small blue plastic beads
·         Silver glitter polystyrene balls
·         20mm silver holographic sequins
·         8mm silver holographic sequins
·         White curtain ring hooks

Weaving in a checker effect.

Weaving in an overlapping square design.

Cast off and on hole designs,

Cast off and on hole design.

Silver metal washers inside the cast off and on hole design.

Applying metal can lid pull tags.

Applying cut plastic wallet sections with e-wraping on top.

Metallic silver yarn thread fringing.

Loopy fringing.

Loopy fringing with rubber washers on them.

Loopy fringing with white and silver holographic sequins on them.

Testing pockets with a variety of materials.

Testing pockets with a variety of materials.

Inserting metal washers into dubied pockets.

Inserting materials into dubied pockets.

Inserting materials into dubied pockets.

Metal washers and sequins in pockets.

Pompoms in pockets.

Inserting furry metallic silver yarn in pockets.

Furry metallic silver yarn inside pockets.

Inserting black rubber washers into pockets.

Pompoms and rubber washers inside pockets.

Metal and rubber washers inside pockets.

Square and circle mosaic mirror tiles inside pockets.

Single bed applying metal washers on the dubied.

Metal washers applied to the dubied.

My dubied desk set up.

Rubber and metal washers with circle mosaic mirror tiles.

Single bed applying metal washers on the dubied.

Inserting clear straws inside pockets.

Normal and thick straws inside pockets.

Black straws inside pockets.

Straws inside striped pockets.

Straw samples.

Inserting straws into a Shima Seiki sample.

Inserting straws into a Shima Seiki sample.

Inserting straws into a Shima Seiki sample.

Inserting straws into a Shima Seiki sample.

 Straws inside a Shima Seiki sample.

Inserting small blue beads and polystyrene balls into pockets.

Small blue beads and polystyrene balls inside pockets.

Straws and Christmas tinsel shredding inside pockets.

Straws, metal washers and pompoms inside pockets.

Straws and pompoms inside pockets.

Rubber washers (with smaller ones inside) and clear and black straws inside pockets.

Clear and black straws.

Straws, pompoms and rubber washers with a stripe in between. 

Creating striped pockets.

Striped pockets with pompoms inside.

Straws and 20mm holographic sequins.

20mm holographic sequins and M10 metal washers.

Metal washers applied to the dubied.

Small sequins inside pockets.

Black straws and black rubber washers.

Black rubber washers and white curtain rings inside pockets.

Some of my samples.

Final Collection:
    For our hand in we had to create a display board. However as I had moved back home over the Christmas break, I got to university late due to the traffic. Hence why my display board was very minimal, due to me only having a few minutes to do it in. You can see my simple display board below along with my final samples.
Design 1: pompoms inside pockets.

Design 2: furry silver yarn inside pockets.

Design 3: pompoms and rubber washers.

Design 4: rubber and metal washers inside pockets.

Design 5: square and circle mirror mosaic tiles inside pockets.

Design 6: rubber and metal washers as well as rounded mirror mosaic tiles inside pockets.

Design 7: straws inside pockets.

Design 8: straws inside pockets.

Design 9: straws inside striped pockets.

Design 10: black straws inside pockets.

Design 11: straws inside striped pockets.

Design 12: small blue beads and polystyrene balls inside pockets.

Design 13: straws and metallic Christmas tinsel shredding inside pockets.

Design 14: black straws and black rubber washers.

Design 15: clear and black straws and rubber washers big with smaller ones inside.

Design 16: black rubber washers and small white plastic curtain rings inside pockets.

Design 17: straws, metal washers and pompoms inside pockets.

Design 18: straws and pompoms inside pockets.

Design 19:clear straws, rubber washers and pompoms inside pockets.

Design 20: pompoms inside striped pockets.

Design 21: clear and black straws inside pockets.

Design 22: straws and 20mm holographic sequins inside pockets.

Design 23: metal washers and 20mm holographic sequins inside pockets.

Design 24: small sequins inside pockets.

Design 25: ripple stitch.

Design 26: reverse side of ripple stitch.

Design 27: silver tape on top of plain knitting.

Design 28: small mosaic tiles inside a rib.

Design 29: small mosaic tiles inside a rib.

Display board.

Display board.

Summary:
    After talking to my lectures about the last year (second year) at university (as I explained last week it was my worst). This really gave me the kick up the bum that I needed. I knew I wouldn't graduate with a first but I really wanted to do my best this year. I did the most drawings that I had ever done whilst being at uni. I didn't leave it till the last two weeks of summer, like always. Since I am not the best drawer I liked experimenting with different methods and materials, to compliment my simpler ruler drawings. I also loved knitting Dubied pockets it changed knitting for me and I loved searching the internet for the next material, I could sandwich between knitting. It seemed like every time I knitted a sample I was trying something new.
    Next week brings the ends of my educational journey of textiles, and I am worried that my blog might start to slow down then. Possibly to one post every two weeks. I do have some posts planned mainly about my new business. But I was just wondering if you had any ideas. Is there anything you would like to know about me or my textiles? Any advice on possible blog posts would be greatly appreciated, feel free to contact me using any of the links on my contacts page.  I’d love to hear from you.
Thank you for reading.

Love Karmann Jean

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