Milkweed Project Update

Do you remember my post in January about the Milkweed Project? I crocheted a piece of fabric that was to belong to an art installation. It was using pieces of knitted and crocheted fabric from around the world to be made into a giant milkweed pod.

This was mine.

Well, the project website has been updated with photographs of the completed structure and I have to say, I am sooo proud to have been part of something so beautiful. Shan, the creator has made something very elegant and graceful from the hands of so many other people. Please go and have a look at these photos, they are exceptional.

The Milkweed Project

My first mention on this blog of The Milkweed Project was in January 2009.  I have only mentioned it twice more since then.  I am really bad with long deadlines.  I always have been and I acknowledge this fact.  Having a year to knit a strip of white fabric of indeterminate size was always asking for trouble.

I bought the yarn in February 2009, RYC Luxury Cotton DK, but didn't cast on until June 2009.  And then it sat in a bag...... for months.  I just couldn't seem to find the right stitch for what I wanted to produce.


My first efforts involved using large needles, which was very boring.  Then I tried randomly looping stitches and then dropping them on the next row.

Looking at this technique closely, I liked the effect, but looking from a distance is didn't seem right.  It just wasn't wispy enough to conjure up the image of milkweed seeds.

I'm afraid at this point I sort of gave up.  Then once the chaos of Christmas was passed, and I was searching around for something new to tackle, I received an email from Shan, the artist creating the project.  She was sending out an extension for submissions.  This gave me the kick up the backside I needed, plus I now had a SHORT DEADLINE, just what my adrenal glands needed. I needed to have posted my piece by 15th January 2010, almost exactly 12 months after deciding to take part in the project.

I spent some time looking through my craft library and found the perfect stitch.  It wasn't knitting at all, it was crochet.  It was Broomstick Crochet!



I used a 20mm needle and 4mm crochet hook, with a starting chain of 25 stitches.  I alternated rows of loops with a row of double crochet until I ran out of steam and time.

I finished off the piece and blocked it out to open up the loops a bit more and stretch the cotton and make it more even.  The size of the completed piece is 5" x 38" which I feel is a reasonable size.  I wish I had started it a few days earlier so I could have made a longer piece, but I was too busy working on the captivating Ishbel.  It is now too late for regrets, so I will just package up my drapey fabric and send it to the US to take part in a project that has pieces from all over the world.

I'm glad I didn't let this project beat me, I think I would have really regretted not completing what I set out to do and having my work join with others to produce something extraordinary and beautiful.  I can't wait to see what the finished construction looks like.  I hope you watch "The Pod" where Shan will be showing some of the pieces as they are received and the project as it is put together.

Now all I have to do is find an envelope and write up a label.

More Goodies

Can you believe I have even more yarn goodies to show you. In my defence I had forgotten about buying these when I went to Ravelry Day. Technically I hadn't bought them when I left the house. I had set up my Snipe account to bid for the yarn when the sale was about to end. I love sniping for ebay bargains. I use Myibay and it lets me set the highest price I will pay for an item and it then automatically bids for it just before the auction closes at the lowest possible price to win. You can also set categories and how many items in a category you are prepared to bid for if you win an item. It is all very clever and has captured me some real bargains. The latest bargain is for Mango Moon Sari Silk.

This yarn is made from the scraps of silk found around the factories that make saris in India. The women who spin the silk do it by hand using drop spindles in their own homes. This allows them to earn an income without having to stop caring for their famillies. It is a very worthwhile cause that produces a very interesting yarn.

The yarn is bulky and uneven but full of bright colours and interesting textures. I got it for less than a quarter of the price (including postage). I am so grateful that people clear out their stash and give me the benefit of cheap yarn!

After my lace yarn purchases, I have finally decided that I am ready to start my lace training. When I got home from the Ravelry Day, I spent quite a lot of time searching through my patterns and the internet for the ideal first big lace project. I have finally decided on the Ishbel by Ysolda Teague. I love this little shawl and I don't think I'm alone. There are lots of pictures of this project on Ravelry, 1226 at my last count! I like the pattern and it is a good size to get started. I am not going to use any of my precious new yarn to knit it, but I am going to use the yarn I bought at Uppingham Yarns last summer.

I have 2kg of this stuff and it was dirt cheap. I had bought it to felt with, but I haven't plied enough together yet. For once this lack of progress is actually in my favour because it means I can use the unplied yarn to knit my Ishbel with. As it is 100% Lambs Wool is is nice and soft, but it has a little more body to it, than my new yarns, so I won't be afraid of snagging it while I knit. I think this pattern and yarn combination, is a good first step towards my ultimate ambition of knitting the Aeolian Shawl, which is my dream shawl.

I am also quite pleased to report that I have finally cast on my contribution to the Milkweed Project. I signed up to take part in this months ago, and as there was a long deadline (December) I have been sitting on my hands. Yesterday I decided that I needed to play with the yarn and see what happened.

I am using 4mm needles and knitting in garter stitch, but I am wrapping the needle with the yarn several times to give long loopy stitches. The loops are in random places and are of varying lengths. I think this lack of regimentation (i.e. planning) makes the texture of the knitting more like natural fibrous material.

I think this is the sort of texture I am looking for, and I will pick up the project and knit, when I have a spare few minutes, over the coming months.

Visiting my LYS

Every Thursday afternoon I try to get to my LYS, Mary Clare, to attend a Knitting Group. I have grown really fond of the group members, though seemingly on the surface the only thing we have in common is knitting. These ladies are all older than me, have led totally different lives than mine, some have grown children others are still coping with the consequences of puberty in the teenage population, and others have none, but without fail, when I go the group I laugh my head off.

I love walking into my LYS and knowing that it is MY local yarn store. I know the owner Clare, her children often come into the shop, and I know that she she is always happy to chat when I go in. In fact a couple of weeks ago, I went in to get some extra yarn for a project that needed finishing urgently and ended up staying there all afternoon and chatting while I carried on with the project.

My love of this shop is positively evangelical and I try and drag all my crafty friends there whenever I can, I hope I have made several converts. In fact I know that I have because Clare tells me so! Yesterday I had a phone call from one of my best friends informing me that she was taking me out to lunch as she had taken the day off work. Of course in my role as friend I had to accompany her to the pub, it was my duty! My friend picked me up and we had a lovely lunch and I suggested that we popped into Mary Clare on the way home, as my friend has expressed an interest in going on a workshop. We went in, and spent probably 45 mins wandering around and chatting with Clare. I only bought one thing.



It's a fat quarter of lovely material I have had my eye on for some time. My chair in the knitting group often faces the wall of fabric that is in the shop. Opened out the material looks like this.



I intend to use it as a lining for my Sushi Bag. This was the only purchase made in our visit to the store and it cost a grand total of £2.25. However, Clare was friendly, helpful and we have even decided to make our Friday afternoon visit a regular event. We are going to go to Mary Clare to complete our UFOs, our Unfinished Objects. All crafters have them laying around the house. These are the projects that excited us once, but got cast aside for many reasons, be it Christmas or a brand new yarn. Some of our UFOs only need sewing up and others need much more work. My friend is a stitcher, not a knitter, but this group will be spanning the great craft divides.

This LYS is becoming my home away from home and the only thing I wish it had, was more comfortable chairs! Oh and by the way my friend went into the store today to book us both up for a Blackwork Workshop. It is her very early birthday present to me. I hope it will urge me to start stitching again, but I'm not holding my breath.

PS My postie brought me a bargain from Kemps today.



It is for my Milkweed Project contribution. So despite my loyalty to my LYS, I still cannot pass up a bargain. Dragging my friends there to spend money, just assuages my guilt.

The Milkweed Project

I just found an interesting post on Ravelry. I am thinking of joining in with The Milkwood Project which is going to use strips of knitting and crochet to make a giant Milkweed pod. It sounds fascinating and I have just signed up to show interest. I love the idea of crafters joining together to make the components of an art installation. Using materials local to each crafter, the finished piece will be of global manufacture.

If ever you have fancied being part of something bigger than yourself, or taking part in an exhibition, this is one way to do it.

Click here to get the full details of the project. You never know, in the finished piece, your patch could be right next to mine!