Wednesday, March 07, 2007

T.A.S.T. - Cross Stitch

T.A.S.T. challenge for week 9 was Cross Stitch.
Neki Desu made me laugh when she summed it up on her blog by saying that to her X Stitch was the epitome of a little old lady gone crafty! These samples are all unfinished for one reason or another. Time has ran away with me and I need to move on to other things.

I wanted to use wire in this weeks challenge so the first sample is a piece of wire mesh with the X stitch in a 0.5mm and a 0.20mm gauge wire. I wanted to cover the whole piece with layers of stitching but it was playing havoc with my fingers!


This sample is made using a wire grid and a ribbon yarn from Colinette as the thread.


This is another wire grid. You can see what a small gauge this is by the ruler. I used one of those really tiny quilting needles and I even had to pull on that to get the thread through. I had to give up on this, it was just way too small for me.



The thread is a fine copper wire wrapped around a bamboo core. I have used wire a lot on the knitting machine, sometimes along with machine embroidery thread to give it more stability. I wanted to try using this in the hope that I could mould it into shape after knitting.It’s quite an expensive thread, a 1 oz (28gm) cone cost me £8.45. It was another Ally Pally purchase from HABU textiles. Take a look at their website they do some of the most brilliant yarns: stainless steel and silk, originally used to make oil filters: paper yarn: bamboo tape: paper and raw silk: pineapple ramie and many, many more.

Some textile artists have created really amazing things with knitted wire. I haven’t got the patience to hand knit so much prefer to use the knitting machine. ‘Knitwear in Fashion’ by Sandy Black shows bowls made from knitted wire embedded in glass and in resin and the book ‘Textile Techniques in Metal’ by Arline Fisch shows some wonderful items knitted with wire.

Using wire for the X Stitch samples has inspired me to carry on experimenting with it on the knitting machine.

14 comments:

Susan D said...

Wow, yet again some very inventive stitching, where do get the ideas from.

Amy Munson said...

I absolutely love your TAST samples, so creative

Doreen G said...

Now that is way tooo cool Lynda but ouch on the fingers.
I love the wire mesh and colinette yarn sample and it has given me an idea for something we have to do at the Guild soon.
You're some crafty lady.

Joanna said...

Great idea, and thanks for sharing the website. Interesting information.

Joanna

Anonymous said...

Lynda your creativity just amazes me!

Digitalgran said...

You get quite brilliant ideas for these TAST samples.

Dianne said...

You are amazing! Wire and cross stitches - great idea!!

Veleta (Sammy) said...

I left a comment earlier, but not sure if it went thru and don't want to miss saying how much I love your wire and ribbon cross stitch.... I can't wait to see what you do with this piece when it is done... I love it....

Terri Stegmiller said...

Is there anything left that you haven't tried stitching with????? LOL! I love your willingness to try just about anything.

Micki said...

Everytime I stop by I find something new and wonderful that you have done. You are just amazing with your creations.

bookwraps by suz.com said...

great samples Lynda ! & your blog is super...

Nancilyn (Fiberdabbler) said...

MS Purple, are there any limits to your curiosity? You've just boggled my mind again. Talk about enablement, you've got me frantic buying books, stash additions, etc.
Agggghhhh. On the other hand thanks for the reminder about Habu.
I saw their amazing fibers at Fiber Market in conjunction with Stitches West (sponsored by Knitters Magazine) several years ago. Alas, as appealing as their wares were, I had no idea what to do with them then.
I have some questions for you. Please contact me when you have time.
kroushl@insightbb.com
Thanks, Nancilyn

Unknown said...

Love the Collinette sample, have you seen the string grid in brown paper potato bags, makes a great page for samples

Anonymous said...

Inspiring - as always.