Mittens - April 2012

After the success of the bootee, I then knitted two mittens from the same knitting pattern. I threaded one with a ribbon at the wrist and the other I threaded with a small knitted plait. These were then dipped in the slip in the normal way. I painted the ribbon with a copper oxide and slip mixture to contrast with the  whiteness of the bone china. I decided to glaze these with a transparent gloss glaze to compare them with the matt finish of the bootie. Normally you would bisquet fire first, then glaze, then fire up to stoneware. However, because the items are so fragile, I decided to try a 'raw firing', putting them in the kiln only once and taking them up to stoneware temp.

It was a risk firing the mittens straight up to s/w with a transparent glaze on, however, they survived, The risk is that they could explode in the kiln, thereby damaging other pieces. The reason they survived is because they're very thin and 'fit' the adjustment of a glaze to a clay.

I am very pleased with how the mittens have come out. I quite like the glaze on the surface as it doesn't take anything away from the texture of the wool or the pattern. Adding a glaze also increases the strength slightly as it increases the thickness of the surface. It also fills some of the holes in between the stitches making the surface more robust.

I particularly like the mitten with the ribbon as I like the addition of the copper oxide. It helps to define the ribbon from the rest of the mitten. I'm not as keen on the plaited cord that I made. The downside is that the oxide has run into the wool part of the mitten and i didn't want that. I can add the oxide to the ribbon and then thread it into the mitten. However, having tried this, the oxide falls off when threading it through the holes of the mitten. In conclusion I think I just need to be more careful when painting on the oxide..

Knitting pattern - April 2012

 I have scanned the knitting pattern I have been using as I am really interested on the different fonts and texts used within the pattern. The knitting pattern is a bit like a secret language, unless you know how to read the abbreviations  and quirky language.

I like this idea of a 'secret code' and would like to work with these ideas further..

Artists to research:

Tracey Emin - baby things
Amy Houghton - animation of unpicking a baby's matinee jacket
Clare Twomey - memory, permanence, impermanence
Neil Brownsword - ideas surrounding lost pottery industry in Stoke
Phoebe Cummings - transition, passing of time, relics, fragility, audience interaction

Old photos - April 2012

Following on from a tutorial, I looked at old photos of me wearing knitted baby clothes:

At my christening with my Aunt and Uncle

With my Mam

Outside our house

At my Gran and Grandad's house

A red & white knitted set that my Gran knitted for me. 

It had a matching hat, cardigan and even trousers!

I am quite interested in these images and am wondering if I can use them with text from the patterns using printing techniques ...

Knitting and bone china - March 2012

I was very pleased with how the 3ply sample was replicated in bone china and so decided that the next step would be to knit an item and then to cast that in bone china. I decided to knit a bootie from the Sirdar pattern 298, dated 1968 as it was one of the smallest items.

I think this is a lovely little object; one that we just don't see anymore. The pattern is a nice one as there are contrasting stitches within the garment - garter stitch on the foot and the lacy stitch on the ankle.

This is the bootie after being dipped in bone china slip. I squeezed out the excess slip so that the detail wasn't 'drowned' by the slip. I packed the bootie with dry paper so that it would keep it's shape whilst drying and firing. Once completely dry it was fired to stoneware temp (1280'c).

The bootie after firing

Amazingly, the bootie survived the firing and came out in one piece. However, it was extremely fragile and on handling, part of the ribbon broke off. I like this fragility though... it ties in very well with the notion that such items are now fragile relics from the past, fragile memories. The bone china has become a fossilised version of the knitted garment.

It's worth saying that it is not a good idea to put man-made fibres in the kiln as they produce horrible fumes when burning. I am looking for a natural alternative yarn..

February 2012 Ceramicists using knitting

Helen Martin

Australian ceramic artist who combines knitting and crochet with ceramics. She uses SHINO glazes to gain the fine detail she requires:

Helen Martin Sweet Suite 1 detail 2009 Glazed knitting

Helen Martin Sweet Trio 2009 Glazed knitting

Helen Gilmour

I like the delicate texture of these pieces. The base of the bowls were thrown whilst the rest are knitted. She dips her pieces in either stoneware or porcelain slip then sprays on a glaze:

Tiziana Bendall-Brunello

I really like this artist's work which is cast in porcelain slip. She is influenced by Italian Renaissance sculpture and she accentuates the folds of children's garments. She is interested in representing the human body and it's movements, even though the body isn't present anymore. I like the fragility of these pieces, particularly the little shoes.

Tiziana Bendall-Brunello: Bowed dress 1999

Baby shoes 1999 porcelain

Five pairs of shoes.

January 2012 Ceramics and knitting

Amongst the things my Mam gave me from her clear out was some baby knitting patterns dated from the 60's and 70's. They were for layettes that you just don't see anymore as they're not fashionable anymore. Also, less people can knit now compared to my Mam's generation. My Mam taught me to knit but I don't know many people my age who can also knit. Having said that, there has been a resurgence in ladies 'of a certain age' who want to learn. Stitch and bitch groups have become popular, but such skills are not being passed down from mother to daughter as they once were.

This brings to mind Richard Slee's piece 'Sausage' which was about the 'death of the male DIYer. But it was also about skills that weren't being passed down from fathers to sons anymore.

I thought I'd do some test pieces, knitting samples from the patterns to be cast in porcelain and bone china slip. It's about nostalgia, theses patterns and skills are a piece of my history and my family's history, a celebration of a craft that was taken for granted. People knitted and sewed as there wasn't the availability of such items that there is now, and people had less money to spend. I still knit babies blankets for friends and they say that it's much nicer to receive a gift that has been hand made than something bought from a high street shop.

I like the idea of casting such items in porcelain. They become something else, like fossils or like the old fashioned figurines that my grandparents collected.

A 3 out of 3 pattern made with cotton double knitting yarn

The fired porcelain version of the blue sample - 

the detail wasn't replicated very well, I think the slip was too thick and also, the sample has stretched and lost it's shape.

Knitted sample made with Indian craft cotton, thicker than DK.

Cast white sample in porcelain slip - 

Again, the detail of the stitches wasn't captured very well as the slip was too thick.

Sirdar snuggly 3 ply

I wasn't sure if this would absorb the slip as it is composed of man-made fibres, no cotton at all. The pattern used was similar to the previous one but consisted of 5 rows of pattern.

As the slip was too thick with the previous samples, I added a deflocculant to the slip which helps to suspend the clay particles in the liquid.

Above sample soaked in bone china slip -

the sample absorbed the slip very well. The slip was of the correct fluidity/viscosity so the fine detail of the stitches has been picked up.

Fired bone china sample - 

I'm really pleased with how this sample came out. The wool and pattern were both very fine so I am pleased that the bone china has captured this.