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After seeing the drawings of Steve that Avalue crated for for the blog’s 20th anniversary, and seeing the pie filter images she made for us, like PupCake and the Sea Lion Chow, and now seeing her knitting, I have to wonder – is there anything creative that Avalune can’t do?
Let’s give a warm welcome to Avalune!
Knitting Magic
by Avalune
I didn’t have occasion to visit my great-grandmother much outside of Thanksgiving and Christmas, when my parents, while they were still together, would do the obligatory shuffle from grandparent house to grandparent house for holiday dinners. She had a cramped little house at the end of a street in what was generally considered a bad neighborhood. The surface of every piece of wooden furniture was covered in starch-stiff crochet doilies. Every couch and recliner was festooned with colorful chevron afghans. Three framed pieces featuring nature scenes built from the most delicate spiderwebs of white cotton material hung from the walls in the dining room – these were her pride, all blue ribbon winning pieces her children squabbled over when she passed away.
I wanted to make pictures from strands of cotton like that. But I rarely had access to her and she didn’t think I was very serious about wanting to learn. I think she’d probably also more or less quit doing it by then because of the rheumatoid arthritis that made knots of her fingers.
I never stopped thinking that it was a kind of magic and one that I wanted to recreate. As it turns out, it was probably for the best that she never tried to teach me crochet. I could never take to it but circa early 2000’s, at the height of YouTube’s DIY atmosphere, I was determined to teach myself to knit.
My great-grandmother Venice was still alive and living in her cramped little two-story on a dead end street in Springfield, Ohio (yes, that one) when I finished my first knitted lace pieces and entered them into the local fair.
While most of the folks around me were knitting with needles that looked like those miniature baseball bats you’d get as souvenirs at a ball game, I preferred the toothpicks and most delicate yarns and intricate patterns – as if I were trying to recreate the things I remembered from my childhood.
I was especially infatuated with Estonian lace for a time. The gentle sway of the bubbles called Nupps (pronounced to rhyme with hoops) reminded me of the deer in the grass in the picture frame. Did you know machines cannot produce Nupps? Take that automation!
I loved the challenge of lacework but there were also so many other ways to play with shape and color. While Venice’s chevron afghans were nostalgic and colorful, I wanted a more modern and diverse take.
Solid colors with interesting textures where the design really stands out.
Or a rainbow of color.
Or a sort of knitted take on traditional quilt blocks.
By changing the order in which you worked a row of stitches, you could create twists of cables.
While it was common for a cable to run from end to end, it was also possible to close cables and create cables out of thin air to get something that looked more like Pictish art.
Clothing that is expected to fit was a little daunting – how many stories exist where someone knit a sweater or hat that was too big or too small for the recipient? But now that I’d accomplished my original intent, to honor and follow my great-grandmother, I wanted to try my hand at clothing, like this piece reminiscent of old military issue with patches and shoulder caps.
I liked solid colors, or intentional colorwork. None of that “I made this!” “Uh yeah you did…” look that too often came with hand knits. I wanted the features and details to stand out – not the wildness of my yarn choices.
But not all of my work is so traditional and restrained.
Sometimes I knit very tiny things bigly (couldn’t resist) like this little roly/potato/woodlouse.
Sometimes I knit big things very, very small.
This may be the first year in many that I do not expect to make a dozen or so 1.5in snowmen to give away at Christmastime.
Sometimes I go weird, like my faux taxidermied friend who presides over the dining room table. I fell in love with Highland Cows while visiting Scotland.
Or my rat friend, Ratty Arbuckle, who watches me work and startles everyone who comes by my office, thinking his proportions are a little too realistic.
Sometimes, I even do “knitivism” – like this angry little womb pin for women’s reproductive rights.
Though there are some exceptions, I primarily knit for close family and friends, who I know will take care of handknits which can be a little more fiddly than fast fashion. I already have a job. I emphatically resist the idea that everything needs to be a “side hustle,” in part because I knit too slowly meticulously and in part because too many people want handknits in quality fiber for Dollar Store prices. Keeping it close maintains the connection to my great-grandmother and the magic and charm that initially drew me to the art in the first place. It certainly isn’t the only art I practice – I’m a bit of a dabbler – but it is still one of my most favorite.
WaterGirl
Avalune, please let us know when you get here.
I have a big crush on the snowmen!
Avalune
I’m here! Working the back panel of a cardigan in progress and watching the Eagles play. 🦅
I can’t tell you how many of those mini snowmen I’ve made over the years but I definitely got my money’s worth on that pattern purchase!
Wolvesvalley
OMG, the textures! And the colors! I am in love with every piece. And I want to pet the rat.
Not a knitter, but a crocheter, and a yarn lover.
ETA I hope your great-grandmother got to see your blue ribbons.
NobodySpecial
Avalune, that’s some beautiful work. Thank you for letting us see it.
way2blue
Ooo. Love the rainbow throw/quilt. Avalune, all your pieces are amazing. Especially the highland cow! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve only ever tried to knit scarves—using heavy yarn. (Quilting with batik fabric is more my thing.) But my mom made some wonderful outfits for my infant daughter. Sweater & onesie. Plus a sweater for me… Meanwhile I have lovely balls of yarn just waiting. Waiting….
Lapassionara
Wow. Big wow. I’m an ok knitter, but these are so far beyond anything I have ever tried to create.
thanks so much for sharing.
Avalune
@Wolvesvalley: ❤️ The rat isn’t for everyone but I love him and making some of the less conventional things. I wish I’d loved crochet but I just don’t much enjoy the process. Happy to know a fellow fiber artist! Thank you!
Virginia Thibeaux
Really love your work and vision. You are a true creative and I love that you have a fidelity to your vision—call it slow or meticulous, it has to be right.
MazeDancer
Simply wonderful work!
Avalune
@way2blue: I used to do a lot of quilting – batiks are beautiful to work with! Maybe you’ll get to the yarn! Scarves can be kinda boring – maybe consider something else?
narya
These are all amazing! I can do fancy needlework (needlepoint, crewel, petit point, embroidery, etc.) but my knitting has always left something to be desired. Your work is stunning!!
CatRadio
Stunning: Thanks for sharing!
Joy in FL
These are beautiful, and I love the variety and the unexpected subjects.
Thank you for sharing your work with us.
Lethe
@Avalune: Your colors are beautiful, and the textures in your solids are amazing. I’m in awe of how meticulous you are. Especially when watching sports. I dabble in crochet, and was watching a game when I tried my first real intricate lace-like piece. Looked down after the game and found a mistake I’d missed.
Well, it unravels when needs be…
17 rows. :(
Tehanu
Lovely things. I hope to get back to crocheting when I retire and maybe even learn to knit. You’re inspiring me!
Avalune
@narya: oh that’s nice! I used to do some more embroidery and cross-stitch and have some pieces kicking around here. I wanted to do more crewel work but I have too many hobbies and not enough time! Thank you!
Dorothy A. Winsor
Loved every single thing pictured here.
Avalune
@Lethe: To be fair, I’m more listening vs watching the football. It sometimes drives my husband nuts because he’s all “television is a visual medium.” I’m not one to do the whole have some wine and knit – that would be catastrophic. There is definitely a lot of cursing involved in some of my work lol!
Avalune
@Tehanu: Let’s ask Watergirl when the Balloon Juice knit club starts?
*runs away before Watergirl can swat me
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: I have a crush on those hunks who are modeling! (Too much SATC watching lately.)
Beautiful work!
(And I always love seeing Pupcake pop up.)
Lyrebird
WOW, just WOW.
I am a marginally competent knitter and do not enjoy it much, but I love fiber arts and can appreciate!
I am also glad to learn that a very treasured scarf that got half-shreded might be Estonian, purchased by friends not in Estonia but long ago, USSR days. No nupps, but very similar otherwise, and probably made of mohair… Galadriel herself might be impressed by it, it is that soft.
Your rainbow quilt-like blanket is amazing, how many years did that take you with your teeny tiny needles and thin threads????????
FWIW I am thinking of making tiny paper mache (spelled wrong, I know) ornaments for this year’s winter holidays. That’s only if these piles of grading ever let me through to December…
ETA: Is the handsome model Leto with two different hairstyles?
Starfish
Wow, you are such a talented knitter taking on so many complicated things. I think I am going to try to learn cables this year. I am a little intimidated.
My understanding is that Estonian lace is really complicated, and people have to knit very loosely.
I love the woodlouse and that throw with all the colors.
Aimai
Marvelous work. I hope you don’t mind but I sent a link to my daughter and her girlfriend! Just amazing! I especially love the rainbow throw. So brilliant!
narya
I wish my grandmother were still alive so I could show these to her. She could do anything: knit, crochet, appliqué, embroidery, crewel work, needlepoint, you name it. (I still have a sweater she made for me nearly 50 years ago–I don’t wear it, but I cannot bear to part with it.) Her MIL could darn and also did lace edging/tatting for pillowcases. My grandmother first put needle and thread in my hands when I was 5 or so. My mother mostly sews–though she has also made several quilts. My sister was a knitter (I also have one of her sweaters–too small for me, but, again, cannot part with it). I’ve always leaned toward the fancy needlework; I fall away from it now and then, but eventually get back to it. I’m currently working on a crewel piece from a kit from the mid-1970s. It must have been something my grandmother purchased but never completed. I thought that doing the kit would help me get back to doing my own creations; we’ll see if that turns out to be true. I will say that it does remind me that I like doing this stuff.
Thanks for making me think of all of this, Avalune!
TBone
Holy cow, these are all so fantastic 😻 what a talent! 😍
Loopy steer has stolen my heart ❤️
Avalune
@Lyrebird: I probably did spend the better part of a year working on that blanket – because I am indeed very slooow. And there were so many %##**^ ends to weave in. It’s a DK weight so a little bigger than the lace weight I often use.
I had wanted to get to Estonia when we lived overseas but never made it.
The models are indeed Leto – about 12 years apart. The scarf was finished in Italy and is a lovely reversible cable cashmere. The sweater was finished this year – so that’s a pretty recent picture of the old man – post his most recent surgery.
Paper Mache ornaments sound awesome!
Avalune
@Starfish: It’s really hard to catch all the loops for the nupps if they are too tight. They look sloppy and awful if they are too loose – definitely have to Goldilocks those things.
You should absolutely try cables! It’s just a matter of changing the order you work the stitches to get them to twist. It can be a little slower going but they are pretty easy and give a lot of character to pieces.
caroln
Your work is so lovely and creative. I learned to knit and crochet many years ago, the instructions can be very daunting and you really can’t make mistakes. I love all sorts of needlework and recently have done some beadwork from kits. 70 yr old eyes need a magnifier these days.
zhena gogolia
@Avalune: That scarf is breathtaking.
Avalune
@TBone: Lol right? I coveted him for a long time before I finally bought a kit and made him. I’m eyeing the bison now. Don’t tell Leto.
You can find these guys at sincerelylouise.co.uk – her patterns are well written, whimsical and you can get it as a kit with the mount and all the parts.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: I call the gray scarf and black leather photo “handsome Leto”. I might have gone with hot, but she is his wife so I held back.
Madeleine
This is quick ‘cuz I have to go out. I come from a needlework and sewing family (even Dad, Grandfather, who were upholsterers) and your work, Avalune, is geeeeeee just so gorgeous! Thanks!
WaterGirl
@Aimai: You can click on any of the images to get a bigger version.
Avalune
@caroln: Some patterns are definitely more clear than others. Mistakes are guaranteed. One of the tricks can be to look for patterns that are deceptively easy but just look hard. I used to teach beginner’s lace courses and my pattern was really only 12 total rows of something more complicated than a knit or purl stitch – and just that small amount was enough to up the appearance of complex lacework.
Elma
I used to knit and crochet and made some nice stuff. The hands don’t work like that anymore. My daughter, who was then 11, bought some nice yarn on a trip to Switzerland for me to knit for her. By the time I got the sweater done, it didn’t fit her anymore. I unraveled it and the yarn sat in my basket for years. Finaly used it to make her an evening wrap. It was one of the last projects I did.
Miki
I love all of these pieces! Thank you so much for sharing with us.
My mormor (Swedish grandmother) loved to knit, crochet, and tat. One year for Christmas, she knitted each granddaughter a pair of lovely white mohair mittens – not especially useful in a cold Minnesota winter, but they were so very beautiful and fancy. When we graduated high school and made our way into the big wide world, she sent us off with one of those ubiquitous chevron afghans.
I am completely without talent and sufficient patience to do much of anything with my hands. But I really admire those who can create such beautiful work.
Orange is the New Red
Just had to say I adore the woodlouse. What made you choose such an interesting subject?
Anyway
My favorite is the military-ish sweater with the elbow and shoulder detail. It’s all great, though — close second is the cow – I mistook it for a giraffe at first. Amazing work, Avalune.
PS I applaud the sentiment to fight the “side-hustle”, with you on that.
KRK
Beautiful work!
Maxim
These are wonderful! I adore the coo, but I love them all.
Avalune
@Orange is the New Red: Fond memories of finding them as a child and watching them curl into themselves. I was looking to make an oversized project for a friend’s two young children – that wasn’t going to have the problem of no longer fitting by the time I was finished and shipped them. Making silly or unexpected things make great gifts and are nice (nearly) “instant” gratification between more challenging projects.
Larch
Wow, those are all beautiful – both in terms of technique & use of color/design! That rainbow quilt is especially gorgeous.
I’ve been doing a lot of knitting the last several years, but I’m not allowing myself to start a new project until I complete the finish work – weave in ends/wash/block – for all the near- finished projects piled on my dining room table 🤨. I knit while I read & watch TV, so having to actually look at my work to weave in those blasted ends is just way too irritating! As it is, I pick my project based partly on how little finish work I can get away with – so shawls, baby blankets (lots of cousins reproducing, yay), and sweaters designed to minimize finish work. For the latter, I can highly recommend Hinterm Stein’s patterns I find on Ravelry (ravelry.com/patterns/search#sort=best&inline=&query=Hinterm%20stein).
Avalune
@Anyway: Leto loves vintage military looks and I couldn’t resist the elbow patches. I liked the seed texture on the sides too – so still mostly classic but with those few bits of extra texture. Thank you!
banditqueen
Just so glad to have seen this post–the phenomenal, beautiful, perfectly crafted artwork in all these pieces, from the tiniest to the largest is beyond inspiring. The variety is astounding and the intense focus and patience required to make each of these is… awesome. Thank you for sharing. And no one could ever consider these a side hustle!
Avalune
@Larch: We are not going to talk about the Kaffe Afghan that is all complete except for the seaming and weaving that is mocking me from the craft room. Or the number of blocks from the Learn to Knit Afghan stuffed in a tote… or the fair isle piece where all 5 panels are done but that six I knit significantly more relaxed than the precious parts…or…
TBone
@Avalune: oh, the Bison is our area mascot here! Union County-East Buffalo Township and Bucknell ✊
Thanks for sharing that!!!
sincerelylouise.co.uk/collections/giant-animal-heads/products/bison-head-knitting-kit
Avalune
@Elma: Oh golly! Part of why I tend to do toys and such for littles – they very inconsiderately keep growing! Adults don’t grow as fast typically so I stand a chance lol!
DEBG
Lovely pieces. Simply lovely.
I too knit (and spin yarn, and weave, and sew). There’s just nothing like knitting for portability and versatility. It’s also really easy because there are only 3 stitches, really. I always have a few projects on the needles, for when I want to knit mindlessly (phone calls, meetings, etc.), focus on something complicated like cables or lace, etc. If anybody is on Ravelry, my nym is IamSherLOKed2, and I’d love to connect.
Ken
One year the director of our bell choir knitted a scarf for each member of the choir. It remains one of my treasures.
On a different note, I saw a topical joke a couple of days ago: “For the three-hundredth straight year, the sweater takes the award for most unpleasantly named article of clothing.”
Avalune
@NobodySpecial: Thank you so much for saying so!
@Lapassionara: Thank you!
@Virginia Thibeaux: Oooh “fidelity to your vision,” I like that one. When I get frustrated at how slow I am and freak out about how much I still want to do, I try to reframe my frustration, so I’ll have to add this one to my quiver.
@MazeDancer: Thank you!
@CatRadio: Thanks so much!
Avalune
@Joy in FL: It was both fun and kind of hard to figure out which things to select for this post. I’m glad the variety seems to have worked out. Thank you muchly.
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Thank you very much Dorothy!
@Aimai: Thank you very much – of course share with anyone you want. I’m happy to answer questions, or tell people where to find the patterns etc – at least as much as I can recall. I wish I took better notes lol!
@narya: I’m always glad to see some of these things make a “come back.” My mother-in-law is pretty good at a lot of those things too, it’s just about our only bond aside from Leto. :D
@zhena gogolia: It’s a pity you can’t feel it through the screen – it’s so squishy and amazing feeling. I don’t mind going in on the quite pricy yarn for smaller projects like scarves and hats.
@WaterGirl: Ya’ll, I have to live with this man. Haha – he is pretty damned good lookin though.
@Madeleine: Thank you so much!
Avalune
@Miki: Awe, I bet you are indeed talented at plenty things. What about cooking? I’m a very subpar chef. It’s a pity we can’t eat my knitting – even when I knit food. 😜
@KRK: Thank you!
@Maxim: He’s definitely one of my favorite things. We have a lot of things from our time in England in the dining room and he just fits right in there. I always kind of wanted to do one of those English huntin lodge style library spaces with a bunch of faux taxidermy and weird knickknacks.
@Larch: Thanks for the recommendation! the rainbow blanket is actually a KnitPicks pattern – they sell kits for them.
@banditqueen: Oh my goodness, I shall faint from all the praise! Thank you very much.
@TBone: OMG how funny (that the Bison is the mascot not the dad joke 😆)
@DEBG: That’s awesome. I’ll have to look you up. I have a Ravelry account but haven’t been very active on there in a long time.
@Ken: I don’t know, there was a trend of sweater pants called swants for a while – I feel like that takes No1 on the ick names list. Stephen West was big on swants I think… (knitwear designer).
Rachel Bakes
My MIL is a knitter but even more an avid quilter. Those blankets look like quilts she’s created with fabric blocks, not yarn. Absolutely beautiful, and fun, funny, quirky.
Sure Lurkalot
Sorry to be late to this probably dead thread but the skill and creativity in your work, Avalune, is awe inspiring. And that you took it up not all that long ago, just wow. Thanks so much for this post!
Avalune
@DEBG: BTW I have a nice wheel and some spindles but I haven’t really done much with them. I also found an old small table loom about to be thrown out at a closing school but so far it’s just decoration in the craft space. I used to sew a lot more than I do now – with all the moves that come with being a military family, the portability of knitting just couldn’t be beat for sure.
Cowgirl in the Sandi
WOW!!!! Amazing work Avalune! The rainbow throw is just breathtaking. I wouldn’t call it knitting – I’d call it ART. It belongs in a museum. Just wonderful artistry.
stinger
As I scroll up and down through the photos, every time I come to the black leather jacket and grey ascot scarf, I involuntarily stop scrolling and blurt, “Good God!” The man is unfairly handsome!
And your works are unfairly gorgeous. I especially want to reach into the photo with The Hobbit and touch that soft white cloud. I also love the beige one with small squares of many different textures. And all the others, too!
Zelma
Oh they are beautiful. My mother was a knitter and I still have sweaters she knit over 40 years ago. I, OTOH, never managed the purl! Did crochet some neat stuff including a coat. And of course afghans. But nothing so lovely or fun as yours. And nothing since my hands said no more.
Betty
Just beautiful and wonderfully creative work. You have much to be proud of.
Avalune
@Rachel Bakes: My MIL is also a big quilter. I used to make them too but I leave that to her for the most part now. Knitting quilt blocks was definitely a fun way to kind of “mix media” so to speak.
@Sure Lurkalot: Thank you very much! I’m just very good at following instructions lol!
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Dorothy A. Winsor: me too!
Avalune
@stinger: Lol! I agree – touching the fabric is definitely part of the full experience. Unless you are in Italy. Men with crossed arms are very anti touching the yarn.
@Zelma: Awe – yeah between my eyesight, which has always been trash and arthritis, I often fret about how many things I have yet to make and running out of time I’m still fit to make them.
@Betty: Thank you so much Betty!
Misswhatsis
As a fellow knitter let me just say that is gorgeous work! I especially love the knitted quilt block afghans.
I, too, love Estonian lace and went through a big lace period about 15 years ago. Right now I’m all Fair Isle all the time.
ps did you create the rat pattern? I would totally knit that.
Avalune
@Misswhatsis: I did not. I bought it from this designer who has a bunch of other super cute animals:
rabbitholeknits.com/forest-friends.html
NeenerNeener
Wow! Just….wow! Love that hairy coo, and of course the Pupcake. It’s all so beautiful.
My mother used to crochet, and for awhile she used to make baby quilts from shiny material too. I’ve got at least two of her afghans stored here somewhere. My only needlework was cross stitch, but I haven’t done any in years. I’ve got various colors and counts of linen fabric here that the moths will get to before I do, because herniated discs have made my hands somewhat numb now. Plus, I spend way too much time reading Balloon Juice….
WaterGirl
I think we have to give some credit here to Leto, for continuing to pester Avalue to make an Artists post! :-)
WaterGirl
Avalune, thanks for putting this together for us!
I don’t know how long you will be watching this thread, but I would encourage you to check back later this evening and in the morning because BJ peeps often comment on the Author and Artist threads late.
Avalune
@NeenerNeener: I know what you mean! I have a lot of fabric I know I won’t get to utilize. Too many other things grab my attention. Too easy to come home from work and just faff around on my phone.
Miki
@Avalune: “Awe, I bet you are indeed talented at plenty things. What about cooking? I’m a very subpar chef. It’s a pity we can’t eat my knitting – even when I knit food.”
I’m not without any talent, but creating beautiful things by hand is a big challenge.
I love to cook! And to collect recipes (I have over 4,000 recipes in my Paprika recipe manager app). But baking is a whole ‘nuther thing (see, e.g., last year’s lamb cake).
You’re very kind, Avalune. Thank you.
Elizabelle
Avalune, you are amazing. So much creativity.
Dane
Just beautiful. Put a smile on my face on a gray day. Thank you.
Dan B
The off white pieces are dazzling, or dazzling in their subtlety, as is the rainbow quilt / Afghan. The color is a knockout and then the textures add the reason to examine, and drawn in, more deeply.
FelonyGovt
I’m blown away by the beauty and complexity and variety of your work.
I’m very left-handed, and knitting is probably the only thing I do right handed because my mom taught me and couldn’t figure out how to reverse it.
I’ve made a few sweaters and scarves (including a cable knit pullover for myself which I treasure for some stupid reason) but they are clumsy, unimaginative things, and your work made my jaw drop.
errg
Those are truly amazing!
Avalune
@FelonyGovt: oh you absolutely should cherish that pullover sweater! It contains magic! You took some string and sticks and wove magic – even if it didn’t quite come out the way you hoped.
Gloria DryGarden
Avalune, these are so stunningly beautiful, and amazing.
i loved all of your pieces, the detail and creativity, especially that lace knitting, the rainbow throw ( that must have taken so much concentration to get those stripes in the color blocks), and the cow. And a purple lace curtain, how lovely!
The sweater you made for Leto with the shoulder and elbow detail reminds me of a sweater my aunt in Uruguay made for me. I think the stitch in your elbow patch was called todo punto, but I don’t know any knitting words in English; I loved that texture stitch so much when they put it in my sweater.
Those Uruguayan ladies knit so fast, in front of the tv, even while knitting complex patterns. It was astounding to watch them, almost 5 stitches per second. I imagine you’re just as adept!
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful creations with us.
Avalune
@Dan B: Thank you very much! The soft grey blanket has a little bit of a sad history. I made it as a baby shower gift for a sweet couple we met in Italy. Unfortunately, their baby was born a little early and died after a few days of fighting. The blanket arrived right after his death. I fretted over it but they told me it actually gave them great comfort and the mother often cuddled with it. Happily they did have a healthy baby girl sometime later and the blanket had new life.
Gloria DryGarden
@Dane: Are you the Dane who does weaving in Arizona, and sings? If you are, we might be acquaintanced.
prostratedragon
Beautiful things! Thanks for the essay, Avelune. I for one like Ratty Arbuckle. Cute, not unsettling.
Avalune
@Gloria DryGarden: Thank you for the story about Uruguay- that’s really cool! Your description of them reminds me of watching the people in Brugge do bobbin lacework. They moved those things so fast it was like watching some do the shell game. I’d have had a hideous knotted mess! Watching me knit is much more like that sloth at the DMV in Zootopia lol!
Gloria DryGarden
@Avalune: That’s a very touching story, about the grey blanket.
A teacher I used to work for lost her third child in the first few months of his life, and it’s clear her grief is so so deep. As a bystander who cares, it’s very complicated to find words to convey comfort and care, knowing it’s almost futile.
She has found a weighted soft fabric doll, custom made with the weight of her baby, that she likes to hold sometimes. ( Her daughters get to hold it too).
Fabric arts are helping her, too. I’m glad your gift turned out to be a blessing.
Gloria DryGarden
@Avalune: So the grey blanket, that’s the one with the squares of different textures?
im thinking about the textures of grief, as a word start for a poem..
I’m curious if the color block “quilt” was knit as a whole thing, or did you knit each square and semi geometric blob, then sew them together? Either one would be equally amazing.
Avalune
@Gloria DryGarden: Yes, that is a solid cashmere with different textures. That one was knit as a solid piece.
The Magic Ribbon blanket was pieced together a lot like a sewn quilt. Fifteen white center square pieces with a long triangle attached to each side of the center piece and then all fifteen blocks were sewn together in a way that kind of tricks the eye into seeing the blocks blend into each other. If you zoom in a bit you can see the edges of the blocks in the middle of the geometric shapes that blend to create the “twists.”
The poem idea sounds fantastic – my poetry is pretty pedestrian. I hope you share when the time is right!
hotshoe
I think there should be a Ravelry group for Balloon Juicers — but there is not — and I might have to work up the courage to start a group. Just so we all would have a place to share work, knitting, crochet, weaving, all the ravelry skills.
In case anyone is curious, in the meantime, I’m joan2435 on Ravelry.
Torrey
Amazing pieces! Thank you for sharing these pictures and the information about how you created them.
FelonyGovt
@hotshoe: I’ve just started looking into Ravelry. I’m thinking of resuming my knitting after a long layoff and a BJ knitting group would be fun.
StringOnAStick
Gorgeous work, such talent!
mayim
As too often happens, I’m reading this way after everyone else has moved on ~ I was busy knitting, among other things.
I’m fortunate ~ at work, my boss is OK with me knitting through meetings as my ADHD fidget tool. As it’s cat-free knitting time, being able to knit not only keeps the ADHD under control but means I resent the meetings’ existence much less.
Not very active these days at ravelry [life gets in the way of fun] but I’m killearnan over there.
Delk
Very late to the thread. Amazing work! No socks? I really like the gray pattern knitting. I started a pattern scarf but never finished. Currently knitting a navy, gray, and yellow helical scarf. Where do you get your yarn?
Soderbee
What lovely work! I took up knitting during covid. I have enough cotton dishies and coasters and placemats to last several lifetimes. Last year I dipped my toe into wool and OMG, I’ve become a hoarder. I keep telling my husband that I’m not buying any more yarn until I put a big dent into what I have stashed. Just got through spending way too much on yarn for a shawl I want to make my sister for Christmas. It isn’t anything I’d ever wear but the pattern is beautiful and she has the style to pull it off.
I aspire to reach your skill level. I can see real improvement in my work from then until now but I don’t think I can ever meet your perfection. You have some very nice pieces.
I’m not too diligent about updating my Ravelry pages but I’m Soderbee over there.
Avalune
@Delk: I do knit socks from time to time but I had to be selective with the photos 😄 I didn’t feature any of my hats either – though I have quite a few. Depending on the projects, local yarn stores, stores local to where I’m traveling, direct from some companies, sometimes I’ll pick up some Indie stuff, Jimmy Beans Wool and Knitpicks. The snowmen were made with yarn I picked up in Italy. The Pictish shawl was from Ireland and the pattern picked up in Edinburgh. I like Malabrigo for some things.
Avalune
@Soderbee: I try to be very good about only buying when I have a specific project in mind and not hoarding but I definitely have a couple boxes of yarn upstairs where I couldn’t help myself. Thank you for the compliments. I’m sure your work is lovely and will just get more impressive.
Avalune
@mayim: I once had a job where they were like please bring your knitting to work. I was too good at the work though and ended up moving up into positions where I was doing more working and less knitting (miscalculation on my part probably). Currently not in a position where I can knit at work (which is too bad because the work ebbs and flows, and I would love to be knitting instead of trying to look busy lol). I’m glad they let you knit in meetings though – there was a study somewhere that showed people paid better attention if they could knit or doodle.
Avalune
@hotshoe: Thank you!
@Torrey: Thanks so much, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
@StringOnAStick: Thank you, I appreciate the kind words.
hotshoe
@FelonyGovt:
100% encourage you to use Ravelry for info about patterns (so many free patterns!), yarns, helpful notes about specific projects, and almost-overwhelming amount of inspiration.
I really depend on it. I would not start a new project without looking up what other Ravelers say and show about the pattern / yarn / suggested modifications.
The curse of loving the craft of knitting is that it’s so slow … so many things I want to do and not enough years left to do ’em …
Quiltingfool
I am very late to this – I was working on a quilt (ooh, what a surprise).
Avalune, you are a Knitting Goddess. I do know HOW to knit, but I just never took to it as I did to crochet. You do things with knitting needles that I never thought were possible!
This weekend, my quilt guild sold fabric creations and do-dads at the Fiber Arts Festival in our town. Knitting and crochet yarns/accessories were sold at many booths. Let me tell you, the Fiber Arts Ladies would have gone crazy over your creations!
To appeal to knitters and crochet folks, I made project bags, and two sold, yay!
I’ve had my project bag for about 30 years!
Thank you so much for sharing your art! I really enjoyed it.
Quiltingfool
@Avalune: One really shouldn’t imbibe adult beverages when working on any fiber project! My friends and I were having a “Stitch and Bitch” weekend, working on quilts. Debbie was drinking Moscow Mules and cutting out fabric. Next morning, she was struggling with sewing the pieces she cut, and muttering “What The Hell” – all her pieces were wrong size! The moral of the story – Don’t Drink and Sew.”
way2blue
@Avalune: Agreed! I taught one of my sons to knit scarves with the thick heavy yarn—thinking that seeing quick progress would be ‘self reinforcing’. I just need to find the right project for myself…
Kayla Rudbek
Late to comment, but wow, these are great projects. I haven’t had as much luck with sweaters; I have made two for Mr. Rudbek and he deliberately felted one so that it is very warm indeed (it had turned out a bit too large even before he started losing weight). I tend to wind up making a lot of shawls as I don’t have to worry about gauge as much, and working in fingering weight because 1-2 skeins fit nicely into a small bag going into a bike pannier or my small purple bag for car/plane travel. kaylarudbek over on Ravelry and we should probably start a Balloon Juice group there…
Mary Ellen Jones
Avalune, I too loved the small needles. Lace and socks, although this year I’ve made a couple of sweaters. I give a lot away, too. Mostly to family. One of my son’s told me he could “feel” me in the afghan I made him years ago. I’m glad that essence stays. Of course, at time my essence stays when a few stray hairs fall out and are knitted in the piece. Even when I pull them out my knitting, they break. After than I don’t worry about leaving them in. Your creativity impresses me.
Dane
@Gloria DryGarden: oh, no. Wish I was, but no.
sab
Very late to this thread. I love your lacy patterns., and your quilt blocks. One of our rescue pets was my stepson’s pet rat, and she was delightful and affectionate and I was sorry she had to live alone without another rat (they are quite bright and very social.)
My college roommate was an art major who had never learned how to work power tools (being a girl in the 1960/1970s) so she knitted everything for her sculpture class. It took her forever, but the results were amazing.
Even she never thought to knit a giant woodlouse (sowbug in our neck of the woods.) That thing is adorable. Did you know that sow bugs, woodlice and pillbugs (rolypolys) are not bugs but crustaceans? Isopods is their formal name.