Thursday Thoughts – The Aesthetics of Knitting

Last week, I blocked Wollemi Pine.  I then had the pleasure of seeing the scarf worn by my model, the lovely Paige Autumn.  While watching Paige work, I was struck by the manner in which her beauty appealed both to my eyes and to my emotions.  And with the evocative power of Paige’s eyes, her youthful confidence, and the playfulness with which she presents herself, I was reminded of the importance of bringing not only my craft, but my art to my knitting.

As for my craft, it is a matter of continuously striving to expand and perfect my skills.  The expansion part is easy; there are many books, videos, tutorials, and workshops that I can tap into to learn a new technique.  It’s the perfecting part that requires more effort.  For me, it comes down to self-discipline.  While working on a project, it is easy to overlook a stitch that doesn’t look quite right – especially if correcting the errant stitch requires the undoing of several rows of perfectly wonderful stitches in order to go back and rework the slightly skewed stitch.  Yet this is precisely what I must do if I am to advance my skills and create knitted works of art that are as beautiful as the people, such as Paige, who are destined to wear them.

 

 

One tip for any knitter wishing to evolve his or her skills is to regularly practice those skills.  By practice, I do not simply mean knitting one project after the next (although regular knitting is always a good idea).  Rather, I mean knitting that is not project related, but is for the specific purpose of practicing a stitch or a technique.  In this regard, practice knitting is akin to the lines we wrote as children to practice our handwriting.  The lines were not intended to develop our authoring skills, but rather our penmanship.  That same type of practice will benefit the development of our craft.  At the same time, the practice swatches that we knit afford us opportunities to learn more about our gauge with various yarns and needle sizes, as well as the behavior of a range of yarns as we knit with them and block the swatches.  Our resulting understanding of the materials with which we work then feeds, directly, into our artistry.

I view the art of knitting as the result of applying our craft.  It represents the sum of the choices we make as we approach and work through a project.  As beginning knitters, we are guided more by the designer of the pattern we are knitting than by our own design sensibilities.  We tend to follow the pattern, as written, and make our yarn choice on the basis of the designer’s recommendation.  At this stage, the artistry that we do express is likely to be as intuitive as it is intentional and may involve the style of the pattern and the colors that we select.

As we continue to hone our knitting craft, it is important that we also practice our artistic expression.  By being more conscious of such aesthetic elements as line and texture, color combinations and proportions, and the interplay of form and function, we gain insight into the artistic ideas that we, ourselves, wish to express, apart from – or in addition to - the ideas of established pattern designers.  To advance the art of my own knitting, I like to experiment – to improvise with various materials and stitch sequences, much as musicians improvise with harmonies and tonalities.  As with musicians, some of my improvisations are destined to be expressed once and then never repeated.  But with time, successive improvisations lead to deeper insight as to what I am trying to achieve and how I might best accomplish my objectives.  This ultimately leads me to a design that excites the senses and captures the feelings I wish to ignite – a design that expresses my unique tastes and artistic inclinations.

I would encourage every knitter, whether a novice or an expert, to regularly play with their needles and fibers.  It is a great way to not only have fun, but to cultivate both your art and your craft.  And remember, not every knitting adventure need end in a finished object.  Sometimes it is the process, and not the product of our efforts, that is the prize.

In the meantime, please enjoy a parting image of my Wollemi Pine Lace Scarf and the beautiful Paige Autumn, herself an incomparable work of art.  And stop back on Sunday for a sneak peek at the stitch pattern for my latest design – Regatta Socks.  Until then, happy knitting!

. . . Linda, the well-rounded knitter

 

Filed under: Knitting on Circular Needles

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