July 11, 2003
May I Introduce You to My Pissy Side?
Five minutes after I posted my less-than-complimentary comments about knitting with strips of plastic I was made aware of two examples of passably nice things knitted with, yes, plastic! Looking at each item, I found myself pulling my mouth down in a semi-skeptical yet semi-approving way, rubbing my chin, nodding my head slowly, and saying “Hmmmmmm.” Melissa at LooseEndKnits referred me to the web page of Katharine Cobey (loads slowly), a knitting sculpturess whose oeuvres are knitted out of a variety of media including wire, plastic, and different kinds of wool. Sure enough, there on her web site were two bona fide sculptures knit from plastic, specifically – and I find this fascinating – the yellow “danger” tape police put around crime scenes. Still, I wouldn’t want one in the middle of my living room. You?
And then, after following a random blog-blog-blog-blog-blog-blog breadcrumb path, I ended up here where I coinkidentally found a purse knit from strips of black plastic bag. Who knew that if you cut a black plastic bag into strips, knit the strips into a purse, and slapped a faux pearl button on the side, it could look, and I say this grudgingly because I’m not gracious when proven wrong, half-way decent?
I guess my newly-consciousness-raised self now understands the concept of knitting with plastic for the sake of exploring a new medium. What I still don’t understand is knitting with plastic to (a) save money or (b) save the environment.
Let’s consider the "saving money" angle, shall we? Ya’ have ta’ collect the damn bags, perhaps wash them, wait for them to dry if you wash them, perhaps organize them by color, check them for holes, cut them laboriously into same-size strips, wrap the strips into balls or skeins, and then spend however many hours knitting the strips into an admittedly free but obscenely ugly tote bag, wreath, bathmat or Christmas angel, when a twenty-minute trip to the thrift shop and $3 would have accomplished the same thing. Yes, you saved a few shekels but you bartered away ten hours of your life in return... A fair trade? I say nyet!
Now for the dubious recycling angle. People, people, PEOPLE! Knitting something out of a plastic bag does not magically make the bag less of a threat to the environment. In fact, now, rather than exist for a gazillion years as a plastic bag, it will exist for a gazillion years camouflaged as part of an, again, obscenely ugly tote bag, wreath, bathmat or Christmas angel. No, really, how is that better?
(Sigh. Now I'm doomed. Whenever I express a strong opinion about something, it inevitably comes back to haunt me. Now I can be sure that somewhere, somehow, through some quirky, unpredictable twist of fate, I will find myself locked in a room for a long time, with plenty of food and water, a pair of scissors, some knitting needles, and a large pile of plastic bags.)
Knitting Knews
"Finished" the front left side of the Egg Yolk Sweater. I say "finished," because the pattern threw some curves at me, and I ended up with a lumpy-bumpy something that was not quite a cable yet not quite flat at the top of the button side of the piece. I am not a happy camper. Will frog. Will tweak pattern. Will reknit. Will be a happy camper, damn it!
Photo of frogged sweater. Took out an inch or so at the top.
Dyeing Dyegest - O, Happy Day!
As if being paid the compliment of being asked to do a natural dyeing presentation weren't enough; as if having an absolute blast preparing for the presentation weren't enough; as if having a groovilicious time doing the presentation weren't enough, a few days ago I received in the mail a "thank you" card signed by all the people who attended, and snugly tucked inside the card was a gift certificate to a local LYS. Does it get any better than that?
On the not-so-groovilicious side, another reader informs me that I am not the owner of a large pile of black walnuts. I am the owner of a large pile of walnuts, yes, but English walnuts, not black walnuts. Big, fat pooh. Time to check the books to see if the really see black walnuts, or if they just say "walnuts."
Ack! Another comment just came in from reader AJ saying that, again, I AM the proud owner of a large pile of walnuts, but I'm the proud owner of the wrong part of a large pile of walnuts! Apparently walnuts have three parts: the nutmeat, the outer woody bit, plus another outer hull. I have the nutmeat, the woody bit, but no outer hull. I'll give you three guesses which part you dye with.
Reader Janet has also given me some intriguing ideas about dyeing with parsley. K has The Parsley Plant That Ate the World growing in one of her smaller beds and she recently made the mistake of telling me it was getting too big. Parsley plant, meet garden clippers; garden clippers, meet parsley plant.
Posted by Ryan at July 11, 2003 08:39 AMRyan, there's a picture of Janet's parsley-dyed mohair on my blog from... um... yesterday? day before? Very pretty pale lime!! There's also cranberry-dyed mohair and something else-dyed mohair.
Those walnut outer-hulls can get quite messy when they fall off the trees in the front yard, and a lot of folks don't have those trees because of the mess they make. But I do remember them from my youth, as my grandparents had a tree in their front yard which would occasionally throw a nut at me. Explains a lot, eh?
Posted by: sheila on July 11, 2003 02:09 PMThis is all just too small-worldish! Just yesterday I got an email from Janet talking about her cranberry, parsley, and carrot dyeing experiments. And now here you are with a picture of it on your blog! Very cool! I'm likin' the parsley mohair, which is a good thing because, as we speak, at my house, four cups of parsley are gently steeping away in four cups of water. Will hopefully have some results to show on Mossy Cottage on Monday.
Posted by: Ryan on July 11, 2003 02:54 PMthanks for grudgingly admitting that my plastic bag-bag wasn't awful. as i said in my posts about it, i did not knit it to save money, nor to save the environment. i knitted it because i imagined what it would look like before i made it, and what i imagined, i made.
it's really sharp, fun to carry, and given quite a few people a good moment or two admiring it in the park or at the café.
speaking for one hundred percent of the people i know who knit with plastic occasionally, it's pretty sad to be categorized as a homophobe based on materials with which one might knit. but it got a few good laughs around here.
Posted by: amber on July 12, 2003 04:20 PMI wasn't trying to give you a hard time!
I have taken a few workshops with Katharine Cobey so I am familiar with her work (including her work with plastic). She's an amazing person to spend time with. She thinks about knitting on a completely different level than I do.
I have never had the urge to knit with plastic.
Posted by: Melissa on July 13, 2003 07:08 PMI have to tell ya', this "knitting with plastic" adventure has been fascinating!
Amber - v. cool to get a comment from you on my blog! And, truth be told, I thought your plastic purse was amazing. Perhaps I'm a wee bit jealous because although I'm a knitter, I don't have a creative bone in my body. When I see something like your purse, I wonder what it feels like to have that kind of an idea pop into your head.
And your comment about plastic knitters/homophobes is soooo valid. I wonder where my opinion about plastic knitters comes from? Frankly, I don't KNOW anyone who knits with plastic so it must just be my impression from the web sites I've seen. (Isn't this where I say I don't care what anyone knits with as long as they do it in the privacy of their own home?)
Melissa: I totally didn't think you were giving me hard time. In fact, I spent quite a bit of time on Katharine Cobey's web site looking at her sculptures. Amazing and eye-opening, all of her stuff, especially that fantastic lion head.
Posted by: Ryan on July 14, 2003 08:21 AM