Knitted Jewellery

I have been looking at knitted accessories, sometimes they can be uncomfortable, strange and unwearable. But I came across this which I think is pretty sweet, lovely in fact, its from a company called lady luck their pieces are fun and pleasing. This piece I think is lovely and gives me pause for thought.

www.ladyluckrulesok.com

The Wrong Hand

The Wrong Hand Doll

One of the gifts that I designed for Christmas gifts was this one the wrong hand doll.
When I was unable to use my right hand I used my left hand to draw and design things and the wrong hand doll became one of them.
I have three younger sisters so one of the ideas which I came up with for them was to make a wrong hand doll as well as t-shirts designed by the wrong hand also.
The wrong hand doll came about because I was doodling whilst thinking of what to draw instead the wrong hand doll came from it.
I made a pattern from the sketches I doodled and then stitched it together when my wrist was a bit better.
But because the pattern was not as well drawn to start with meant that the outcome would look like it had been done with one hand.
I made a small collection of these dolls and gave them away as gifts to my sisters and friends for Christmas.
I know that they are not amazingly put together but in some way they became special because they were created by using the wrong hand.
They do have a strange vodo doll feel to them but yet they also have a homely home made feel,
each one is different slightly so no one is the same.
I think that as gifts the wrong hand dolls worked for me this Christmas, they seamed to be appreciated especially that they had been made whilst I had only full use of one hand.

Knitting

Joanne Haywood

Joanne makes jewellery by knitting, crocheting and stitching and mixing it with a mettle to create jewellery. She explores the materials and she draws on the contradictions of opposites to create a physical objects that is her jewellery.


When I stumbled on to Joanna's web site I felt inspired, I love the fun yet complex ideas behind the finished pieces.
It made me think about how my own work would look as finished pieces especially if I am using material such as video tape.
I also felt that the vibrant colours that she uses is brave, but maybe that's because I don't use much colour, its inspired me to think of how I can incorporate colour into my work.

www.joannehaywood.co.uk

Person Joanne Haywood

Right click for SmartMenu shortcuts

knitting and knotting

I have been looking at my knitting again now that I have full use of both my hands again.
I was inspired by the piece of string which I was given for Christmas from my brother and how we made friendship bracelets.
I have been looking at how I can incorporate it in with my Video tapes, the samples which I have made previously I have been wondering how I can shape them for jewellery.
The samples themselves look worn and have stitches dropped.

This is the Video Tape knitted as raw material it takes up more of the tape and creates a bounce within the new material.

This is the Video Tape as it is when it is stretched and then knitted, it has a net like finish but with wire like control which can be shaped.

New Year Form Me. . . . . .

Happy New Year

So its 2009 and a new year ahead, I actually spent new year in but then went to Brighton to celebrate it for a few days after.
I had never been to Brighton before, I spent tow nights and three days in Brighton, it was supposed to be a photo opportunity to walk around and take lots of photo's which I actually didn't do.
I just walked and wondered around taking in all of the atmosphere that it had to offer.
I found it quite inspirational in a strange way, its so cultural but yet it is completely British.
I loved the second hand shops down side streets, book shops packed with books from floor to ceiling.
The one off shop's which you just know that you would only find it in Brighton, and so many independent shop's selling one off items.
Brighton had quite a fun, cultural and inspiring feel to it, whilst walking around it just made me think of the design label "Red or Dead".

www.redordead.com

"Red or Dead was started by Wayne Andrew Hemingway Esq and his good lady wife, Geraldine Hemingway back in 1982. They had no money, so they emptied their wardrobes and sold them on Camden market one Saturday and before they knew it they had 16 stalls."

Taken from The Red or Dead web site. 13.01.09

Red or Dead

Thames & Hudson Ltd (Nov 1998)

"The "Red or Dead" team established preconceptions of fashion on their head, making the uncool cool, and saying the unsayable. . . . . . . ."

"The Philosophy of Red or Dead comes from my belief that design and fashion shouldn't be only for the rich. Today the whole population is bombarded by media and people have developed a seance of style or something which once preserved for the few."

By using music and culture and own experience as Hemingways inspiration he embodied the ideology of British culture.

Thoughts so far. . . . . . . .


The wrong hand, The dice, video tapes. . . . . . . .


So I have been using the dice decision and as well as working with the wrong hand and been thinking of things which could be made as products .
Now i am thinking of the work which i was doing before I broke my arm, i have been looking at how the recycled video tapes and thinking of how they can be used but using my new way thinking and working.
I think that although braking my arm was a set back it was also a blessing it made me think and adapt to things.
So first things first; I tried to look ant the matirial that iIam using and tried doing some small experiments by using the wrong hand to shape the video tapes.
I did this by just rolling the video tape to create ball like shapes and then trying to keep doing them to see how many I could make and the difference in shapes.
From this I think that I can go back to where I left off and think about ideas for jewellery whilst incorporating the wrong hand.
This is some of the shapes which I created with the wrong hand. . . . . .

Inspiration. . . . . .

Some ideas for Christmas waste. . . . . . . .

I was looking through some of the other Bolg's that I follow (Inhabitathttp://www.inhabitat.com/) and I came across this, a simple yet stylish why to reuse rabbis.
Here sweet rappers have been used to make different types of bags just by using different sweet rappers.
I thought that it was appropriate to put up on my blog just after Christmas as i am sure that many of us have so much waste after Christmas especially sweet rappers.




Talk about trash to treasure! Where the rest of us saw a candy wrapper, Ecoist founders Helen and Jonathan Marcoschamer saw a material that could be re-used to create unique handbags. And they didn’t just stop at candy wrappers, they also use food packaging, soda labels, subway maps, and newspapers to weave together their stylish, study handbags. Unsurprisingly, the broad range of materials have yielded diverse aesthetics: from the bright and colorful to repeating motifs. The company offers a variety of sizes and shapes, so the eco savvy can show their style with something as small as a coin purse or as large as a tote. Now a selection of Ecoist’s handbags, including their popular Every/Any (three shown above left), are available through the Inhabitat Shop.

www.inhabitat.com

Christmas

Christmas 2008 at the Witham-Holden House hold

Christmas for me was at home with the family not always what quite as i am the eldest of seven and the two youngest still believes in Santa and saint Nicolas. I made all my Christmas presents this year mainly for financial reasons but also to make the gifts more personal to the people who I give them to. Thinking that i would be the only one in the Witham Holden House hold to do so; i was quite wrong. My younger Brother Peter and his girlfriend Jo also made all their Christmas Presents for everyone, Christmas day was quite crafty experience and felt a bit like a "Blue Peter" party.


The gifts which he gave me were; Friendship bracelets which he had made himself by useing different types of knots.
A CD with a mixture of different music that he had put together himself.
A rattle snake which he made from recycled bottle tops.
And then we all got a piece of string which was loped together, it was a strange present at first but it was to get use all thinking.
Peter and Jo's idea behind the string was so that we can all play games with it together, such as cats cradle as well as teaching us some interesting knots to use in everyday life.
I found their gifts quite imaginative and fun and it got me thinking about how i could incorporate knots in to my video tape work and knitting.
The Cats cradle games brought back old memories as a child, it was funny watching us all getting tangled up in string.
The games led to us making our own friendship bracelets and my younger sisters showing me how to make scobbies and finger knitting.
I think that I am thinking of looking at other ways of knitting the video tape together with also incorporates using the wrong hand.

The Wrong Hand

"The Wrong Hand"

Whilst thinking of ideas for Christmas gifts i decided to uss the dice idea to create some ides for the wrong hand products.
This is some examples of things which are achievable to create, simple and effective products which would sell.
By using the wrong hand illustrations I created ideas by placing them on everyday items which we all use; Tea cups, mugs, plates, tea-towels, t-shirts and so on here are some examples.

Thoughts on christmas . . . . .

Thoughts on Christmas
With "The Wrong Hand"

So not long now and it will be Christmas so i have been thinking of how i can incorporate my designs and my work in with ideas for Christmas presents.

For me I have many people who i would like to give a gift to at Christmas, I am the eldest of seven and one of twenty nine grandchildren.
My brothers, sisters and parents are the people who i would normally give gifts to so I am currently thinking of ways which i can incorporate my work with gifts to make for them.

Also by making gifts it becomes much more personal , as well as saving money but it also allows me to look at my work in a more of a practical way thinking of products they could be.


So . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

With the current work that I have been doing using the wrong hand and thinking of individuals I have come up with some Christmas present ideas such as . . . . . . . .



This is a T-shirt design that i did free hand no printing involved as i could not lift the screen at this time. But i thought that i could make personalised T-shirts for family members by drawing on them with "The Wrong Hand".
This T-shirt was the first that i did for my sister Elizabeth who is 14 years old, she loves music, fashion and creating her own style.


These are brooches which I made up of unwanted necklaces which I took apart and put them together on to a giant safety pin. Also ideas for Christmas presents.


I made these button hearts because I have a massive collection of buttons they were quick and easy to put together so i could make lots of them as presents for people. . . .


They are simply threaded onto wire and shaped as I do so in to a heart , surprisingly they keep there shape.

The Wrong Hand

The Wrong Hand

I decided to try and paint with the wrong hand to make presents for family members for Christmas as well as try out some ides for the wrong hand development. All the paintings are acrylic on canvas or canvas board.
This is my attempts so far. . . . .


For me painting is just something which I do to relax and think I am not a fine artist but for me it is a good way to get ideas moving in my head .


This painting is an example of a series of paintings i was asked to do which are made up of lots of squares with different shades of colours and textures on. When all the squares put together make one piece for a wall.


This is just a close up of an aboriginal inspired painting for my brother for his new home.


I decided to try and paint using the inspiration of the work that I have been doing useing the wrong hand , the painting above is lots of different tapes and cameras drawn with the wrong had using different tones of paint and pens.


Here is an example of a series of paintings which are made up of the drawings from the wrong hand ideas. They are acrylic on canvas board to mirror the same series of prints, drawings and sketched drawings.

"Mechanical Drawing"

"Mechanical Drawing"

I was inspired by the book of the exhibition "mechanical drawing" a Turing exhibition originated by the Manchester metropolitan university. The exhibition illustrates the work of textile designers who use the mechine called "The Schiffi".
The work its self was made up from he project called "The Schiffi Project" this was to enable people to see how the production possess of a piece of machinery developed for mass production. The ongoing exhibition shows fifteen practitioners and how they have exploited the "The Schiffi" as well as how the machine has been used to push the boundaries of what has been considered to be a drawing.
This Exhibition and piece of machinery shows how links can be made between contemporary practice, historic traditions and industrial production.

What is this machine ? Taken from the web page www.miriad.mmu.ac.uk

"It is a unique, one hundred year old multi-needle embroidery machine capable of mechanically stitching repeat patterns or images across a two-metre wide piece of cloth. The stitched designs are created by moving a pantograph by hand. Such machines were traditionally used to mass-produce commercial embroidery."

It was interesting to read about and see the out come of the work, I am also at a slight advantage as my close friend is part of the project so its interesting to hear about also.
It got me thinking about how my work could be produced in a much more mainstream mass produced way.
Thinking about my "Wrong Hand" work and the illustrations which I have created and how they could be represented and how it would work.
Looking at the different types of drawing and from the exhibition it has made it seam as if anything could be passable and possible to create on this scale.
I think that I should seriously think of ways which I can incorporate my "Wrong Hand" Illustrations in a similer way.
I have already tried to do so by using a everyday sewing machine's but every piece would turn out different.
"The Schffi" project has mad me see working to a mass production out come is possible.

The Wrong Hand

The Wrong Hand in stitch . . . . .

So If I could Draw with "The Wrong Hand" and have interesting outcomes what would happen if I decided to try and stitch?

I decided to stitch the drawings on to some plain calico with wadding in between to see what effect would happen and just to trigger some new ideas of what it could be.
It was interesting to see if the stitch effect would have the same feel as the drawings, if they would become vulnerable and raw just like the original drawings.
It was also a way of testing myself just to see how i would adapt to doing something that I do regularly but with a disadvantage.


This is what happened . . . . . .


I found that at first it was quite hard to do just by using the wrong hand but I feel the lack of control made it what it became .


I found that the everyday drawings where better to use rather than the thoughts , the drawings that seam more uncontrolled are much more satisfying to look at for me they have the seance of the journey about them.


Some of these Stitched drawings i can se as other things rather than just a sample, things such as a peg bag or a tea towel.


By doing this task I feel that I lets me see the ideas as products which could be sold or seeing it as something which I would buy, I feel that it has given me more potabilities and ideas.
So far this drawing has been my favourite, a retro tape and i have been thinking of other ways this could be used.

The Wrong Hand

I decided to do some mono printing using "The Wrong Hand" I did this by taking the drawings from the sketchbooks and then recreating them in a mono print.



This is the feather mono print, I used blue because I thought that it was a strong colour to mono print with rather thank using yellow.

These are a selection of prints which have all been recreated in a mono print from the sketches in "The Wrong Hand" sketch book.

The Wrong hand

I have been working with the wrong hand now for over a month.
i have put together four sketchbooks and have been doing extra drawings and illustrations, so just experimenting with different mediums.





I have Four so far;
*"The Wrong Hand" part one is the journey of day to day things i do and how I achieve them with one hand in a cast.

*"The Wrong Hand" part two starts of as a journey like part one but i seam to focus more on the drawings of things i find and notes of ideas and thoughts.

*"The Wrong Hand" part three i decided to create a book of thoughts, words lists and poems of things i feel or come across or dreams that I have.

"The Wrong Hand" Part four is a book which is for just things so everyday things that I see each day that I just like to draw.

All the books are done by using the wrong hand; my left hand.