A knit blog, mostly about knitting, or thinking about my knitting, i also weave, spin, make books, and draw or paint with water colours, i have dyed yarn and baked, and all of that can end up here.
I feel like I do need to reintroduce myself as I have been absent for so long. No real reason, just life being busy and messy and full, coupled with feeling I have nothing interesting, knit worthy or blog worthy to show. Recently my weekends have been snaffled by things and events out of my control - but through it all I have knit, and stitched and even added a bow to my arsenal of crafting.
First up knitting, I am still on the fence about what to cardigan to knit for moi, so cast on something in pink for little cub. I am knitting schools out by Katya Frankel in a very pretty pink Vintage Purls sock. The pattern is sized up to just below little cub, but as it is a fairly straightforward raglan for the body I am knitting to fit as I go. To avoid issues of colour shifts I am working two strands alternately. Body is about half done ... And so far so good.
I am still working on improving my skills with the tambour hook, and when I stitch the thread flows smoother and the stitches are less frustrating to form so practice is the key. I have since received the other two frames, and switched the work over to the ITA frame, a 'proper' slate frame. This time I tensioned the sides with pinned tape as I have seen done in photos. I liked the tambour trade from lacis but the slate frame is easier to set up square, and tends to hold the fabric tanker with no slip. There has been some stitching and redoing - but with tqmbour the chain stitch makes that so easy. Akin to frogging knitting, and almost as satisfying to see mistakes and 'could do betters' disolve before ones eyes. In keeping with the sampler notion I am now working vermacilli chain to fill in a circle, and then I plan to try keeping rows of bugle beads straight.
Lastly I spend a few days at a laser cutting course. That is my new craft bow - and I am excited to think of potential uses. Unfortunately there were problems with the laser cutters associated with the course, one wasn't working at all and the other wasn't working well. The thcnicla term was 'to much scatter'. End result is much of what I cut ended up toasted and charred around the edges. But as I learn best from making mistakes and working out solutions I feel like I learnd lots even if my results were not pretty. One of the important aspects was more fully mastering adobe illustrator as a design development tool. This is a program I teach but I teach its use for illustrating final finished designs - so it was interesting to approach a blank file and develope idea's in a totally digital space. Another was scale. Illustrator is a vector program which means simply that what is drawn is recorded mathematically so can be scaled easily without loosing form or proportion. The good news is the program hides the mathes fro. The user so they only worry about what it looks like. That is the programs strength - so at some point I had to realize the sock blockers and bag tags I were developing needed to be scaled. I had a vision getting it wrong and my bag tags being as large or larger than the suitcase they were affixed to. The sock bloker vision was equally bizzare - and all I could think was they might be good as shop displays if too large. With the whole toasted edges ... The end result was only my bag tags made the final cut - in scrap thick clear plastic.
I startd with the coffee cup (it was time for coffee and I am easily distracted), then I decided to develope paisley and argyle, - and on to using the magic of vector scale feature to shift and move and change the size and orientation. I failed on the blank tag, my argyle pattern was to intricate for the tag - and material so just before cutting I deleted it. I love the precision of the laser, one of the paisley shapes is made from teeny tiny hearts, the other from a edge like broidery anglaise. The long rectangle is my scale, I drew it to be 25cm - with the intention of seeing how large it was cut - it was 26cm ... So some room for fine tuning wher size matters,
And Yoyo came to see but left as soo. As she found no knitting was involved.
Take care, more soon, Stella.
I sat down to blog today and had a slightly guiltily thought that this purports to be a knitting blog. Oh I know over the years there has been other things, family, cat, dying, weaving, spinning, books, bookbinding, spinning, fountain pens gardening, and a whole lot of other stuff I can't remember right now. But mostly the blog contains knitting - and that was the intent. So when I settled down to blog today, and reviewed the images I made to blog with - there was a slightly guilty moment when I saw not a lot of knitting.
So up first knitting, socks all finished and read for little cub. These are Vintage Purls You turn - knit in VP Mrs Wemberly, a soft orange yarn. I knit a size 9", still a tad big for little cub ... but not for long, they grow fast those cubs. Love the sock, love the yarn, love the colour and especially love the twisted stitch diamonds running up the instep.
Love them !
Finishing these means that there is not much on the needles, I've got a shawl started, Iceland poppy by Evelyn Clarke, and I am trying to knit a cardigan in Veranda Yarns Light fingering blue faced Leicester yarn. I say trying as I just can't settle on a pattern, I started Slanted Sleeven, but my gauge was way way different, and the gap between knowing what I was doing size wise and making it up was too big. Seems I am not in the mood for process knitting right now - I want product.
I didn't know I wanted product until a local knitter shared a cardigan she had just finished, in sock yarn, so so pretty with lace worked across the back, from shoulder to shoulder. I wanted one of my own ....I really did. So I have frogged my Sleeven, and have been trolling the patterns in ravelry, looking for something pretty knit in fine fingering. So far my favorite options are Criollo, by Justyna Lorkowska, Starling by Cecily Glowik McDonald, or Joci by Joj Locatlli. Right now I am swatching whilst I decide, feel free to comment, I'm looking for something slightly cropped that will be pretty, to be knit in light fingering in a dusty blue red.
Meanwhile I have been playing with sparkly things, sequins and beads. After discovering not all embroidery frames were universally useful, I ordered (uhmm) three new frames. I'm still slightly surprised at ordering three, but there you go, three. First one was from Lacis - a "professional Tambour frame" with risers, 10"x18". Well they call it professional but most of the working tambour people I have seen photos of use a much larger frame. It was surprisingly affordable, I ordered the frame and the risers, which I think of as feet.
I've not seen much online about this frame ... so wasn't quite sure what to expect. I have to say that I am impressed, as it Bear. The frame is incredibly simple, and low tech (note the rubber bands and clamps - all part of the kit), and surprisingly effective. If anyone was setting out to provide a class set of embroidery frames for a workshop at low cost or looking to move beyond a hoop this is perfectly workable and affordable solution.
The frame itself compromises two pairs of hardwood struts, two small clamps, and two bolt/washer/wingnuts assemblies. The kit comes with tape that you cut and staple into the frame. You assemble a shorter strut to a longer strut, then affix your embroidery fabric to the tape. I remembered when stitching the last side that herringbone was the recommended stitch. Then you stretch the frame out to pull the fabric taut, and use the clamps to secure the struts. I used a small woodworkers square to keep my frame square. By loosening and adjusting the frame and clamps one can get a surprising amount of tension in the fabric.
The risers are the most ingenious part, four short simple legs each with a notch, and four wide rubber bands. That is all and when assembled as per the diagram the result is a sturdy frame supported 5" above the table - brilliant ! I imagine I will replace the rubber bands with more durable elastic. Even more brilliant when I discovered how easy it was to remove the risers and flip the frame is I could work on either side of the fabric easily. This is a seriously cool solution.
All so I can continue to play with tambour embroidery. I felt like I needed a bigger space to work on than my 8.5 inch hoop allowed. Because tambour work uses beads and sequins it is difficult to reposition the hoop over an adjacent section of fabric without damaging the work already completed.
So here I am all set up to go, a sampler of sorts. Except a sampler is intended to be a reference work, demonstrating ones proficiency - and this is more like a practice piece. Oh I love the idea of this being a sampler - I just know I'm not proficient enough yet. So I am thinking of this as a demonstration of what I know know, a learning piece. When I teach bookbinding I tell my class not to expect perfection - this is a learning book. My learning work has a combination of circles and boxes all ready for me to experiment and fill each with a different technique.
So here I am started, some beadwork lines, some sequin lines, some sequins sewn in a zig zag, some beads sewn on in sets of two and three. Sequins attached using a vermicilli stitch pattern, and some sequins sewn on in lines all facing the same direction. That I particularly enjoyed, discovering the wee trick that makes it possible to stitch sequins in parallel rows all aligned in the same direction without stopping and starting the thread for each line anew.
There are mistakes aplenty, gaps where beads and sequins should be but aren't, places where beads are too close together and so pop up above other beads, and places where sequins are sewn on two at once instead of singly. But it's all good - this is after all my learning sampler.
And yes - I did mention that I and ordered more than one frame - the first was this one from Lacis, the second was from Chinexlady on Ebay, a traditional slate frame, 24x24". These come from ITA in the UK and are held in high regard. At the time of ordering I wasn't sure just how the Lacis frame adjusted and after discovering the shortcoming for tambour work of my inherited MIL's frame with its one inch adjustments - I decided to take the plunge and order real slate frame. This is coming from 'tother side of the world' so belatedly I decided to see if there was a closer supplier ... And found Christinas crafts in Australia - technically almost next door compared to the UK. They listed frames up to a 'tape length' of 22 inches, similar to the frame I had just ordered. I was still thinking os something large enough to hold a garment sized section of fabric, so enquiry if they had larger frames. End result I have a custom made slate frame with an 36x24" internal dimension coming as well. I may also have 20 yards of 3cm wide cotton tape coming so I can lace the sides taut with pins and tape like shown here. At that point I had a reality check and stepped away from Google ....
This week is the first week of our school holidays ... I am on leave, so there might be marmalade made (we have some citrus no one is eating), swimming (little cub has invited a friend) and lots of knitting, and tambouring (which spell check thinks is tambourine every time - so maybe there should be that as well). And I will get to see how Yoyo spends her days .....
Na Stella
There was a weekend of learning projects at knit camp this year. Knit camp still ran, and we all brought our knitting .. but I was invited to teach bookmaking. Given the camp is a few hours from 'home' for everyone, and so the activity has to be portable - I decided to teach kitchen table bookbinding. That would be making books with craft tools and materials found around the home. We did lug up three small nipping presses - that is mine there in the corner of the photo. Otherwise we used wheat paste glue, pva, and heavy things to hold stuff flat. I am always amazed at how everyone has a unique and beautiful sense of colour and coordination - here are just a few of the covers from day one open and flat - waiting for their innards. I came home with a few half made books, everyone else went home with at least two finished books, not bad for one and half days, I also came home with a fantastic thank you gift - more about that next post.
I took my current sock to knit camp, vintage Purls Youturn, and nearly made it to the top of the leg on sock number two. I do love the twisted rib edge pattern - and the diamond insets. Love them.
But back to embroidery ... After the butterfly I decided I needed to work a sampler with the tambour hook, something like this. To do that meant moving to a larger frame. I am lucky in that I inherited many of my MIL's embroidery things, amongst them was a largish frame. Not quite a slate frame, but a stretcher of sorts, in lovely fine grained rimu wood.
So I spent a considerable amount of Sunday sewing calico into the frame, then organza onto the calico and tightening it all up. This isn't quite the right frame for this kind of work, I suspect it would be perfect for canvas or thicker linen .. and I have used it for that. I had to stitch and restitch the calico to the tapes trying to estimate how much it could be stretched. Unlike a slate frame the tensioning holes are positioned an inch appart so all adjustments happen in inches. I even Herringbone stitched the organza onto the calico ...before trimming the calico away.
I've done a wee bit of stitching on the frame ... but unfortunately it's not drum tight, the fabric flexes to much, moves with the needle rather than staying firm. No worry, I have a slate frame coming from the Uk so I guess I will be knitting until that arrives. I might have to follow the frame up with more sequins and beads .... I have a small stash of those things and see that stashing more could be fun ...I need to practice more to get my spacing and density right, so my beading is even, and regular. I can't do that with one or two strings of beads now can I?
Na Stella
I'm here, really I am, not blogging as much as I should ... Life has been getting in the way. Always seems to in winter, late winter, when the days promise warmer weather and more light, and yes they are warmer and longer, but some-how that means more stuff to do that isn't knitting or blogging. Anyway, today is a bit of a catch up post. I've finished a pair of socks (finally), finished a sock, and started something new + I have been developing skills or knowledge or something around tambour embroidery.
These are Ode to frogs and the pond socks, some I 'had' to knit after discovering them on Ravelry.com. Knowing that some one, Adrienne Fong, had designed a sock that acknowledged the true spirit of frogging -aka- ripping back, I had to honor that effort by knitting some. Turns out that in the full spirit of frogging the socks are slightly too big, my fault entirely, as the pattern came in two sizes and I mistakenly assumed my feet were Adrienne's large. By the time I discovered my mistake I was well pass the point of wanting to frog. I am, It turns out a fair weath frogged, willing to frog to fix mistakes that matter, mistakes in knitting, or in chart reading, or in size where it matters. Seems that for so is at least I am happy to knit and then find someone they fit. So these socks, have gone off to J .. .. With instructions to find someone they fit if they don't fit.
And here is the current sock-on-the-needles, a Vintage Purls design, You Turn, knit not in bright pink but in soft orange. And yes - although I said on the needles - there are no needles in this sock. I had one of those - grab in a hurry- moments. I leaned over my knitting chair, camera in one hand and snatched the sock from the knit basket to make a nice photo. Unbeknownst to me the circular needle was caught somehow in something and the sock just slipped of the needle. Says something about how smooth and easy to knit on the new KnitPro carbon needles are. I'll rethread the stitches after I finish this post.
Meanwhile I am still plugging away athe the unexplainable sparkly butterfly, and learning lots. Mostly I am improving at placing beads. My fingers are becoming more detrous at separating a bead from the others on the string, sliding it it snuggly next to the needle, wrapping the thread around the needle to lock the bead in place, rotating the tambour hook and completing the stitch. All on the other side of the fabric whereni cant see. You can see that sometimes my fingers fail me, and i get gaps between beads that unfortunately I only notice when I turn the work right side up. Reminds me of a sweet corn cob with a few kernals missing. I am also learning how to design for beads, that the spaces between areas need to allow for a single bead, or two beads. You might also notice that as I 'improve' I have been frogging, using the chain link stitch character of tambour work to my advantage to quickly remove sections I feel could be done better.
And this is the latest project, cause - you know - if I haven't strted something recently I get a bit fidgety. It is Icelandic poppy by Evelyn Clarke, in a iced mid blue silk merino by spinning a yarn. So far so good although I am only one repeat in.
More details next post ... Promise. For now I am off to thread those stitches back on the needle.
Na Stella
And today's post has two easy to explain projects, and one of the not so easy to explain projects. First up, the frog pond socks,
These grow, and in truth once one is working the foot of a top down sock progress is much much speedier. In this case the lace pattern is worked only on the top of the foot, so the sole stitches fly past in a blur of plain knitting. I suspect there is only an evening of knitting left in these, so my self I posed deadline to finish these before I finish my other sock project seems to have worked.
The other project is working up nicely, You turn by Vintage Purls, I've done with the heel and the gusset decreases. And I must say I'm kind of in love with the Sunray of decreases that form the heel cup. I've always liked Sunray darts and never even considered using or finding them in a sock heel ... But there you go. Note yarn is much more orange than it appears, but it was a dull day, and my camera seems to have taken the dullness to heart.
Now it is time to explain the project that is harder to explain, a butterfly. A few weeks ago one of our final year students was exploring beading for her final collection. She had beaded dresses last semester but the beads were tiny, and spaced wide apart within deep pleating in satin and organza. The end result was pretty close up but lost at any reasonable distance, this time around we all encouraged her to use larger more dramatic beads, and I was asked if I would share my tambour tools. I was happy to but felt I needed a wee practice, so spend a few hours that weekend practicing, before taking a table hoop, student hook and showing her the basics. That wee practice sparked a desire to become more proficient, and I again dug out my books and looked around online. Long story short I realized that doodling away with a tambour hook and a variety of threads wasn't the kind of deliberate practice that would I prove my work - in short I needed a project that provided focus. Butterfly's are a traditional embroidery motif, allowing for a range of colours and stitches ... So a butterfly was chosen and started. This is the work from the back, the side that faces me as I work.
And from the front, there are hot pink sequins, fold bugle beads and gold beads, and shiny silver lined blue beads. The work started tamely enough with dark grey chai. Stitched outlines ... then quickly descended into bling, mor bling, and shiney glossy bling. I can't explain that at all, if you have followed this blog for any time you will recognize my colour palette runs to muted, and dull and matt.
I am at a loss to know how this happened, but is has, and it keeps happening, growing and glistening. Not only that but I feel a deep urge to invest in more sequins ... They are such fun to add to embroidery and I feel in ought be mastering the tambour hook. Once my butterfly is done, I might even be planning a frog, worked with a range of pearlescent and shiny green, olive, grey and other frog coloured sequins and beads ....I suspect i should be asking for help, an intervention, or preventative detention ... . But I don't care, I'm enjoying it and loving the bling, even if I don't know why or where it will end.
Take care - and what's your craft aside you can't explain.
Na Stella
Just a quick post today, I have to return to work tomorrow, at which point I will find out what the timetable looks like for nest year. I left with concerns about the delivery of the courses I teach, in particular the 'theory' course which had been relegated to a finish time an hour latter than the other courses. I was 'strong' during the week I was on leave and didn't check my email, if you hear a frustrated cry from this side of the globe tomorrow - it might be me in response to the proposed timetable.
Contiguous tempest
Meanwhile I have been knitting, spinning, and sewing, first the knitting. I restarted my top down contiguous cardigan. So far so good, I am well into the sleeve head and so far the shape of the shoulder and sleeve looks promising. I have tried the yoke on, but the addi circular needle i am using has a twisty cable and there is not enough weight in the yoke yet to make the cable behave. When blocked this yarn blooms amazingly, the effect of the possum, so I am expecting the shoulder 'seam' to I prove when blocked.
Spinning on the Pipy has gone well, and one thing I really like about spinning woolen and being home on leave is the speed at which fibre can be spun. I am near the second bobbin of 220 grams of fibre. Friday Judith Mckenzies plying DVD arrived, courtesy of the recent interweave sale. I thoroughly enjoyed watching, as i spun, she has a lovely clear manner, nice voice and explains and shows why she does what she does. If I had watched the DVD before spinning this I might have planned a three ply, but as I am planning a lace shawl this two ply is probably best.
Tambour
The other thing I have played with this week is tambour chain stitch. I decided that it was best to stop stitching random patterns. The issue with random unplanned stitching is that it requires no precision in forming stitches, so I want searching for a pattern to chain stitch, well first I went searching for thread. I'm using heavy polyester thread made for quilting, as that is the kind that local shops have in stock. Having found thick thread, i went looking for a pattern to stich for practice, In one of my William Morris books, (William Morris by himself, designs and writings edited by Gillian Naylor - an amazing treasure of images and ideas), I selected 'design for bayleaf', and slightly simplified the lines to suit the chain stitch. Once I have the outlines worked, the next stage is to add shading with a slightly lighter colour green, and I have a dirty yellow that I hope to use as well. All the tambour hooks I ordered arrived, and yes the ones from Brodely.com are much much nicer finished and balanced than the lacis.com offerings. Review and update to tambour info page shortly. For now my practice is on white cotton lawn, I prepared the pattern the old fashioned way by pricking the design onto paper, rubbing powdered charcoal to transfer the pattern to the fabric, then I finished by outlining the charcoal dots with water colour paint. Time consuming but no more so than using tracing paper, or a pencil and light box, plus really really effective, and fairly easy. I used a sticky roller to remove what charcoal remained after a good shake outdoors, once the watercolor lines were dry.
Next stage in my tambour learning, once the leaves are complete is to move to working with organza and sequins and beads! What fun .... I even have sequins coming from Brodely.com and a wonderful book to guide and inspire.
I over-think things sometimes, and I know I over-think, I over research, I overplan, and as a result I most certainly over-think Today I thought I had one example of over-thinking, but when I sat down to blog ... I realized that there were at least two overthunk projects to report. First up is my over-thunk knitting, I made a start on my modified Tempest, using the Contiguous top down method, and because of the overthinking I am about to make a second start. Second is progress on the Pirate socks, I am turning corners - or as it is a sock, the heel. Lastly is a Tambour update - or sort of info sub-page, what I know now that I didn't know before, and that might be useful to someone out there looking. If you have come for a brief summary of Tambour resources on the net --- that information begins after the knitting content.
Knitting and overthinking, well last thursday I cast on for my top down contiguous cardigan in the style of Tempest. I had a gauge swatch and the instructions and diligently worked out how many to cast on. cast on, looked at the number of stitches. I decided the cast on edge was too short, so added a few stitches, then frogged and added more. Then frogged and added even more, thinking about how the neck band would take up some of the edge so the cast on needed to be longer. Finally last night, when I had worked 4 or five cm's and saw the shoulder sam developing, I realised how huge the back neck edge saw the light and rethought my cast on numbers.
I found a favorite cardigan, a Nom*d Momma Jack, one of the few cardigans I have that has a shoulder seam. Measured it has exactly the measurements I started with when I was planning my tempest! So I'm setting aside the amended start and starting again with strict instructions to myself not to overthink this time.
Little cubs Pirate sock is doing well, I'm half way through the heel flap, worked as per the first in a k1s1 offset pattern. Dividing my time between several knit projects means that each seems to grow even more slowly, I may have to manage my time so one is finished soon just so I have that buzz of finishing something.
Tambour, this is a specialized form of needlework, worked using a hooked needle. When done the work looks like a stitched chain. Chain stitch can be worked many ways, the most usual seems to be with a short length of thread threaded through a needle and stitched. Tambour stitching looks the same but is worked from a spool of thread, so long unbroken lengths of thread, with a hooked needle, and on fabric stretched tight across a hoop or frame. Little cub pointed out tambour is a like a row of knitting stitches, and it is, and I guess the free form of tambur is crochet, worked with a hooked needle and no fabric support, instead the chain stitches become the fabric. Way back in 2009 I took a weekend workshop with Katya, from Lucellan.com, and learned the basics (blogged here). Since then I have Tamboured off and on as the mood to improve takes me, each return to practice seems to leave me a little more able to work the stitches without snagging fabric or fingers.
Here is my last practice piece, worked on a scrap of blue woolen fabric. I planned to continue to work and improve my chain stitch, no beads just yet. I wanted to practice working an even and neat chain stitch and placing the stitches next to each other to make a fill pattern. I also had a play with different threads, and with working corners or changes in direction. I read about working back over a chain with a zig-zag pattern, and tried that on the last ring of the work. I find working the smallest curves next to each other hardest - they pull away even when I think I have the needle right next to the previous line of chain.
As with everything, part of learning new techniques is a parallel search for information online and in books. I found several sites online that are useful for building up knowledge and skills, and thought it might be a good idea to list them here. This is the second example of over-thinking in this post, where I am pulling together all sorts of information from all sorts of different sources to help me build a picture of what Tambour is like, and how it can be done. So for those who came for the knitting, now is a good time to stop, no need to read to the end, for those who came for some Tambour information read on.
take care
na Stella
Sub-heading - most of what I have found out online about Tambour Embroidery as of September 2012 (updated Sept 2013).
First up Tambour work is known by a several different names around the world. In France the name Luneville seems to be the most common, and there is a famous emboidery firm/school the House of Lesage, said to provide much of the couture beading and embroidery for design firms.
This seems to be the best beginner video tutorial online, from Bob Haven, a teacher trained at Lesage. Bob has several videos online, and all seem valuable, he even provides a large scale serries of photos showing really clearly the way the chain stitch works.
In India the term Zari is used, and the embroidery worked with a hook that looks more like a tiny crochet hook in metal and is called an aari needle. The Aari needle is different to a Luneville and Tambour styles where the hooked needle is held in a handle and able to be removed and changed. Zari embroidery is explained in a serries of Youtube videos by Expert Village, here. The commentary is a fairly broad, without too many detailed hints, but if you watch closely there is a huge amount of technique that can be learned around how to make the stitches work, especially when working Satin type stitches. Watching the Expert Village Zari embroiderers I learned that to work corners, and turns and satin stitch I need to place two or more tiny stitches to before changing the direction I stitch in. this is just one of seventeen videos on show demonstrating the technique by ExpertVillage.
I've been seeing all sorts of methods and techniques as I have been looking around for free-online information on Tambour and other similar methods. I switched out the blue woolen fabric for some finer white cotton and tried some other stitch arrangements. I used a thicker white DMC cotton, denier 25, and a finer yellow Mettler cotton denier 40. I tried different hook sizes and finally settled on a 90 or 100 for using with these threads. The 100 leaves a punch hole, the 90 sometimes snags ... long term I suspect I will improve my technique and be able to consistently use a finner hook/needle. I especially like the statin stitch worked over a few close rows of chain stitch, the result is like a fancy braid. I also tried following a light pencil line as a guide, first with a word, and then with the flower and the paisley shapes. I bought some fine Batiste cotton, and the next stage might be to decide on pattern and see how I go with working to it. As I was working this little cub has been very interested, enough to try, but she abandoned it as too-tricky for now. Interestingly she noted the similarity between the chains in this work and those of knitting, she said that I hadn't knitted the middle of some of the shapes yet. I like that, and part of me is wondering how I can develop a design that links the knitting to the tambour work.
One of the differences between Western Tambour /Luneville embroidery technique and Indian technique seems to be in how beads are included in the work. In Tambour and Luneville the beads or sequins are attached on the underneath side of the work, opposite to where the chain stitch is formed. In Zari work the beads or sequins are attached to the uppermost side of the fabric, where the chain stitch is worked. In the Bob Haven video above you can see how he is placing a bead under each stitch as he works, in Zari work the bead(s) or sequin(s) are placed on the hook as shown in this video. There are lots of other videos showing beading this way, some with dozens of beads or sequins stacked up the needle ready to be worked, some in which the worker picks up one bead at at time like in this video.
Tambour work seems to be worked on a huge variety of fabrics, sheer organza for French Courture beading, both sheer and opaque fabrics for Zari work, on net or mesh as a form of lace, white-on-white as a form of texture work on cotton or linen, and on warm soft opaque wollen fabric in heavy stranded yarns to form warm shawls and wraps.
Tools, Supplies, Handles and Hooks - I have at the moment found three sources, the most commonly referenced source of Tambour Handles and hooked needles is Lacis. Lacis also list 'vintage' hooked needles, from the UK and Germany. There has to be other sources, I've found two more, several blog posts suggested that the Tambour handles from Brodely are a shape, finish and balance, that is nicer to use. I can't say myself (yet), I've ordered a handle in Violetwood and a smaller handle in Ebony, something about the fact that there is a choice of wood and sizes seems to offer a more technical choice than Lacis.Update - I received Handles from Brodely and they are lovely, imho nicer than the Lacis ones but that may be just having a choice of wood. I do like how there are two sizes, which means the hook is held more centered with the handle, the hook in my lacis handle tends to lean at an angle due to the tightening screw pushing it out of alignment. Broderly have a wider range of hook sizes. Lacis do also list several latched needles, which some sites and videos class as Tambour hooks. Brodely seems a good source for PomPoms (!) of sequins, if you are feeling like a little bling, they have sequins as small as 3m in flat and cupped. And yes apparently a loop of sequins is officially labelled as a PomPom, that just makes me want to buy a PomPom or two if only I could decide what colour, size, finish and what on earth to do with it. the third source is here, where the handle and hooked needle is called a Beavais or Luneville Hook and listed as 'for beginner'. I have one of these on the way as well and will update and post reviews when all the hooks arrive. This hook is inexpesive plastic and the hook is set permanently into the handle, perhaps a good choice for teaching, as the hook is a bit mellower, less of a sharp snag than the Lacis and Brodely hooks, but not as nice to own. I do have to say that shipping across the world, from Europe to New Zealand was good value, at Euro 6, flat rate from both sources, no matter what I put in my cart (yes I put a lot of pompoms in and then took them out just to see what the shipping would be). Ages ago I was sent a link to beautiful hand turned Tambour hooks, and I am currently searching my email archives to locate the source (Suzanne if you remember I'd love to update this sources list). There are of course vintage hooks on Ebay, some are more like a Aari hook, in the hook is fixed into the handle, others are simply stunning but out of my league (sorry link will probably expire when the auction closes- I've linked to my Pinterest in the hope the hope the link continues to work).
Threads, well I've not found much online about threads, I have started a Pinterest Board, called Embroidery, where I've been clipping all sorts of images relevant to Tambour, Zari, and Luneville. There seems to be a variety of threads used, thicker ones for when the stitches are the feature, thinner ones for attaching beads and sequins. On one of my searches, I found Shirlee Fassell's blog, NeedleandHook, where she posted about identifying the thread that Lesage use. Madeira Number 30, and also a french source of Sequins. I had also been told that One-G thread is one of the better ones to use for tambour beading, as the thread is strong enough to take wear and tear from both the hook and the beads, and snags less. I've one spool from a local crafter, but I'm sure you will find a stockest near you as there are lots for sale online.
Books, well as far as books go, many peoples 'go-to' books that are recommended are shown here, I've seen any of these in person so can't comment, except to say any book is usually better than no book, and it is not a common topic to find books on. A long way to say, I'd pretty much buy any book that was affordable. There is a newish book out published by Lesage, in French but with apparently amazing photos, link to photo of page here. I'm trying not to buy it, along with Katya from Lucellan.com, who is not helping me not buy it, as she suggests we share shipping on two, one each.
More info, there are other blogs out there that do a much better job of showing you the Tambour work they have done, especiallly when the authors have attended workshops by Bob Haven or at Lesage, blogs like EmbroideryAddict, and Stitching in the pursuit of happiness. Both blogs cover tambour work and what they are learning in more than one post, EmbroideryAddict posts go back several years, whilst Stitching in the Pursuit of happiness has only just attended two Tambour workshops ...so there will be more to come. There are a whole host of bloggers and posters out there to discover as well, in english as well as german and french, as a quick google search will show.
Update October 2013: searching YouTube for combinations of Zari, Aari, Maggam, satin stitch and filling stitch, or long and short stitch will lead to a number of videos showing various technique, this one shows the satin stitch, and this one long & short stitch. I was recommended the book - Emboidery with Beads by Angela Thompson, the images are dated but the chapter on Tambour contains some of the clearest instructions i have come across on how to start and finish tambour stitching - I have yet easily work the finish know - but understand how it works and with every attempt my working is improving. My copy was a less than $3 on Ebay. Mary Corbet's Needle and Thread site also has some fantastic information on Tambour work, and Mary is much more experienced at teaching embroidery than I.
So sorry, this is a much a longer post than usual, but I felt the need to round up all I've been finding and learning, it at all it could be useful to others.
na Stella
One of the best things about being part of a group of knitters who met to explore techniques is sometimes I am introduced to projects that I would not have discovered on my own. This weeks finished project is a case in point, a hat in a magazine I have had for ages, but which I had not noticed. I suspect that this bat has been missed by many others as well, for when I started there were only four projects linked to the pattern on ravelry. Today there is the finished hat, and a gauge swatch which means plans are being made, and even some no-knitting content.
My new hat
My Viking cabled hat is done, this was an exercise in cables that begin in a purl background, starting with lifted increases. I liked the cable, and I loved the construction. First the head band is knit, and then joined, after that stitches are picked up for the crown, and slight increases worked, just for a few rows. Then the bulk of the hat is knit, which is rather long, five inches in addition to the band before decreasing. The long crown makes for a lovely slouch. Pattern Atle beret by Elizabeth Lavoid.
Slouch
The crown is decreased at eight points, with pairs of decreases around two stitches. In the end my gauge came out at 6 stitches to the inch, and six cable repeats gives a nice fit on my 22 inch head. Knit measurements after blocking of course. Because photographing ones own head is a tad difficult, I enlisted younger cub as my hat model.
Swatch 3 mm needles 28 stitches in four inches
With the hat done, I felt the need to cast on a new project, and a local knitter, K, asked if I wanted to work Tempest as a KAL. We have had a few emails back and forth fine tuning the details, hers will be handspun, mine in fine possum merino silk. For a wee while we both considered Slanted Sleeven, but we would need to regauge, and I'm not up to that sort of calculation with a new method right now. My gauge is 28 stitches to four inches on 3 mm needles, fine but not to fine. The possum flooooffs up when washed, or in knitter speak 'blooms'. I might have mentioned before, I will be using Tempest as a guide, mostly for the shape and colour work, but constructing top down using the contiguous method developed by SusieM. I have a cone of this yarn in grey, and another in blue (I also have one in red but that is more vibrant than I want for this cardigan).
Tambour
And another needle in my hand this week has been the tambour needle. Two students are wanting to bead parts of their garments and I felt a tad guilty at not being more practiced at this. Ages ago I decided to practice with just thread until I was comfortable with the technique, the add beads. I've played with different hook sizes, and thread types and even with using a fine vintage crochet hook just like is used in videos of Zari embroidery online. Each thread and hook combination teaches me something, and for now I am feeling in control, I plan to add beads to the ext piece. As for what this is - pure practice, nothing more as evidenced by my random corners. Turning crisp corners in tambour work is a knack I have yet to master ....any suggestions? My best guess is to shorten the stitch length near the corner just like in machine stitching a collar.Once I have the middle filled in and added more to the edges ... 'cause with practice more is better, I will switch out the fabric and play with beads.
isn't easy sometimes. Winter seems to make it even more tricky to fit it all in. I usually post Wednesdays .. but last week, well there wasn't much to show, and there wasn't much light or time to make photos in. Thursday I felt guilty for not managing to post but wanted to go to knit night ... Friday was busy (ok personal choice I went to two film festival movies, once with my students, and to a different one after school with the cubs). .. and then it seemed odd to post on Saturday when Sunday was Bog update day. So here we are, Sunday afternoon, a light, sunny calm winter day in Dunedin, the doors and windows are open and without a breeze its not so cold. Truly its the wind that makes it cold here .. the sun does its bit, and without the wind .. well its quite comfortable in shirtsleeves. Today, there is knitting, a new project of sorts, and spinning, two skeins done, and some practice - because practice makes perfect, or at least goes a long way towards seeing improvement.
First up I've been knitting on TJB's gansey this week, the sleeve, the first sleeve, and it grows. I've been storing the gansey in a little cute plastic basket - I think it was produced to hold peg. We have a family of 4, and we do laundry on the weekends, and a little basket like this - well it wouldn't hold enough pegs for two loads of laundry let alone a whole line full. This little basket is cute, and is portable. The Gansey grew to big for my project bags long ago .. and well with dpns for the sleeve it needed something more open that I could easily fold it into along side its cone of yarn.
The little basket may look neat and contained .. but it holds a lot of knitting - see?
At 30cm I started the decreases, my usual sleeve decreases. I decrease every 4th round, four decrease points positioned at quarters around the sleeve. I'm not a fan of the standard underarm decrease - and one of the benefits of knitting in the round is its easier to position decreases where they feel right. Another 9 decrease rounds and I will have to make some decision on the cuff .. Knit Night suggestions included repeating the garter rib on the body hem .. and that is what I probably will do. I used the yarn double at the body hem .. and wonder if I can do the same, or should do the same for the sleeves. Toby, like most kids, grow out of rather than wearing out of his clothes .. so its not durability for him, but perhaps for some future kids who is part of the pass-it-on chain.
My new knitting project is blanket squares, for Operation Cover Up. This is an excellent method of stash busting, especially all that early Mill yarn and early spinning fiber that I bought and spun 'because' it was cheap .. and now don't know what to do with. I had clear out of my yarn drawers .. and after this photo a clear out of my hand spun stash .. and have lots to knit up. So far I've worked a standard 40st by 40 rows garter square, I'm working on a 80 st mitered garter square, I want to do one of these starting with 3 stitches and increasing (just because I can), and I want to play with some log cabin variations. I'm having fun playing with stripes and even considering garter instarsia one ...which could be cute or drive me crazy or both.
And both spinning wheels in the living room were freed up this week, this gorgeous deep ruby coloured half breed wool and silk blend from The Little Wool Company was spun on the Grace. My first real play with scotch tension spinning .. I heard that scotch tension systems were fiddly and tended to need a lot of adjustment. One of the reasons I bought the Grace was because I had good recommendations from several spinners that Mike made a scotch tension wheel that didn't need constant adjustments. I also bought it because it was so so pretty and new not old- I'm terrified that my vintage wheels will one day wear out. I'm fairly pleased with this, the scotch tension worked just fine, hardly any adjustment needed, the yarn looks stringy - but its a two ply, with silk and they never look plump unless the wool is very very crimpy. I'm thinking a Koolhaas for Poppy, for next winter ... maybe. She has acquired my Odessa on a seemingly permanent basis, and its looking the worse for the wear a 7 year old has given it.
And the other wheel in the lounge was freed up when I finished this Blue Gotland. I spun it on the Wing, but plied it on the Pipy as the Pipy has much larger bobbins so I get longer skeins that way. This yarn is a lot more bouncy ...even more than in this image, after I washed the skein to set and fluff it up some. This is going to be a blanket for Pip's baby boy. I must be having a bit of a JF moment as I'm tempted to knit a Hemlock Ring blanket but I don't have enough yarn, I've got 419m of what is most likely an Aran/DK weight yarn, I need 548m. I do have a dark grey gotland hand spun in similar weight .. so I need to decide if Hemlock would look ok if with a darker outer section .. or if I should knit a square garter with a lace boarder or a pie shawl .... all the fun of deciding but not until the gansey is done.
Its not knitting but I've been practicing with my tambour hook, which seems to have paid off. Now I'm a lot more in control of the little sharp needle hook .. I can pretty much keep the thread from slipping out of the hook when I make a stitch .. and I can change direction without getting snagged or tangled.
and my stitches are more even .. look! The little group of knitters that went to the workshop are currently passing around a copy of A Common Thread. Bear and I watched that last night, Claire, the main character is an embroiderer, seeking employment that uses her talents, and when she finds work with an experienced tambourist (is that a word?) the camera pans lovingly over the work Claire and her employer work on. The sun dapples, the sequins sparkle, the needle work just looks beautiful - beautiful work. I'm not in that league .. but I can dream. The other movies I saw this week were The September Issue, and Coraline. Coraline was described in the film festival as a true horror film for kids .. and because I'm such a weird mum at times .. well I wanted to counteract the really really weak plots on tv that is provided for kids we went, 7 year old and all. It was good, both kids handled the scare factor ok ... and there was plenty there for me. The September Issue was a good counter to the Devil Wears Prada movie ... if you saw that you probably should balance the books by seeing this.
so .. my week in review,
and the sun is still shining .. but it is cooling down .. so I'm off to take the washing off the line before it gets damp again.
na Stella
this learning new things. But good for me, you see when you teach .. its good to be reminded how hard it can be to learn new things, very good, that makes me a more patient teacher. This weekend I spent two hard days being a novice again, and not only that but a novice that found learning a new skill not as easy as expected. A frustrated novice. That meant that I had to spend some time knitting, doing something that gave me peace and control .. so there is a sock with some progress and the gansey grows its first sleeve (with a tiny bit of frogging) .
So - Tambour work, a kind of embroidery more akin to crochet than embroidery worked using a threaded needle. The fabric is stretched tight as a drum in an embroidery hoop and a special hooked needle used to loop up thread from the underside of the work. The workshop was specifically on Tambour Beading ... but first we had to learn to make the chain stitch successfully ... harder than it looks. Once had to tension the thread, draw forward a chain loop, insert the hook in such a way the little sharp barb slides thru the tight fabric rotate the hook, wrap the thread around the hook ... and smoothly draw the needle and new thread loop thru the fabric and the old thread loop without snagging anything ... or loosing the loops. The explanation is wordy ... the actions are even trickier. I swear that the way you sit, the position of your eyebrows .. and the frame of mind you are in all affect the success of that little operation. So by end of day one ... I could sort of consistently draw a loop from the underside ... sort of, well to be honest actually not consistently at all, there were loops and tangles and oftentimes a snag that resulted in half an hours work pulling undone. Chain stitch is like that - one snag and its unraveled before your eyes - yes you can frog your work as easily as knitting. But by day two much more consistent chain stitches were being formed by the whole class. Look I was even feeling enough control to manage a spiral! When it works its like a smooth coordinated dance of hand and thread and needle ... just like knitting!
After day one ... I had to work something soothing .. something that I was totally in control off. So Bayerische came out of the WIP basket and I worked another complete chart repeat. Progress at last ... and a feeling that I could do this (even if Tambour had me in a muddle).
Day two and back to Tambour, the 'right' side of the work depends on what you want ...if you want chain stitches .. you work on the right side ... if you want beads .. well that is trickier. Beads and sequins are applied and stitched into place on the underside of the fabric .. that is right .. no looking at what you are doing. This I failed at miserably on day one, completely .. I thought I could .. I thought I was ready, but when I swung my hoop around I'd find 3 beads ... 7 bead less stitches and then a bead ... or 2. Not good for my moral - at all. Day two I resorted to practicing and mastering the fundamental stitch .. the elusive chain stitch. I vowed not to try to bead until my chains were consistent.
And after lunch .. well I felt more in control and was able to successfully attach beads. OK bugle beads ... apparently the easiest to work with .. but I could do it. Those lines of longer chains - thats the working side, the one I was looking at .. down here in the next image is the underside ... what I couldn't see as I was applying the beads and sequins.
On The right side of the fabric .. well I still have a bit to master, like straight lines and spacing .. and evenness .. but its a start, and after 9 hours of tutition I'm happy with this small progress. I know how hard it was .. so I'm very happy.
During the week and the evenings Toby's gansey plodded along in the background ... I finished both saddle shoulders and started working a sleeve. I love the way the yoke knit and purl work pulls in the yoke, and creates and armscye curve.
And how the saddle shoulder lengthens the shoulder and forms a shoulder shaped curve ... just where its needed. For a garment knit as a square, with no increase or decrease shaping ... its pretty cool how a body shape can be created by knit and purl stitches pulling and working in tension together to distort the fabric.
So I've repeated some of the elements from the yoke at the top of the sleeve .. and continued the cable down the sleeve. I didn't initially do that but 3 cm of plain sleeve ... well it seemed lacking some thing .. and my sketch had the cable continuing. So I backed up (frogged) and reknit ... and am much happier.
so I'm... tired and with not a lot to show for 10 hours of learning,
and happy I can already knit .. imagine if I was learning that all over again?
It would probably be as slow :-)
na Stella
First up knitting, I am still on the fence about what to cardigan to knit for moi, so cast on something in pink for little cub. I am knitting schools out by Katya Frankel in a very pretty pink Vintage Purls sock. The pattern is sized up to just below little cub, but as it is a fairly straightforward raglan for the body I am knitting to fit as I go. To avoid issues of colour shifts I am working two strands alternately. Body is about half done ... And so far so good.
I am still working on improving my skills with the tambour hook, and when I stitch the thread flows smoother and the stitches are less frustrating to form so practice is the key. I have since received the other two frames, and switched the work over to the ITA frame, a 'proper' slate frame. This time I tensioned the sides with pinned tape as I have seen done in photos. I liked the tambour trade from lacis but the slate frame is easier to set up square, and tends to hold the fabric tanker with no slip. There has been some stitching and redoing - but with tqmbour the chain stitch makes that so easy. Akin to frogging knitting, and almost as satisfying to see mistakes and 'could do betters' disolve before ones eyes. In keeping with the sampler notion I am now working vermacilli chain to fill in a circle, and then I plan to try keeping rows of bugle beads straight. 
Lastly I spend a few days at a laser cutting course. That is my new craft bow - and I am excited to think of potential uses. Unfortunately there were problems with the laser cutters associated with the course, one wasn't working at all and the other wasn't working well. The thcnicla term was 'to much scatter'. End result is much of what I cut ended up toasted and charred around the edges. But as I learn best from making mistakes and working out solutions I feel like I learnd lots even if my results were not pretty. One of the important aspects was more fully mastering adobe illustrator as a design development tool. This is a program I teach but I teach its use for illustrating final finished designs - so it was interesting to approach a blank file and develope idea's in a totally digital space. Another was scale. Illustrator is a vector program which means simply that what is drawn is recorded mathematically so can be scaled easily without loosing form or proportion. The good news is the program hides the mathes fro. The user so they only worry about what it looks like. That is the programs strength - so at some point I had to realize the sock blockers and bag tags I were developing needed to be scaled. I had a vision getting it wrong and my bag tags being as large or larger than the suitcase they were affixed to. The sock bloker vision was equally bizzare - and all I could think was they might be good as shop displays if too large. With the whole toasted edges ... The end result was only my bag tags made the final cut - in scrap thick clear plastic. 
And Yoyo came to see but left as soo. As she found no knitting was involved. 
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