Wednesday, February 6, 2008

When Art Is Sometimes An Accident...

I should have at least taken pictures of the progress, but I knew, 12 rows into knitting what I hoped would turn out to be a felted bowl, that I had done what all of the knitting instructions warn against... I had twisted the stitches while knitting in the round! Gasp!

Part of the reason I didn't take pictures, is because it was just practice, and I'd already messed it up. I figured I'd just rip it all out and start over... But for some reason, I kept going.... wondering why the seemingly simple twist in the stitches was so universally warned against. As the piece grew bigger, I was able to see how, while the upper edge was round and nicely formed, the bottom, where I'd eventually have to join it together, would be sort of... well, half way inside out. But still, I wanted to know, what would happen, so I kept on.

At the end, I decreased the stitches, and learned all kinds of things like different methods of decreasing stitches, and how to switch from the round needle, to working with three kneedles, and finally how to end the piece. I held the finished piced up, looked at it skeptically, and shook my head, because it really didn't look like much. I decided to go ahead and throw it into some hot water with a couple of pairs of jeans to see what it might turn out like - just for the experience.

But what came out of the washer was much more interesting than just a plain old round bowl!









Kind of shell-like, don't you think? But that's the thing about art it's gotta be a one of a kind ... I couldn't recreate that if I tried.