not a lazy suzen

More than mildly disappointing, the crochet “sphere” I had hoped to felt kind of turned into a felted water cooler. What have I learned from this experience? Galway Irish Worsted wool shrinks up like a hot damn and the rest definitely needed more work. The white band, made with that super feltable Galway, cinched the entire thing at the waist like a corset. The shape is interesting but not exactly what I was going for. Oh well. It was worth a shot. At least it will make a good pillow to rest my feet on in the studio. Heh.

I guess this means I’m sticking to knitting the buoys like I have been from the beginning. So much for trying to speed things up. Yeesh. The buoy I’ve been putting the finishing touches on has finally been finished. I’ve even decided on the rope that I’ll be using to tie these buggers up–blue and white braided nautical rope. It seems to fit with the theme.

A while back, it was suggested that I use leather to form the hanging loop instead of knitting them. In some ways I get why that was suggested, that it would make the knitted buoy feel more like an actual buoy (or something other than knitting). However, I’m a pretty stubborn person and I like my knitted loops. They match everything else in a cohesive kind of way. Plus, leather would pull the knitting in a way I’m not totally comfortable with.

One of the major things that I did was reinforce the opening for the balloon. I tried attaching buttons but it pulled in an unnatural way. It’s still pulling in at the side, which means I’ll probably have to go over with a duplicate stitch to close it up. However, for the time being I am content with the way things are. I’ll leave the gap open because the red of the balloon doesn’t really bug me too much.

I’d really like to figure out a way to make these a solid mass but still be light enough to be hoisted up with minimal damage. Styrofoam globes, maybe? But there’s something so magical about blowing the balloon up inside the deflated knit skin. I wish I could have the best of both worlds.

In other studio news, I decided to make a plush version of one of my pond drawings…y’know, on a whim.

There are a few Deadmans Ponds throughout Newfoundland, two of them within the St. John’s area. This one is located close to Kilbride. It has a peculiar shape and I had intended to do a drawing of it but I’m a little bored with drawing.

I always love the how deflated empty textiles look. Like shed skin or hollow bones. I did a rough drawing of Deadmans Pond on some fabric and sort of haphazardly sewed together a shape. I don’t have the correct foot on my machine for this kind of detailed stitching but whatever, it was more of an experiment.

The end result is kind of goofy. It looks like some kind of demented doll with its lopsided head and unusually erect tail. I don’t know what to do with this. Maybe I’ll make a larger one with more articulate stitching so I can get the shoreline right. Maybe it could look wonderful sewn from vintage wool blankets, the ones that are just as itchy as they are warm. Maybe it would look fantastic with crewel work embroidery, embellishments and beads. Or, maybe I could knit them! Similar to making a felted bag where you knit the base first and then pick up all the stitches around the perimeter to knit the body of the bag, I could totally make felted ponds. Maybe, maybe.

Anyway. I may just end up making a bunch of these just for the sake of making them. Somewhere along the way, I’ll figure things out. Always do, it seems.