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| Signatur Handknits Newsletter #36, September 18, 2012 |
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| Knitting classes and Sale days were well received in Canberra - we all learnt something from one another, including a visit from a woman who dyed with leaves in copper and aluminium pots to achieve different colours from the various metal pans! |
| "How did I start designing?" |
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 This has to be the most asked question at shows.
I hope to visit Trent University when I am in the UK in October, where I studied for 4 years and graduated with a BA Honours in Knitwear Design.
The course was knitted textiles, applied to clothing or interior fabrics. The full-time tutors created design briefs and department facilities allowed students to design and create fabric on a range of knitting machines. Briefs required design and construction of complete outfits including woven fabrics.
My love of hand knitting and freedom to place stitches and colours grew during the course and subsquently my final collection was hand-knitted and hand-dyed.
Here are a few examples of my design journey towards the final collection.
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| Above centre, sample swatches from my final collection of silk fabrics and hand-dyed yarns from alpaca to silk. Left, fairisle vests with silk thread and embellishment. Right, the top on the catwalk at the final year show. Fast forward to my current designs: Below, Madras Jacket knitted in Fairisle. Right Niroo Jacket in Intarsia technique. |
 Signatur Handknits developed as a ready to wear range, allowing me to design without limits of design briefs and the printed pattern format.
This allowed me to put more then 4 colours into a design, combine wool and mohair into the same garment and use more than 1 or 2 graphs for a single design. Often design briefs required the image and the pattern to fit on 2 sides of a single sheet of paper. My designs in the eighties and nineties were very much about colour work with lots of Intarsia and a little fairisle. |
The noughties took me to the USA and a love affair with Mitres -
the simplest way of knitting colour! |
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 Above: In Red the Mitre Trim Capelet was a very early piece, using mitres as a trim to a simple colour capelet. Centre, a more recent design: the Miami Drape - using the Mitres as the centre back panel - creating a vertical zig zag of colour. Left Coco Shawl Panel Again, knitted as panels of Mitres and worked out to the armhole, then the side seam, thus allowing you to control the chest size.
Below in green - this is the front of the Harlequin Swagger as featured on the front cover of Swing , Swagger, Drape - follow the line centre of the Mitre and you can see how the Mitres grow in size (stitch numbers) from shoulder down to hem. |
| MITRE KNITTING CLASSES |
 There are several elements I've used to create a range of Mitre classes.
Mitres by Design is how to knit Mitres - so the building blocks, picking up stitches, working full half and quarter mitres. whilst the class is swatching I get time to talk a little about garments construction.
Designing with Mitres is the follow on class - this follows how I have created designs with A line and swing from a square. I discuss the challenges the Mitre presents when constructing garment shapes.
Mitre Challenge combines a little of these two classes above
Designing with Mitres is also a 1 hour lecture to larger groups.
Always with classes there is one on one time with students - keeping class numbers limited, whereas the lecture format is less personal and a great deal of information! |
 TEXTURE - Pattern, purpose and placement
Some of the class swatches are shown below. Yes, we knit texture, but we also explore, and with the use of finished garments, get to see the practical application of design and understand how I use stitches and cables in designs for purposes such as knitted-on bands and collars, with all the tips tricks and understanding to make these work first time for you too!
Class swatches also include what to avoid - making smarter choices when selecting a design to knit, considering the suitabilty of a yarn for you project.
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| Left to right: 4 of the 6 swatches from the Texture Class: 1. Basket stitch, with a 4st cable, rib, bobbles and bells; 2. A 6-stitch cable with leaf lace and garter stitch; 3. Double moss with the OXO cable, celtic cross on garter stitch and reverse st-st; 4. Bell stitch edge with cable and Double moss worked into the beginnings of a shawl collar adjacent to a cable. Below centre shows the Thistle pattern, used in the Killarney design and above in the Fan and Cable pattern. All 6 swatches are part of the class (not everybody will complete all 6 samples: the class has been created to allow the students to work at their own pace). Below right close detail shows the fit on the shoulder of the Diamond Cable Swing. Left below from Swing, Swagger, Drape the Dice sweater. |
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 Intarsia this class is about unraveling  student's idea of 'twisting' colours at colour joins.
Very quickly students discover show easy vertical stripes can be when knitted from a diagram - so no fearsome graphs! Plus, how to introduce and join a new colour without a knot and secure the tail of the new colour.
Right shows the right and wrong side of the class swatch. Students who are confident in stocking stitch
are welcome to join the class. Left Bee Bee Jacket |
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Above: Digit Tabard in my 100% DK Pure New Wool, Turkish, Aegean, Sequoia and Midnight, with  knitted collar with cast on/ cast off knitted fringe edge. The shot in Rust and Midnight shows the knitted tabs along the hem line.
In the swingcoat range we have the Fantail swing, knitted in 4 colours with solid st-st panels of st-st with the cables changing colour. The Fantail design is knitted from a diagram, not graphs.
Right, this is the front of the Lava Drape, where you're folding one front under to create the look of a cowl neck.
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| Above: Publicity shot of Jane wearing the Mitre Vee Capelet. Shots from Swing, Swagger, Drape: Lydia wears the Mitre Vee Capelet in Currawong colourway as a belted wrap. Jane has used Desert Reds and Spinifex in the Lava Drape, a garment knitted front edge to front edge, creating an A line fish tail into the back skirt. Right: The Metro A line coat in greys is knitted from a diagram, to show that not all intarsia is graph work. All these fabulous images from Swing, Swagger, Drape are courtesy of photographer and friend Alexis Xenakis from XRX inc. |
| Left: Class sample Intarsia blocks of colour. Unravel 'twisting' yarns at colour joins plus hints and tips of joining colours and securing end without knots! |
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| Stitches East Hartford CT, USA 10th - 14th Oct |
Designing with Mitres Thursday 1.30pm to 4.30pm
Texture Purpose Placement & Pattern Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm
Intarsia: An introduction to a World of Colour Saturday 8.30pm to 4.30pm
Swing into Style Sunday 1.30pm to 4.30pm |
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| UK KNITTING CLASS CONFIRMED Sat Oct 20th |
| Helen Karakashian will be hosting the classes in Droitwich in the Midlands. Please contact jane@sigknit.com for UK contact. |
Jane Slicer-Smith’s first UK class: Join Jane for a day and enter her world with a taste of colour. Then shape up with her styling and design philosophy. Follow her journey in creating Swing, Swagger, Drape - Knit the Colors of Australia.
Sat 20th October Class Outline
Morning: Colour and Style: Jane will step you through garment styling and fit, from A line to Swing, to knitting garments sideways. Then explore Intarsia knitting, from simple vertical colour stripes to a multi-colour cast-on edge.
Afternoon: Jane’s journey with Mitres Design and size challenges from the designer’s point of view. While showing sample garments Jane will demonstrate garment construction unique to Mitres. Then explore knitting Mitres with hints and tips from picking up stitches to achieving neat edges and securing ends. |
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Vogue Live Friday 26th to sunday 28th Oct |
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Mitres By Design Friday 9am to Noon
LECTURE 1 hour - Designing with Mitres 1pm to 2pm
The Mitre Challenge 2pm to 5pm
Fit & Style Saturday 9am to 5pm
Texture - Purpose, Placement and Pattern Sunday 9am to 5pm
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| Get your Signatur DK Shade Card! |
| Want to see the shade card for yourself? Email me now and I'll send it, plus a yarn sample, to you. |
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Cast on to our Wave Length
Wave scarf with 2 balls of yarn for $25 at ozeyarn.com
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Above: Finger in Sunset, Wide Wave length in Pastel sorbet, Hat in Violet Eyes, Basket stitch in Starry night - using just 1 ball. Below Wave length in Pink Zebra.
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Jane casts off to America and the UK in early October.
UK classes - please email for more details.
USA Stitches East Hartford CT Oct 10th - 14th
www.knittinguniverse.com
UK Knitting Classes Droitwich, Midlands Oct 20th
www.sigknit.com
USA Vogue Live Chicago Oct 26th - 28th
Vogue Knitting Live
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| If you'd like to ask a question about anything in this newsletter - or anything all, please email Jane. Thanks for your support - Laura, Petra, Merrin and I look forward to seeing you in the knitting circle! |
