A very short experiment with single line drawing on knit

I recently bought Stitch with One Line and got lots of ideas from it. I like its treatment of leaves, and I think the single line drawing of faces has potential for commemorative bags, amongst other things.  Tomorrow the World Embroidery Study Group is looking at Embroidery on Knitting. I have a couple of books on this, but have lent them to the talk giver. 

Today I spent less than an hour, embroidering a tulip motif from the One Line  book on a well-worn merino jumper, just to get the feel.

I didn’t knit the jumper. It’s one I bought from Bendigo Woollen Mill, so it has been machine knitted. It has well defined horizontal ribs, which I thought (correctly) would make stem stitch easy. As you can see, the jumper is a bit pilled, not in the best condition, so if I messed up it wouldn't be  a disaster.

I tried to sketch the shape using various chalk markers. None worked at all on the surface so I stitched freehand with the diagram in front of me, using some left-over British Breeds wool. 

I was right about the ribs. They made for a convenient, measured surface for stem stitch. I could work quickly taking my direction from the diagram. I had to hold the fabric firmly in my left hand and turn it to keep stitching in the same direction. Attempts to change the direction of my needle needed to be undone. You can also see clearly where I missed stitching a rib. 

It has potential for initials ( do I see a J in there?).

I hope to wear the jumper tomorrow just to show the potential. It’s not much, but I’m pleased to have tried it.  

A non-knitted fabric will give a smoother finish to a single line embroidery, but this shows it is possible, even on knits, if you work with the texture. 

Another Flannel Flower Bag

I am very attracted to this Spice colour way of Ink and Spindle's Flannel Flower fabric. While I like the Fennel and Saltbush colour way, which is closer the natural colour of the flower, there is something robust and eye-catching about Spice.

In the first bag I made in this fabric, I added centres in pinks, an echo of Actinotus forsythii, the lesser known pink flannel flower. 

This time I tried using colours that evoke the green/yellow of the more common Actinotus helianthi, I used two shades of green in perle 5 and a variegated green/yellow stranded cotton, placing a swirl of dark green first, then some of the variegated thread before filling in the remainder with the green that is closest to the impression I get when looking at the actual flower.

I was pleased with this result, and went for something similar, but gentler, on the other side of the bag. Flannel flowers do have variations in the colour of the centres, and I wanted to capture that.

Once again, I only embroidered one centre on each side. The fabric itself is too beautiful to colour in. 

I made the bag up using Ink and Spindle's  plain Spice linen as lining, sides and straps. 

I think the colour way works well on this fabric. I have enough for two more bags and I may go on experimenting with it, before turning my attention to the Fennel and Saltbush fabric - or I may make a switch.

Am I on a roll, or ready for a change?  Actually, my focus is on my knitting but I keep being distracted!