LoopyKnits » Fiber Art

Giant Knits, for a Big Start to the New Year

Loopy — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 11:02:02 +0000

I found these eye-popping BIG KNITS during some of my web rambling in 2007. Enjoy!

Giant knitted poufs to use as seats, ottomans. Found via.
Knitting a giant American flag using two cranes. Also see the same Paul-Bunyan-sized project from three years earlier, using a pair of 20-foot knitting needles. Definitely not a time when you’d want to drop a stitch. Amazing! The same artist has also done a giant fiberglass teddybear. Found via.
Have needles? Knit a house — or at least a cover for one. Seriously, I’ve heard of knitting some unusual cozies before, but … wow! Found via.
Sure, some people build a treehouse, but what about knitting one like knitting celebrity Cat Bordhi did? I don’t know enough about the safety to be able to recommend this, but what an interesting idea. Found via.
A really groovy cozy for a VW Bug. No, really.
Belated Christmas coolness #1: One of the biggest knitted Christmas trees (photos here and here); I can’t find a story, but I think it was a 2005 fund-raiser for the North Devon Hospice in Devon, England; found via.
Belated Christmas coolness #2: Giant knitted gingerbread house, created as another hospice fundraiser

[tags]giant knits, big knits, fiber art[/tags]

Knitters and Critters and Sea Life, Oh My

Loopy — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 11:00:25 +0000

Oh, the sea life you’ll see when you cruise around the web for a while. I’ve been collecting links to these crocheted and knit little darlings over the past several months. Enjoy!

Nubby little squids, octopuses, coral, jellyfish, and other sea life. Found via.
Crochet an octopus amigurumi* family and have a cephalopod party with a free pattern. Found via. (*Amigurumi definition here)
Delicate little nautilus shells.
Incredibly detailed Japanese crocheted sea creatures. Found via.
Cephalopods and seahorses, starfish, jellyfish, puffer fish, and … just to embrace a bit of the jungle too, some elephants and other exotic critters. Found via.
Is that your squid ringing, or mine? Found via.
Oooh, he’s so cute when he’s angry! Check out this “Mary Had a Little Beaver” (*snicker*) octopus diorama. Found via.

[tags]crocheted sea life, knitted sea life[/tags]

If Bugs COULD Knit, They’d Be So Jealous

Loopy — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:00:20 +0000

I’m thinking I would like to be a mini-me even more than my dieting self usually longs for. Because then I could slip into one of the delicate miniature knit creations from fiber artist Althea Crome Merback. Her site, BugKnits.com, displays a gallery of fairy-sized sweaters, socks, gloves, and more.

To get an idea of the scale, check out this quote from one of her gallery pages: “I make my own knitting needles out of stainless steel wires that are so thin (.001″) that they can accommodate more that 80 stitches per inch. The gloves I make are 1/12th scale which means that 1 inch =1 foot in the ‘real’ world. That means a finger the size of a grain of rice would be about the right size to fit inside a pair of my gloves.”

A grain of rice, people! Learn more about this eagle-eyed knitter here.

[tags]fiber artist, miniature knitting[/tags]

Ready, Aim … Knit!

Loopy — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:00:07 +0000

Every time hunting season rolls around, I’m glad I don’t live with a Mighty Hunter intent on conquering the forests, one bullet at a time. But this is a trophy I could get behind. Thank fiber artist Rachel Denny for thinking of cable knits (with a zipper down the front, no less!) when she came up with this lovely creature. See more at her website, RachelDenny.com.

[tags]Rachel Denny, fiber artist[/tags]

Purrfect Crocheted Goodness

Loopy — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:30:05 +0000

Just because it’s crocheted instead of knitted won’t keep me from loving this wee little rug from recycling artist Emily Kircher. She has some adorable products on her site, like bottlecap magnets and cozy rugs in designs that range from squee little kitties and cupcakes to equally squee little squids and skulls, all crocheted from salvaged fabric scraps. See an assortment of her nifty products for sale here.

Found via the Craftzine.com blog.

Now That’s One Happy Hooker

Loopy — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 10:30:55 +0000

Cannot. Resist. The. Fiber. Art.

At least, not when it’s as fun as this gallery o’ goodness. We’re talking billy goats! Mermaid suits! Perky nipples! Anatomically correct bunny suits! Ming Yi Sung, I kinda love you for your crochet sculptures. And you may be the coolest elementary art teacher ever.

Found via Feministing.

Funky Knitting and Crocheting Across the Web

Loopy — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:12:27 +0000

Oh, the link love I’m about to show you. I’ve been storing up these for a while now!

Weird, whole-body suits (crocheted, I think) in pictures by Boston-based photographer Joshua Dalsimer. And I mean WHOLE body — head to toe, including full facial coverage. See the orange ones at the SwissMiss site and punkier pink ones at Dalsimer’s site.
The Craftzine.com blog has a wild 1950s-style outfit knit entirely out of grocery bags.
NYT article on the Museum of Arts & Design’s “Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting” art show in New York with delicacies such as lace shovels, a protest on the the post-9/11 ban on knitting needles in airplanes, and a Nike blanket petition against sweatshop labor.
The Brain Bag – a purse that looks like … well … guess.
An oldie but a funny: Benjamin Cho’s knit dress, complete with knitting needles holding up the front and mannequin hands attached to the knitting needles.
Scarf that looks like a two-person saw … dripping blood. Awesome!

More to come soon.

Talking Socks and Quantum Knitting

Loopy — Tue, 15 May 2007 10:06:09 +0000

Fantasy author Holly Lisle not only generously shares writers’ tips that I’ve enjoyed surfing through for years, she also is an imaginative, skilled knitter. And she has created a madly interesting set of make-your-own-magic sock patterns for some of her fictional characters, the Anzi.

The idea is that the Anzi knit colorful patterns into the fabric, visually expressing what they desire to receive. Her website explains:

“The Abundance Socks give thanks for something needed. They acknowledge the Anzi belief that as soon as you put your will into the system, the system answers simultaneously, though you may not see the results immediately. So when the Anzi pray, they don’t pray for something. They give thanks for it, because whether they have what they need yet or not, they accept that Spirit has already answered.”

This just delights me; you have got to check this out. (I can’t possibly be the only other sci-fi/fantasy geeky knitter out there, can I?) At Holly’s site, the index on this topic contains links that explain the theory, the pattern, color theory, meaning of the symbols, and more.

[tags]magic socks, Anzi socks, quantum knitting, quantum entanglement, Holly Lisle, abundance socks, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm[/tags]

Wednesday Wacky Knits:Are Ya Chicken, Knitter? Well, Are Ya?

Loopy — Wed, 02 May 2007 15:55:27 +0000

Look Here, You Cluckers
Get your giggle on. There’s an update of the classically funny Chicken Viking Hat at AlohaMedia.net. Yup, it’s a chicken, and it goes on your head. You won’t know whether you’re re-living the turkey-on-the-head Mr. Bean episode or you’re standing in for Bugs Bunny in an opera spoof. One thing’s for sure — you won’t look like anyone else on the block!

This little knitted darling has been around for a while, but the site now has updated crochet instructions, as well as the original knitter’s instructions for the children’s hat and a link to an adult-size pattern. Thanks to those who dream big — concept by Kat Kinsman and Sarah Mundy, with design by Sarah Mundy. Via.

Getting Nekkid Under the Fibers
Fiber artist Anna Maltz has a really supportive family. Really, really, really supportive. Check out their full-body “naked suits.” Be sure to click “next” on the site to see additional pics, too! (I’ll add a photo here if I can secure the site’s permission.) Via.

Students Knits Her Own Ferrari
It took art student Lauren Porter and some helpful family members 10 months and 12 miles of yarn to knit a Ferrari sportscar out of 250 garter-stitch squares for the body in hello-officer red, windows from stocking stitch, crocheted details, and — of course — an embroidered emblem on the hood. It’s all supported by a steel frame which Lauren, 22, welded herself. See a still pic here and a brief video here and The Sun article here. I believe this dates from mid-2006. Via. Also see her own website for a knitted wingback chair, Christmas tree, and more!

[tags]funny knitting, silly knitting, weird knitting, wacky knits, hat knitting, Chicken Viking Hat, AlohaMedia.net, fiber art, knit naked suits,knit a car, knit Ferrari, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm[/tags]

Cool, Gorgeous Chaos

Loopy — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 01:57:45 +0000

How cool — I missed this when the story first broke in December 2004. A math journal contained a crochet pattern illustrating the famous Lorenz equations that describe the nature of chaotic systems. I know, I know — it’s crochet, not knitting. But look at this, people! It’s 25,511 stitches of pure coolness.

See the story here and download the pattern here.

[tags] Lorenz equations, crochet art, fiber art, chaos, mobile, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm[/tags]