Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting

Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting is the name of the current exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, NY. The exhibit runs January 25 – June17, 2007. List of artists in this exhibit can be found here – artists.

This exhibit showcases work by [tag]international artists[/tag] using [tag]fiber[/tag] in unexpected and [tag]unorthodox[/tag] ways. The exhibit features 27 artists from seven countries, showcasing microknit garments (1:144 scale) to large-scale, all exhibits using a variety of media, from traditional yarns and laces, to found objects and video.

While at the exhibit, stop in one of the many Inter-Generational Workshops running every weekend in conjunction with [tag]Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting[/tag]. These workshops will focus on a different material exploration every week. They promise to get your hands dirty!

There will also be [tag]Public Programs[/tag] that will run in conjunction with the exhibition. Some of the more interesting programs (at least to me) are:

[tag]Alternative Yarns[/tag]
Thursday, February 15, 6:00 . 7:30 PM

Knit-In with Warm up America!
Saturday, February 24, 10:00 AM . 4:00 PM

The Possibilities of Knitting
Thursday, March 15, 6:00 . 7:30 PM

Creative Fabric Making for Knitters and Crocheters.
Saturday, March 31, 10:00 AM . 4:00 PM

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn.

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small.

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches.

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come.

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you.

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?).

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry.

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns.

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]

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