Posts

Fibre Artist Diaries: #14 Sentro Tips

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 To the person who commented on my instagram that with my sentro pieces I needed to opt for steam blocking to keep my v shaped pieces flat, I love you <3 Although I loved this top I made, its lack of flatness irked me. After finally giving in and getting a steamer, the edge is finally straight!! So yeah, if you use the sentro to make clothes etc, get a steamer asap, it will actually make your life much easier!

Fibre Artist Diaries: #13

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 Hi! Me again!  Change in circumstances (positive ones) and schedule means I've slowed down some of my sentro experimentations unfortunately but this is my latest piece I'm working on. The plan:  2 bust panels connected with a mattress stitch (for more even stitching)  Crocheted under bust pattern (probably a mosaic vibe) Bottom panel Back panel So far, I've created the main three front panels and I'm hoping the extended straps are an okay length for what I have in mind. Exact panel numbers/measurements to come once I figure out where I placed my notebook haha

Fibre Artist Diaries: #12

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 After a long summer, I've finished my first freeform wearable.  It wasn't actually meant to be a wearable, but it just ended up that way thankfully. Freeform crochet is honestly very relaxing especially when you don't have a specific plan in mind, would highly recommend.  The inspiration was summer and I used a variety of stitches from single crochet to double crochet, starting with circles in two different locations and gradually joined them up. My only regret is that I didn't finish this earlier in the summer to allow me to wear it out more 😓 but I shall be doing it come Spring 26!

Kuromi Leg Warmers

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 It's autumn, so finally leg warmer season again! Throwback to the pattern I released last year, my Kuromi Leg Warmers. These were my second leg warmer designs actually, and I've been thinking of making some more this autumn as I still have some unreleased patterns I'd like to jump back into. Pattern out on Ko-fi:  https://ko-fi.com/s/f4c8b6958a

Fibre Artist Diaries: #11 - Off the Shoulder Sentro Top

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Another sentro top I've made over the past few months. I've been really enjoying asymmetrical top vibe, and this was a way of checking how a one sided increase top would work.  When increasing or decreasing on the Sentro, it isn't possible to do this for more than one pin at a time, so choosing the correct size of the shoulder strap to accommodate the total width of the panel. This required a lot of trial and error, unfortunately and I believe it's a little low so I might have needed to start with a larger number of pins or do an initial increase on both sides (a.k.a more trial and error...).   Specs 🌟 Materials: Stylecraft Special DK yarn (<100g of primary colour) Long Darning needle 4.5 mm crochet hook Scissors Front Panels: 15 pins wide for initial row Increase to 40 pins from the shoulder on one side (complete this from the white pin on one panel and from the largest pin on the second panel for symmetry) I'm a  UK L/XL  but this cardigan has got some decent ...

Fibre Artist Diaries: #10 - Textiles Museum Trip

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 As part of some of my travels recently, I visited the Textiles Museum in Tilburg, Netherlands. Honestly, if you have a chance to visit as a fibre artist you definitely should! Within the museum there's so much to see. From old machines used in cotton mills, along with demonstrations, to the Textiles lab where resident fibre artists are hard at work using all sorts of amazing machines I've never seen before. There was also several amazing exhibitions. The main exhibition that drew me in was The Secrets of Making. This was an exhibition, included 8 different artists and the processes they went through to create their amazing pieces. Each artist had a mini video where they discussed their work in depth too, which was really cool. My favourite piece was by Ishola Akpo, which was about strong West African women throughout history with detailed tapestries. My other favourite was this power piece of tufted artwork made by the Palestinian artist, Susanne Khalil Yusef. I will lef...

Fibre Artist Diaries: #9 - Y2K Hanky Sentro Top

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 After the creation of my Strawberry Matcha sentro cardigan I worked on a new piece which was hankerchief (‘hanky’) top. This was quite a simple design, it was more about making sure enough rows were made before starting on the decrease on both sides. This works up pretty fast. Things I would change: ·        The seams are not perfect, I still need to work on some methods to make them neater 😅 ·        The ‘v’ shape at the bottom tends to curl. Not sure how to fix this unfortunately but I’ll be on the lookout. ·        Maybe make the panel a tad longer before decreasing both sides. Specs 🌟 Materials: Stylecraft Special DK yarn (<100g of primary colour) Long Darning needle 4mm crochet hook Scissors Front Panels: 40 pins wide for 35 rows Decrease on each side until only 1 pin in use Back Panels: 40 pins wide for 35 rows