The Yarn Purchasing Association of 1998

NEWSLETTER

Winter 2012

LABORRATORIUM 12. Now the exhibition Laboratorium 12 is ready to go on

show. We have received the boxes of work and

experiments from our 16 participants. Works and

experiments with very different expressions, forms,

inspirations and covering a wide field in their

expressive use of textiles.

We are looking forward to opening the exhibition

and showing you all these exciting works.

You can experience the exhibition LABORATORIUM 12:

24 February – 18 March 2012.

Tuesday-Sunday 12-16.

Officinet, Bredgade 66, Copenhagen C.

31 March – 23 May 2012.

Monday-Sunday 10-17.

Grønbechs Gård, Grønbechs Gård 4

3790 Hasle, Bornholm

www.groenbechsgaard.dk

A little sneak preview of the works...

The details shown in the pictures on the right are a

small selection from the pieces that have been sent

in by the participants. The number under each

picture refers to the exhibitor who has produced the

work.

The exhibitors are:

1. Eva Højris, knitting designer

2. Sofia Hagström, textile designer

3. Annette Dam, jewellery artist

4. Marianne Jonstad-Møller, knitting designer

5. Paulette Adam, weaver

6. Stine Diness Mikkelsen, glass artist

7. Laila Stemmler Hansen, textile designer

8. Lene Hald, jewellery artist

9. Julie Bach, designer

10. Iben Høj, knitting designer

11. Helene Jensen, textile designer

12. Klaus Titze, basket maker

13. Annette Reinhardt, weaver

14. Rikke Borg-Lauritsen, textile designer

15. Lisbeth Degn Jensen, artist-craftsman

16. Hanne G. Grønlund, fine artist

2 15

4 7

8 5 1

9 10

12 13

14

The dogma rules for the exhibition were: The participants must use ONLY the materials

that they were sent. The form, construction, size

and inspiration for the work have been freely

chosen by the participants.

Each of them has received a packet with 500g of

yarn, consisting of 4 black yarns and 1 red yarn.

The yarns sent out were:

Black Mykonos, black paper with wool, black

Rubco in various thicknesses, red metal, black

Topkapi, red Rubco, black metal, black Demeter

organic wool, viscose lamella yarn and Jet Tex.

The Yarn Purchasing Association of 1998 will hold the General Meeting on Saturday at 12.00, for

the association’s members.

After the General Meeting, we will open the doors at 13.00 to all who are interested to see

LABORATORIUM 12.

We will hold a little event, where you can hear more about the exhibition, see the work and also

meet some of the artists.

All are welcome on this Saturday at Officinet, where we will also offer refreshments.

With best wishes

The committee

Yarn Purchasing Association of 1998

On Saturday 25th

February 2012, 13.00 You are invited to the opening of the exhibition

LABORATORIUM 12

Officinet, Bredgade 66, 1260 Copenhagen C.

Danish Hand Knitting Book:

Masker og Mønstre – inspiration til strik

(Stitches and Patterns – inspiration for knitting)

Susanne Rishede is one of the 20 knitters, from all over the

country (Denmark) who joined together to provide inspiration for

handknitting in this new knitting book: Masker og Mønstre –

inspiration til strik, published by FiberFeber – www.fiberfeber.dk

Susanne Rishede explains:

I was contacted by Paulette Adam, who is the editor of this

beautiful book: Masker og Mønstre. She knew that I do machine

knitting with wool crepe yarns (from The Yarn Purchasing

Association) and she asked me to translate this work into

handknitting so that I could participate in the book.

So I had to set to work with the knitting needles – and it really

challenged my patience. But I made up my mind that

handknitters should not be cheated out of the experience of

using these yarns. So, for a while, I became a handknitter! – and

had to admit – so many cannot be wrong – it really does have its

charm, and the great advantage that you can bring along your

knitting.

It is easy enough to knit with crepe yarns, and they can also work

well combined with wool yarns, such as Nm 28/2. The slanting

effect of the stitches is not lost, though perhaps reduced.

Here the pattern of the stitches can be

seen clearly. 1 stripe of grey crepe yarn

and 1 stripe of light lambswool. The

crepe yarn pulls on to a slant

considerably more than the lambswool.

This is machine knitted with:

2 threads of Z-crepe Nm 30/1

10 plain and 10 purl and so on.

This can be knitted very well by hand

using 3 threads.

Knitted with:

2 threads of Z-crepe Nm 30/1 and 1 thread Here the same pattern can be seen, but

of lambswool Nm 11/3: 10 plain and 10 purl. now with Z-crepe yarn for all 3 threads.

12 rows in all. Then the opposite, 10 purl and 10 plain.

Weaving Textiles That Shape Themselves

Ann Richards

Text by Ann Richards:

My weaving book is due to be published at the end of February and

it contains many examples of fabrics woven with GIF yarns. Here is a

little bit about what it covers:

Just add water – textiles that shape themselves!

Weaving Textiles That Shape Themselves sounds like a contradiction

in terms, but in this book I set out to show how textiles can do

precisely that: shape themselves. Good design, in any medium,

cannot simply be imposed – it depends also on what materials and

structures can do. The designer may choose what elements to put

together, but their subtle interplay will determine what happens,

sometimes in surprising ways. Woven textiles show this ’self-

organizing’ tendency to an extreme extent, especially when there

are strong contrasts of material and structure. Textures emerge

during wet finishing, as fibre, yarn twist and weave structure

interact. The most dramatic effects are possible with high-twist

(crepe) yarns. I have worked with these exciting yarns for many

years (many of them from GIF, of course!) and they are the main

subject of my book.

Crepe yarns can create their three-dimensional effects because the stress of the spinning process gives

them a lot of energy. This is released when the fabric is washed – as water is absorbed, spiralling

movements of the yarns form crinkles and pleats, giving highly textured, elastic fabrics. Yarn twists and

weaves can also be varied across the fabric, so rectangular pieces change shape when washed. ‘Loom-to-

body’ clothing, needing minimal cutting and sewing, can emerge from a simple change of yarn or structure

– textiles really can shape themselves. There are examples of textiles by many designers from around the

world in my book, including Junichi Arai, from Japan, many English weavers and, of course, Lotte Dalgaard.

The book will be published by Crowood Press (www.crowood.com) on 27 February 2012. Retail Price: £25.

There will be a book launch/exhibition at Handweavers Studio in London on Thursday 17th May 2012. This

will be a joint event with Lotte Dalgaard, whose exciting book “Magiske Materiale” (published in Danish in

2007) will come out this year in an English Edition (“Magical Materials To Weave”). Textiles included in both

our books, together with new work, will be on display.

Handweavers Studio and Gallery, 140 Seven Sisters Road, London N7 7NS

For details of the location and more information about this event see the website www.handweavers.co.uk

Renewal of Membership for 2012 It is time to renew your membership of the Yarn Purchasing Association – final date 1 March 2012.

On www.yarn.dk you can quickly and easily renew your membership.

1. Log in on the website with your email and password.

2. Click on membership on the left hand side.

3. Click on the membership that needs to be renewed.

4. If you have not paid for 2010 and 2011, do that first – then pay for 2012.

5. The membership renewal will be placed in the basket and you can then go on to pay – unless you

also want to buy yarn.

6. The Yarn Purchasing Association thank you for your payment and you will receive new yarn sample

cards – newsletters – the right to buy from the webshop.

7. REMEMBER to pay your membership fee – otherwise you risk being excluded from the Yarn

Purchasing Association and consequently losing the right to buy yarn.

NEWS for the Newsletters If you have news of an event... a recommendation for a book... information about textiles... would like to

share the experiences you have had with the Association’s yarns... or other things that you would like to

share with the members, then you are very welcome to write to Dorthe at:

info@dmlj.dk

At present we have 261 members in the Association, 160 Danish members and 101 members from abroad.

As each of us works with textiles, design and development using the Association’s yarns, it would be really

exciting to hear about and see some of the projects you are working on, particularly those which include

the Association’s yarns. So be sure to write to Dorthe with this information.

There may also be design students in the schools who are carrying out projects using the Association’s

yarns – they should also feel welcome to send in information to info@dmlj.dk