For the months of March and April, artstream is currently hosting a show with four very different artists with work relating to textile. Danny Mansmith from Chicago, Leigh Pennebaker from NYC, Alyssa Ettinger from Brooklyn, and Kimberly Lyford from Vermont. Each artist has a personal twist on textile use and the combination of the four is eye popping. Most all of the work is online here and here and an early review of the show is here.

Love U-handbag’s tutorials. Clear instructions and great pics. The cute little coin purse and the elegant pleated bag are definitely on my list to try.

Now here’s a sight for sore hands …

My Mum’s knitting machine has been sitting in a garage for the best part of 20 years. She made jumpers, scarves and blankets and even lace for three children. Then we grew up and wanted the latest chain-store crap. I remember sunny afternoons buzzing not with the sound of the cricket on the radio, but the metallic whoosh of a metal carriage being run back and forth over a bed of needles.

Not long ago, inspired by the explosion of really cool knitting patterns, like “Ribbed for her pleasure”, in ‘Stitch n Bitch’, I asked Elma to teach me some hand-knitting basics. But it turned out to be a nasty strain on my wrists, as my job involves sitting behind a computer all day. A sinking feeling of “oh no… this feels bad”.

Then last Friday I popped into the Stitches Craft show in Melbourne. Amid the scrapbooking, beading , candlewicking and quilting displays, there was a Machine Knitters Association of Victoria stall.

Association secretary Angela McGregor had an autumnal-themed bunch of scarves and hats on display. The ones made from expensive yarns and those from Reject Shop wool were indistinguishable - they all looked great, and looked like far more work than she claims they actually were. And she’d got some interesting webbed effects through dropping stitches on her machine, which, unlike my mother’s, employs punch cards.

Knitting machines are an endangered species – Brother’s head office in Canberra say they stopped stocking them several years ago. But you could try e-Bay, or in Australia, this business directory .

Their advantage is speed – attractive to felters - and the finished product often looks neater and more uniform than hand-stitching – which you may or may not want.

My mother says her Brother pre-punch card model made shaping garments a lot easier. But she had to add a ribber - expensive and tricky. Elma never liked the new-fangled card models, saying they made experimentation difficult.

McGregor says machine knitting was huge in the 60s, died down again then had a brief resurgence in the 1980s when shapeless jumpers (shudder) were in vogue. She says she makes hats and scarves for her kids, but their tastes are too finicky for her to risk clothes. She suggested it can be tricky shaping things on a machine, but you can do it if you’re really determined.

Her advice to people resurrecting knitting machines from the garage is to pull out the sponge bar (a tab to the left). If the foam has worn away, it will need replacing. Oh, and give the works a wipe with sewing machine oil. There’s a good checklist on e-Bay.

It’s not the sort of craft you’ll find taught by the local council of adult education, but the association can put you onto classes or more informal get-togethers in members’ private homes or halls.

Like most first-time-mothers-to-be, I plan to use the time when my baby is sleeping to start a PhD, launch a corporate empire … and maybe dust off the knitting machine.

In to the Woods, embroidery on linen

Tilleke Schwarz is a Dutch artist working in embroidery and also drawings on paper. Look for her work in the upcoming traveling exhibitions Fiberart International (U.S.) and the Knitting and Stitching Show (U.K./Ireland) over the next two years. There is also a wonderful article about her in the current issue of Selvedge magazine.

Count Your Blessings, embroidery on linen

She has a book being released this week — write to info@tillekeschwarz.com for ordering info directly from the artist, or wait a few weeks, when it will be available online at Twisted Thread.

On Color, 66cm by 70cm, embroidery on linen

For a long time knitting has been an activity that was used for good. In many past wars, people at home showed their support for the troops by knitting them needed items. (If you’re interested, you can see more here.) Helmet liners have been one such item that have been knitted for the troops, as they provide warmth in cold, harsh climates.

Keeping this in mind, Cat Mazza (microRevolt) launched a new project, Stitch for Senate, yesterday on the 4th anniversary of the U.S. involvement in Iraq. From her site:

Stitch for Senate is an initiative of knit hobbyists making helmet liners for every United States Senator. The helmet liner pattern was adapted from a support-the-troops initiative for soldiers stationed in Iraq. All the senators will receive their own helmet liner, and Senators can opt to send helmet liners to a soldier once they receive the helmet. Charitable knitting during wartime has been a tradition since the American Revolution. The Stitch for Senate website will compile testimonies from knitters reviving this cultural trend, seeking to understand what knitters express through wartime knitting: charity, allegiance, patriotism, resistance, radicalism, etc. and use the tradition of political organizing within knitting circles as a space for storytelling, discussion, exchange and protest.

Currently she is looking for people to sign up for this project as she will need two knitters from each state of the U.S. to volunteer in order to take it to is completion.

Regardless of your political views, it’s sad that knitting for the troops has such a long and involved history, but speaks volumes that despite the times, people still are finding ways to use their creativity for good.