To introduce “Instant Clothes Museum”, Felicity described her evolving image of clothes as text or essay, and introduced KONCEPT of The Slow Wardrobe. She then invited participants at the workshop to consider the meaning of their own clothes and the text of their outfits, providing tags and pens for the production of “The Instant Clothes Museum”. Participants then attached tags to their clothes.

Kadrianna wore a red jacket with high wool content in it and some red boots, which were repaired after a night of dancing damaged the soles.

In these recordings you can hear tags being made for Kadrianna’s jacket and shoes; decorating tags with rubber-stamps; and the recordings Kadrianna made whilst riding her red bike and walking in her boots around the old town of Tallinn.

The workshop participants talk about safety pins; mending; Russian superstitions; boots; bicycles and repairs, and you can hear the sounds of the tags of “The Instant Clothes Museum” being blown about by the Tallinn wind.

Kadrianna decorated her Museum tag with images of safety pins and a sheep.

Results of KNITSONIK^TM workshop will soon be collated into AUDIO DATA and released as KNITSONIK^TM PODKAST.

workshop : clothing : textile
May 03, 2012 11:00 – 16:00
€4.00

A KNITSONIK PRODUKTION

In this workshop, we will work in pairs to inventory and celebrate each others’ outfits, creating an instant and ephemeral museum documenting the things that we are wearing. Felicity Ford will provide tags and printed sheets to assist in the spontaneous creation of this Instant Clothes Museum, and fashion-posing/photography plus radio interviewing will ensue! The session will culminate in some gift-giving, in which participants will choose a badge for whomever is their partner during the workshop, to compliment their outfit or emphasise some aspect of their clothing which has arisen during our discussions. The workshop will last for 5 hours, including a short presentation at the beginning, a one hour lunchbreak, and possibly a short walk into Tallinn city to pick a suitable location for a fashion shoot!

Participants just need to wear their own clothes, and bring pens and cameras (if they have them).

Dr. Felicity Ford is a sound artist with a particular interest in everyday sounds, documentary projects, and creative processes which use sound to make us think differently about ordinary reality. Ford’s work links creative sonic praxis specifically with social concerns and the contexts of everyday life. Questioning the primacy of The Formal Concert as a site for dedicated listening, she is particularly interested in working with platforms such as the Internet and Radio which allow her work to be experienced in informal settings such as within the home, on the daily commute, during one’s weekly errands, and so on.

Dr. Ford’s visit to Tallinn is supported by the British Council Estonia and MoKS.

You must register for this event here

• Traceable British Yarn from trusted sources and specific sheep breeds – this example uses Swaledale DK from Prick Your Finger, and Hebridean yarn in Nevis colourway from Laura’s Loom (laceweight, doubled-up)
• i-cord mill (best explanation for this on TECHknitter’s site here)
• mylar speaker cones (sample uses 50mm)
• 20m+ of speaker wire
• solder + soldering iron
• selektion of SONIK REKORDING equipment (in this example, KNITSONIK used Audio Technica BP4029, FOSTEX FR-2LE and Roland Edirol R-09, along with Reinhardt wind baffle for Roland and a RØDE Blimp for Audio Technica mic)

In this example, Hebridean and Swaledale wools have been used.

Hebridean sheep yarn, from Laura’s Loom (from this very flock, amongst others).

Swaledale sheep yarn, from Prick Your Finger, spun at this Mill.

DIREKTIONS:

1: KNITTED KOMPONENTS

Take i-cord mill and PRODUCE some metres of yarn-tubes. Solder + wire to + on speaker and – wire to – on speaker, then cover wires with i-cord. You can wind the tails of i-cord around the magnet in the speaker cone; wool is non-conductive and will not interfer with flow of current through the speakers.

2. KNIT FOR SONIK KOMPONENTS

Fashion a covering for your speaker. It must be just a little large than the speaker in diameter; have an opening for loudspeaker cables to travel through; and be open at the back, so that you can sew the speaker in. Note loose final row of stitches, ready to be drawn tight around the speaker in this design.

3. KOMBINE KNITTED AND SONIK KOMPONENTS

4. KNITSONIK

Sew the speaker into the cosy by drawing the knitting tight around the speaker. A bone-needle or other non-metal sewing tool is advised for this stage, because the large magnet on the back of the speaker can disrupt the sewing process if a metal needle is used.

5. A KNITSONIK™ PRODUKTION

Repeat 32 times, soldering the wool-covered speakers into a configuration of 16 speakers for the L channel and 16 speakers for the R channel. For each channel, create 4 series circuits of 4 speakers, and then wire these into a parallel configuration. Suspend from ceiling, attaching to CD player and appropriate amplification device.

6. Hûrd – A KNITSONIK™ PRODUKTION

Using KNITSONIK MOBILE to access remote rural locations, KOLLEKT sounds and stories from shepherds and sheep to play through KNITSONIK speakers.

Play these sounds through your knitted creation, thus uniting the finished PRODUKT of yarn with its raw origins in the landscape.

WOOL – yarn & raw fleece = KNIT
SOUNDS – interviews, stories, field-recordings = SONIK
WOOL + SOUNDS = KNITSONIK

You can listen to the sounds produced for Hûrd – A KNITSONIK™ PRODUKTION here; but stay tuned for a future DIREKTOR’S KUT to include many not-heard sounds, and to be released as a physical CD only, in a hand-knit covering.

Also, stay tuned for KNITSONIK ESTONIA.

At first the idea was to base any colour work on the visual appearance of soundwaves, as rendered in wave-editing software.

Initial KS01 IDEA – META WAVE FORM of voice saying “The colourwork design for my yoke neck sweater”

But PROJECKT ENGINEERS quickly learned that the peaks and troughs in soundwaves would result in inefficient yarn-stranding on the back of the tunic. To correctly respond to the SUPERSONICSILENT qualities of 100% WOOL, the tunic must reflect the behaviours and needs of the material. I.E. no superlongstrands on the back of the work, ERGO, no soundwave-inspired designs and BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD.

KNITSONIK^TM swatching commenced, for a design this time based on the principal symbols encountered whilst interacting with REKORDING DEVICE. ERGO, PLAY > PAUSE || RECORD .

Latest KS01 IDEA – META FAIRISLE referring to the act and TEKNOLOGY of recording pertaining to the wearer of the REKORDING TUNIC

KNITSONIK^TM KS01 SUPERSONIK YOKE SWEATER DESIGN IS STILL PROGRESSING.

Stationed in a research lab and roving around the campus to talk to various makers and craftspeople in the University Buildings, Ford was interested in discovering the role of sound in how we understand different machines and materials. For instance, how does sound let us know when a thread or a saw blade might be on the verge of breaking?

What kind of rhythms are created through repetitive gestures, such as the physical movements inherent in the act of shaping clay?

What might we learn about surfaces and processes by applying contact microphones to objects which are being used for making, such as plastic bottles being filled with sequins and torn up rubbish, to make bunting and to turn waste and rubbish into party decorations?

…And how do such recordings differ from recordings made using directional stereo microphones, instead, where the information is carried through the airwaves and not through the densities of tissue paper, plastic, etc.?

Finally, what can be done with the sounds of making once they have been collected, recorded, labelled, stored, listened-to and considered? Some experiments in this direction have commenced following Ford’s return from Belfast and they include so far the construction of sonic collages – like this example* – which explores the soundworld of Gail’s ceramics practice.

Other creative outputs emerging from the sounds of making workshop include the addition of many such sounds to the Tweave map** so that the sounds collected in Belfast can be mixed and threaded together with other craft sounds already represented there.

These images are just screenshots, so you can’t do anything except look at them, but if you visit the Tweave website you can zoom right in on the map to play the sounds from Belfast only (like this)

Or you can zoom right out and see the weave of sounds that is slowly being made on this ingenious map, through the collection of many craft/making sounds into a single map and an endlessly layered warp and weft of MAKERLY SONIKS.

(Of course you can also add your own recordings to the map too).

Other future creative uses of the sounds of making recordings gathered at the workshop of the same name will include the creation of the KNITSONIK^TM 02 audio piece, following on from KNITSONIK^TM 01 which was produced earlier this year. Other snippets of audio featuring the sounds of making will also inevitably make it into Dr Felicity Ford’s own podcast/radio show projekt throughout coming weeks.

In summary, for the rest of August Craft Month, the KNITSONIK^TM PRODUKTION SUITE will be filled with the sounds of making, and the sounds of making will provide much inspiration as they whir, drum, pulse, beat, scratch, slide, thud and boom in the background, signifying industry and KONSTRUKTION.

*all sounds recorded by DR FELICITY FORD except for the Drum’n'Bass loop created by Dahovv and two klinky ceramic sounds recorded by Marcus Horndt, which were all licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 license

**Tweave is an interactive web project by Amy Houghton and Ed Holroyd which maps the sounds of making and Ford is honoured to be able to contribute to it

Collaborative venture between podcaster Brenda Dayne and KNITSONIKTM Direktor, Dr Felicity Ford, brings a fresh sound to the world of knit-related audio.

Throughout spring/summer 2011, Brenda Dayne, producer and host of Cast On, a podcast for knitters, and Felicity Ford, sound artist and feature producer for BBC Oxford, Resonance FM and Radio Reverb, teamed up to produce A Knitter’s Manifesto – an independent audio release available in both downloadable digital and Limited Edition Artist CD formats.

Professionally recorded at Mwnci Studios in West Wales and mixed at home, A Knitter’s Manifesto features essays by Brenda Dayne, audio recordings made by Felicity Ford, and original music performed by guitarist, Zachary Dunlap.

Written and read by Brenda Dayne, the stories in A Knitter’s Manifesto focus on finding inspiration in the ordinary and using this to kick start the process of making. These compelling personal essays are accompanied by Dr Felicity Ford’s field recordings, which have been collected from the green Welsh countryside and sensitively arranged around Brenda’s words to lend them a sense of place.

Written and produced by knitters, for knitters, A Knitter’s Manifesto is a slow walk though changing seasons and the Welsh countryside; a handmade celebration of the pleasure to be found in making things with your hands; and an audio exploration into the links between where we live and what we make.

DATES

A Knitter’s Manifesto is available to download in digital format from CD Baby, iTunes and the Cast On web shop. Copies of the Limited Edition Artist Release, featuring a hand-printed sleeve and a range of handcrafted ephemera, will ship at the end of July 2011. Limited Edition Artist Releases are only available to pre-order through the Cast On web shop.

LINKS

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/brendadayne
http://itunes.apple.com/uk/album/a-knitters-manifesto/id450260063
http://shop.cast-on.com/
http://www.thedomesticsoundscape.com/wordpress

KNITSONIK^TM presents the audio piece KNITSONIK^TM 01, which premiered last night at Prick Your Finger. The piece will remain on display for some time at the shop, where you can listen to KNITSONIK^TM 01 on the first KNITSONIK^TM design: the knitted speakers (designed and created by Felicity Ford in 2007.) Alternatively, you can download KNITSONIK^TM 01 as an mp3 and listen to it through an alternative device of your choosing.

KNITSONIK 01

Last night at the KNITSONIK^TM 01 launch, the knitted speakers allowed visitors to the preview to listen in closely to knitters talking about their soundworlds, or to drift away from the world of KNITSONIK^TM 01 into the surrounding soundscape of the private view, which was wonderfully chatty, full of laughing, sociable and happily noise-some. Here are listeners listening to KNITSONIK^TM 01.

KNITSONIK^TM was happy to receive the feedback that the speakers were perceived to be:

1. fun
2. nice feeling on the ears
3. jolly
4. inviting
5. good to listen to

KNITSONIK^TM has plans to expand the scope of the knitted speakers, so that they can be

1. bigger
2. made of wool
3. more finely crafted
4. fill more space
5. hang at even more different levels

KNITSONIK^TM 01 has been produced using the interviews gathered by Felicity Ford at Prick Your Finger between 4th – 7th May 2011. The KNITSONIK^TM knitting hit parade top twenty sounds show was developed using all the answers contributed to KNITSONIK^TM research via the survey which knitters kindly filled out here. There will be future and infrequent editions of KNITSONIK for you to hear, and the survey will remain open for knitters to fill out indefinitely. New answers will be considered each time any future KNITSONIK^TM hit parade is developed.

KNITSONIK^TM wants to especially thank…

Tom and Anthony, for their amazing interview contributions and for the peanut-butter-chocolate-cheesecake;

Colleen for the thudding yarn sound, (you can hear this at 25.02 in KNITSONIK^TM 01 if you listen very hard through good speakers!) for the red velvet cake, and for all the support she has given to KNITSONIK^TM “PRODUKT RESEARCH DEPARTMENT DIREKTOR” Dr Felicity Ford over the years;

Ed, for travelling many miles on the train to come and discuss TWEAVE;

Mark for being the voiceover in the knitting hit parade top twenty sounds show and for being the no. 1 believer in the KNITSONIK^TM project;

Brenda for introducing “PRODUKT RESEARCH DEPARTMENT DIREKTOR” Dr Felicity Ford to the concept of “The Knitting Podcast” through the incredible audio project that is Cast-On, and for all the new audio adventures in the sounds of wool which “A Knitter’s Manifesto” entails for Dr Felicity Ford;

Rachael and Louise for making a research and exhibition space available to KNITSONIK^TM in their legendary yarn shop…

…and of course, KNITSONIK^TM wants to thank all the wonderful makers who have contributed their words, time, thoughts and ideas to KNITSONIK^TM 01.

Stage 1 of design process: swatch.

Technique employed: Magic Loop.

Colours chosen: Olive Green (corriedale 4-ply) Natural Shetland (shetland 4-ply) Turquoise (corriedale 4-ply) and Golden (border leicester 4-ply.) All yarns from Blacker Designs.

Original idea: yoke sweater based loosely on Elizabeth Zimmerman’s percentage system, celebrating rustling leaves (a favourite sound.)

Idea that emerged through the process: a colourwork pattern based on soundwaves.

KNITSONIK^TM design process for finding the right pattern.

1. Begin by recording the phrase “the colourwork design for my yoke sweater” into a microphone.

2. Look at the wave pattern of this phrase in Adobe Audition editing software.

3. Play with the colours of the wave pattern.

TO DO: Work out the maths for the yoke based on the gauge swatch; chart the colourwork stitches for the yoke, incorporating holes for microphone/headphone cables to go through.

KNITSONIK^TM KS01 SUPERSONIK YOKE SWEATER DESIGN IS PROGRESSING.

KNITSONIK^TM SURVEYS have been completed; SONIK interviews have been KOLLEKTED; everyone has wonderful, insightful things to say about THE SOUNDS OF KNITTING AND WOOL.

KNITSONIK^TM IDEAS have been DOKUMENTED.

A window has been painted.

Ed Holroyd – coding genius responsible for web-end of TWEAVE was interviewed re: the SOUNDS of MAKING, and CODE AS CRAFTSMANSHIP.

KNITSONIK^TM was also visited by the lovely Colleen, who dropped her favourite shade of carpet yarn so the sound could be recorded, who shared the wonderful story of the golden crochet hook for PODCAST LISTENERS, and who purchased a BADGE!

…and many sounds from the KNITSONIK^TM RADIO ARCHIVE have been shared with the public.

Stay tuned for further adventures.