Paragraph explaining chosen ideas

Forces Of Nature

Looking for an initial concept theme took me a very long time. As I wanted to push the boundaries and pick something that I have never done before and will allow me to create an unusual collection. I looked at various aspects of nature from under the sea right the way to space and atmosphere, and first came up with a name of Natures Elements, but I felt this didn't quite explain exactly what I wanted to do. However the idea I found most interesting gave me the title 'Forces of Nature' this will allow me to have a broad spectrum of inspiration into theme colour and fabric. My first thought into forces of nature was natural disasters, in which I collected a number of different imagery from storms to tsunamis. Most of these natural disasters resulted in destruction and wreckage, which allowed me to look into weathered buildings and shattered architecture. After looking into devastated aftermaths I was inspired by layering and mix of different weighted fabrics. The quote "the calm after the storm" came to mind after some of these images. As in some images everything is calm but left in a mix matched disheveled state, as people and nature are trying to slowly rebuild. The layering images made me direct towards homelessness and post apocalyptic key words, as well as grunge. I have also explored knitwear and ways of layering knit to create desired effects. Altogether I have created a number of different boards that explore different aspects of the theme “Forces of Nature.”

Pintrest:

http://pinterest.com/jadebdesign/boards/

Investigating Knit Samples

I have been kindly given a knitting machine, which is a frustrating machine yet i have created some unusual samples to aid my designing. 

The aim of these samples was for me to get a feel for the machine and what was capable, i tried to remember the main theme in all this which was forces of nature, destruction, layering. Thinking about large loop holes in the knit, how i could layer things up to create textures. Knit can be incorporated into part of the design, doesn't have to be the whole garment. I am trying to gather research to aid my designing. 

first attempt, failed - But learnt how to create ladders, holes and making the knit look more worn! 

this knit was inspired by the image below 

second and third attempt more successful, created some loose knits and also tried plaiting my strips to make chunky detailing.

the image above i started to get more confident by adding lace to the needles so it knit in with the machine. created some unusual effects.

added a range of different threads and wool.

below are a few scans of me layering my samples together