This sample piece was one of my biggest experiments I have done for this project and during my time at college. I decided for this piece I wanted to flatten my knitting with the heat press so the knitting was flatter to print onto with pigment inks.
I then went to heat press my piece thinking it would flatten it only to get a shock when lifting the mat up on the heat press to find the knitting melting and sticking to the mat. I quickly pealed the knitting off before it had time to stick to the mat and put it on the side to cool.
After this I spoke to my tutor about it and found that it had happened because I had used acrylic wool (man made wool) and because of this when heated over 500 Fahrenheit it melts. It also melts and shrinks away from a flame or heat.
Melted Knitting
You can see the knitting stitches on the top of the melted piece however on the bottom it has melted smooth. I do not think the screen print would have worked on this piece so I decided to experiment with it some more.
Close up of melted knitting
Piece after using heat gun
The heat gun made the full piece wavy, It created bigger holes with browning edges and gave it more texture.
Piece once finished
I then used a solder to create some smaller holes and did more with the heat gun. It was definitely a experience for me and put me completely out of my comfort zone. It was funny to do and I think although it turned out well it looks like a slice of cheese. I also did some more experimental pieces as seen below:
Joining two strands together
Singular springs
Double colour springs in a figure 8
Single colour springs in a figure 8
These pieces were made using a heat gun and two metal needles. I have wrapped the acrylic wool around one or two needles with one or two strands of wool and then heated with the heat gun. This then makes the wool a bit like a spring. I love these pieces as they are simple, different and effective and I will hopefully use them in my final pieces.
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