It’s a Wrap!
Check out Dover’s latest book on an original and unique crafting technique.
Pat Olski had created a new technique for textile sculpture, one that works without needles of any sort or even a hot glue gun. She calls it Yarn Whirled, and the new Dover book that provides the instructions and inspiration is Yarn Whirled: Fairy Tales, Fables and Folklore: Characters You Can Craft with Yarn. By using simple wrapping techniques, making a few knots and adding a braid here and there, Pat has created a flexible and affordable way to create interesting figures.
“It’s needle-free,” explains Pat, who has an extensive background in design. Many of her intricate knitting patterns have been published by Vogue Knitting and in collections for well-known and well-beloved yarns like Noro. If you knit or crochet, she’s on the best knitting website ever, Ravelry. She’s northeastknitter if you want to see her work or drop her a friend request. She’s also got a website and maintains a Pinterest page.
When you look at the figures in Pat’s new Dover book, it doesn’t seem possible that such sturdy creatures are the result of just wrapping lengths of yarn without any glue or tape. Surely there’s an armature to keep the limbs taught? According to Pat, there’s no armature of any kind — no wires or pins.
“It’s amazing how solid and firm these figures are,” says Pat, “and it doesn’t matter what kind of yarn you use — a wool yarn, a plastic/acrylic yarn, a mixed fiber yarn; they all hold up. There must be some kind of physics at work.” For yarn crafters, this is a revelation. Knitters depend on wool’s natural ability to cling to itself. It’s easy to assume the limbs of these Yarn Whirled creations must be 100% wool, at least. But that’s not the case for these sturdy creations, which Pat makes in a size somewhere between Barbie and American Girl sized dolls.
The craft is a good one for people who don’t mind taking some time to create. Pat says it takes her about eight hours to make a single figure. Older children and teens would do well with this craft.
“You can make your own avatar,” suggests Pat, “a reflection of yourself.” The heroes, sprites, princes and mermaids in Yarn Whirled are wonderful on their own and can also inspire you to create other characters. Game of Thrones, anyone? Wouldn’t your own John Snow or Daenerys Targaryen be fun to render in yarn?
People long to be in touch with craft, Pat has noticed. When she teaches enrichment classes within a local school system, she notices that children — and some adults — have never seen a thimble and have no notion that they can create with materials that area easy to obtain and easy to use.
Pat’s next big project will have something to do with Dorset buttons, on which she’s fast becoming an expert. Before the rise of manufacturing, even buttons were hand-crafted. In England, starting in the late 17th century, Dorset was the center of button-making, and these amazing small masterpieces where wound and bound and stitched on a ring made of shell or horn. Watch Pat’s website/blog for more info on this unique and intricate craft, since intricacy is one of her specialties.
