In the Studio with Prudence Mapstone

Though we’ve never met, I feel as if I've known fiber artist Prudence Mapstone for years.  After all, in the world of freeforming (a method of knitting and crocheting usually worked without any patterns), Prudence is a maverick.  Prudence lives in Australia and travels extensively, so I was thrilled that she took the time to speak with me about her work. (Excerpt reprinted from the Fall 2007 issue of Black Purl Magazine.)

How did you come to freeform?  That is, had you always followed patterns and tired of it or simply wanted to free yourself and try something different?
PM:  I have been knitting for almost as long as I can remember, having been taught by my mother when I was a small child.  I could read knitting patterns and was making sweaters by the time I was about 10.  I started crocheting as a teenager in the ‘60s, when hippy garments were in fashion.  But I didn’t ever buy a crochet pattern, and didn’t know the names of the stitches that I was ‘sort of’ duplicating just by guesswork.

I managed to crochet round medallions and join them together for ponchos and such long before I figured out how to create ‘corners’ in my motifs…so I went out in granny circles when everyone else back then was wearing granny squares.  In the ‘80s I designed and made a lot of complex intarsia picture-knitted coats….but making too many of these for too many years eventually led to a lot of pain in my arms.  All of my freeform experimentation came about as way to still be able to do what I loved doing, without putting too much of a strain on all the muscles that were objecting due to overuse.

Your work mainly focuses on crochet and knitting.  Do you do other needlework? 
PM:  I recently completed a coat where I first fulled an old commercially-knitted fair-isle sweater in the washing machine.  I cut it up into organic shapes and crocheted various bits and pieces onto the edges to create random patches, and then joined everything together using a combination of lacing and needle-felting. 

Do you ever incorporate other needlework in your freeform pieces?
PM:  In the past, I have also added surface embroidery and beading to some of my other creations.

What is your biggest challenge in teaching freeform techniques? 
PM:  Sometimes beginner knitters or crocheters take to freeforming more readily than those who have already learned all the ‘rules’, but that is not always the case.

I would imagine that people want to hold on to getting it right and learning the stitches.
PM:  In workshops I usually start people off with certain stitches and motifs that I know will give them a good feel for freeforming, but will still enable them to make a patch that doesn’t go out of shape.  It is by no means necessary to keep the work flat and in shape, especially if you are making a cushion, wall-hanging or a very theatrical garment

But for those who want to eventually wear their creations, most times they would wish to avoid unintentional lumps and bumps that will add on the inches!  And normally they wouldn’t want sections of fabric that aren’t going to drape well or feel comfortable to wear.  It takes either experience or a certain innate talent to be able to keep things flat when you are working multi-directionally over a large number of stitches whilst using a lot of different yarns.

But working with just a few stitches at a time in any direction, and gradually building up smallish patches, makes it easier to create areas of freeform fabric that are flat and flexible.  Once you have enough of these patches the possibilities for joining are almost infinite.

How does your life in Australia or the landscape of Australia show itself in your freeform needlework design?
PM:  I think that the intense light in many parts of Australia makes us see color in a different way to people in other countries.  When I taught in Denmark I’m sure that a lot of the knitters couldn’t have ever imagined themselves wearing anything as colorful as some of my garments.  In the back of my mind I always felt that people would want to dress in bright colors to cheer things up in gloomy weather, but it appears that we mostly dress to blend in with our environment.

What are a few hints you could give someone interested in freeforming, for example, choosing yarn, color combinations, finishing, etc.?
PM:  Whilst you can combine virtually anything that can be wrapped around your hooks or needles, it is always best to be extremely selective with the colors that go into each piece.   Even if you are using up leftovers, be sure to cull them, so that you are only using colors that you feel will go together well.  If you are unsure of any one yarn, but still want to use it, do so for just a few stitches at a time, and perhaps also help to blend it in by using fuzzy yarns on either side of it.  And consider the number of hours that you will be putting into the work…if it is worth such an investment of time, then it is most likely worthy of the best quality yarns that you can afford.

I draft a simple paper template for my pattern shapes when working with scrumbles, and I prefer not to join any patches to each other until I have enough for the whole garment.  That way I can be sure of getting a good balance of all of the different colors and textures…and with smaller, odd-shaped pieces it is much easier to fit them together within the boundaries of the pattern so that you don’t end up with too many gaps to fill in later.

How can readers purchase your books and patterns or attend one of your workshops?
PM:  You can see many more examples of my work on my website, Knot Just Knitting. To find out where I will be or to check out all the interesting textile art links that I come across each month you can also sign up for my newsletters there.   I have a few freeform tutorials and general patterns available in PDF form (and hopefully will find time to add more soon).

You can get to them via the links on the ‘patterns’ page on my site.  A few of the freeform tutorials are also available in French, Spanish and Danish.  And my out-of-print book, ‘bullions & beyond’ is also now available there as a PDF.   I have three other books currently in print (‘Freeform: serendipitous design techniques for knitting & crocheting’, ‘never too many Handbags’ and ‘coat of many Scrumbles’) and you can ask your LYS to order them in for you.  Just tell them that the books are distributed through Unicorn Books & Crafts in CA.

I hope that I have inspired some of your readers to try their hand at freeforming, and trust that they are going to have as much fun with it as I do.

(Photo courtesy of Moon Rhythm.)

Comments

[Sarah]

I was searching a lyrics "Shape of my heart"
that guide me in your site.
It's nice.
Good Luck.

[Becky]

EEK! I tried freeform. It looked like well, mess.

Good interview - Thanks for sharing :)

[Kelee Katillac]

I adore the piece shown--incredible. Would love to try it!