Origin

I visited Origin yesterday in its new venue at Spitalfields market. I must admit, the new venue was a little disappointing. I have loved visiting Somerset House for the show for the past few years. There is a magical quality to that building and even though the Origin hall was always set up in the courtyard, I did love passing through the gates of the House. In contrast, the purpose built hall at Spitalfields had no roof and there was a strong wind a-blowing through the market. The temperature dropped rapidly yesterday meaning I did not remove my coat the whole way round, and I must say I didn't really savour the exhibits as it was just a bit too cold to dawdle, not to mention the pigeons we spotted nestling just over some beautiful knits...

I went with the lovely Bee, my parter in crime over at Make Do Mend. After my hectic summer of knitting I am onto a bit of a crochet binge and as Bee is also a huge crochet fan, we were especially searching out evidence of this beautiful craft.

We were not disappointed. There were some really stunning pieces. My favourite of these were created by Korean, Jeehyun Chung (pictured above) who combined strong linear wire shapes with ultra fine crocheted cotton and nylon monofilament. The oversized neck pieces were striking and fabulous as art pieces as well as accessories.

Aside from the crochet, I had a fondness for Joanne Tinker's recycled foil works, as she makes tiny little goblets from sweet wrappers, just as my granddad used to make for me to 'drink' from every time we ate sweets together.

It was also great to see Abigail Brown's adorable birds in the flesh. My favourite was this stunning flamingo. The attention to detail and handwork involved in these critters is amazing, the colours are beautiful and each has an irresistibly charming personality. Abigail was on hand to explain how each was made and I wish I could have taken one away with me, perhaps one day soon I shall treat myself, they would make a fabulous companion for my own Mr Crow.

Another exhibitor I admired and was unfamiliar with was Debbie Smyth who creates artworks from pins and thread. I must have mentioned hundreds of times how much I love linear art pieces, especially those involving thread, so her work is right up my street. I do regret not purchasing something now, but that blasted icy breeze did somewhat dampen my will to browse at leisure, although Bee made a smart purchase of a fabulous jaquard knitted neckerchief from the lovely Hikaru Noguchi which I was mightily jealous of as we walked briskly back to the bus stop!