Stitching and Knitting

I have finally found a free moment to fill you in on what else went on at the stitch and knit show at Ally Pally this year so here are pictures of some of the things which inspired me most....

Of course the students' work was my first port of call, as I love seeing

what the fresh young designers of tomorrow will be creating. This year I was mainly looking at crochet, following the trend that I seem to be following lately and for a change there was quite a bit of it!

Grace Hamilton's very wearable statement jewellery was my favourite as it was unique and exciting yet practical.

Emma Philpot's knitted and crocheted sculptural dresses were not new to me as I had first noticed them at her graduate fashion show, but it was great to get to see them up close and personal and they did not disappoint.

I was on the Kal Media stand all weekend, which was fabulous as I got to meet loads of people who I had only got to know virtually, and the new issue of Inside Crochet was really well received, which was lovely.

This is the Artyarns stand, which was a magpie's dream - all sparkles and glitter with heavily embellished luxury yarns glinting in the artificial light. Their yarn is also the one in the top picture, which just demonstrates what a fabulously vivid colour palette of yarns they stock.

Finally, (as I could go on forever, but bedtime calls) here's a glimpse of Mrs Moon's store. I have not yet managed to get down to the relatively new yarn shop in south London. It looks adorable, with pretty candy coloured yarns and decorated with girly printed wallpapers.

crochet floral necklace class

This weekend it was Stitch and Knit show time again and I was asked to run some workshops for West Dean college.

We only had an hour so I taught my crocheters how to make a simple floral necklace, one of my favourite accessories.

More pictures from the stalls and the show later...

dmc patterns

Earlier this year I was asked to design some patterns for a lovely new yarn by that well known threads company DMC. The yarn I was given to use was a new range specifically for crochet called Petra, which has all the fabulous crochet-friendly properties of a traditional crochet cotton, but with a fabulously bright and modern colour palette.

So, here are the final patterns which are out in all good yarn shops now! I designed the fashion based ones, but there are a range of interiors products too, so go check em out.