nest knitting games

I went along to the Nest knitting games at the weekend which were loads of fun!




They had knitted fruit and vegetables in the window which were judged to be the best for all sorts of reasons like the sweetest, longest and tastiest. Yum!


There was a guess the city honey contest, with a city honey and a country honey to judge which were best. I liked A, and will find out which was which very soon hopefully.

I also want to know who won the fastest knitting competition as I had to leave before it took place, they would have walked away with the very covetable knitted cup!

The sale is still on, so even if you missed the fun of the knitting games, there are plenty of reasons to visit the lovely nest!

Crochet for Children

Eeeek!! New book landed on the doormat this morning, and it is possibly my favourite book of the books I have written so far. I just LOVE the colours and layout of the book and the pieces were simply such fun to make! I hope you love it too - here is a sneak peak. It is out at the beginning of August, will show you more then!

RCA Textiles show

Last week I popped along to the RCA textiles private view on a very hot and muggy day (how do they choose the hottest day EVERY year?!?)

The knitted textiles students were all very diverse which meant an interesting show. Fiona Brooker's pretty watercolours translated beautifully into her textural knits, made up of stripes of many different gauges, stitches and fibres, the mohair working especially well at blending the colours as in her painting. The palette is pretty and quite calming, creating throws perfect for snuggling under in the colder months.

Lucy Faulke exhibited some crochet, which is fabulous to see, and not only that but she used it in an interesting and orginal way, combining with plastics and using oversized hairpin lace from looms she made herself to create interesting pieces which could become furniture or jewellery.

Victoria Campbell's stunning monochrome pieces were bejewelled with metal beads, chain and metallic yarn to create beautifully elegant evening wear.

Helen Paine used heavy printing techniques on brightly coloured, fine knits to create very modern, wearable pieces.

Victoria Bulmer used recycled denim very effectively to create energetic, textural garments for men - which is unusual in itself for knitwear, most students aim for womenswear. She had also produced a very professional looking fold out pamphlet of a range of her pieces instead of business cards.

There was an interesting and original layout to the show this year, with each textiles student interspersed with a product design one. I think the two disciplines go well together and it was interesting to see the textiles students who used interesting products and form in their work and the product students who utilised textiles in an interesting way. For me, the most fascinating of these was Marina Dragomirova who used Bulgarian carpet making traditions to create chairs that take the form of looms, with the warp and weft making the seat - fabulous! She also has a diverse range of other products, which are just as interesting.

The show has unfortunately now closed, but I am sure there will be many more gems in next years batch of graduates!