fabulous fair finds!

I have been quite poorly since the littl'un was born, but finally managed a trip out at the recently and went on a little walk to the local church fair, which was fabulous. One of the stalls was selling handmade items, and I spied some familiar knitted floral brooches in beautiful colours (above). The vicar's grandchildren had knitted them from my own book 'Knitting for Children' and had made a fantastic job of it, choosing shades that went well together, making a very pretty presentation on the stall. One of the beautiful girls, Jolie, had made a fabulous ball of yarn from finger knitted tubes (below) she must be going for the world record! I wonder how many metres there are and how long it took her. It is a fabulous pastime to keep her busy while in front of the tv!

I also donated some of my toys for the benefit of the church, and bought the most beautiful dolls pram from the 1930s which I purchased for little Millie's first Christmas present. It is a bit well-worn, but I am looking forward to bringing it out in the spring to spruce up and maybe use to decorate the nursery until she is old enough to push her dolls and teddies in it.

Looking forward to many more Christmas fairs over the next few weeks!

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...

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!

craftravaganza!

Today it was the Bust Craftacular at York Hall, Bethnal Green and I was there with my good friend gingerknits (check out the great cartoon about knitting she has posted this week).

The weather was probably a little too warm to spend a lot of time in such a toasty hall, but that didn't put off the hoards queuing to get in when we arrived. It was sometimes too crowded to see what was on the stalls, so we decided to take refreshments in the form of iced tea in these wonderful cups - I want some in china, and the tablecloth to match! All very summery.

Ginger and I noticed that there were quite a few themes throughout the show, including moustaches, birds and perhaps strangely for East London at the moment, foxes! (although these seemed way friendlier than the Hackney ones!)

I loved these birdie buttons from Four and Plenty and couldn't resist them, although I was very jealous of the last flamingo which Ginger snapped up quick smart.

I also loved Brat and Suzie's cute rabbit vest or squirrel on a motorbike cropped tee (more animals!) but resisted temptation. (If they'd had it in a red or green or stripy, like some of their other prints I may have succumbed...)

We then of course had to go to Prick Your Finger as it was just around the corner and had a chat to the lovely owner Rachael, who was busy knitting the new sign for the shop! Ginger had not been before, so of course had to buy some lovely new yarn, which happened to be a J C Rennie yarn in the exact same colour I have at home...I think we are turning into the same person....

I loved the mini exhibit they have in the window promoting John Paul Flintoff's new book, Sew Your Own, a book about a man's quest to find the meaning of life through making his own stuff...or something.

I must now read the book and see what the hype is about, as I love some of the products he made on his journey. This dress is for Rosie, the favourite bear of Flintoff's daughter and his sewing is on a par with mine (which isn't a compliment) but I love the naivety of it and the pretty print and the fact you can tell it is hand made. Fortunately for my sewing skills, I have always admired the childlike finish is sewing and the reverse of sewn works, with all the colourful tangling of loose threads.

All in all, it was a lovely day out in very good company so I am glad we dragged our freckled skin out into the midday sun.

woolfest 2010

My first ever trip to Woolfest this year was wonderful; I think it shall now be a firm date in my diary each year. The difference for me with this yarn fair is the variety of different events such as live folk music and dancing as well as the presence of actual livestock, like these adorable, punky alpacas.

The ewe's milk ice cream was stunning too, I had to try both the vanilla and mint choc chip flavours, naturally - it was very hot in the barn...

Last weekend the weather was beautiful, the views amazing and the company fabulous, what more can you ask for? Can't wait for next year.

Felt Studio's unusually beautiful handspun yarn

The natural dye studio

Helen from the Thread of Life with the biggest hairpin loom ever!

Yarn Addict's yummy hand dyed angora

Point de Croix

Here are the pictures as promised from the amazing cross stitch exhibition at l'Aiguille en fete in Paris at the weekend.
The first section of the exhibition displayed some sweet and incredibly complex samplers in the Souvenirs de jeunesse or 'Memories of Youth'. These demonstrated how, in the exhibition's explaination, young school girls of past years learned the skills of women by practicing their cross stitch, sewing, knitting and repairing skills on small samplers. There are some great examples on the website, so check it out.

Amongst these were also more complicated and beautifully detailed samplers from the colleciton of Joke Visser, some from the 17th century. My personal favorites were this stunning olive green piece and the one below it with a very cute yet, strangely, at the same time stately stag.

Another section was from more modern cross stitchers, called Treasures of Cross Stitch. Amongst other pieces, I liked this one based on the metro. Each part represents a station on the Paris underground system.


The most intersting exhibits to me were definitely the hundreds of vintage sewing, embroidering and cross stitch artefacts. I liked everything about this section; the way the objects were all arranged higgledy-piggledy; the colours; the retro pictures and graphics printed on the packaging; the small and intricate cross stitch embellishments on scissor cases and needle wallets.

I am a sucker for a hook and eye, especially when its packaging is as sublimely pretty as these:

What I would give for some of these storage solutions, especially this wooden and glass box, labelled appropriately of course!

This arrangement of items is really appealing to me, it has it all - some religious iconography, wooden spools (with or without yarn - I don't care!), tin boxes and pretty, shiny threads. Sigh.

Overall, though, I think these star shaped darning thread cards are simply divine and my absolute favourite display. They are almost like little gleaming war medals or falling snowlakes. My cards of darning yarns are almost always square, I would be so, so happy if I were to find a little six-pronged wrap of yarn like this, let alone a collection as fab as this one. As it is, I had to settle for this intriguing exhibition. However, it left a fabulous impression and was a great inspiration.

l'aiguille en fete, paris

Loop yarn shop had a stand at the 'needle fair', l'Aiguille en Fete in Paris last week and I went along at the weekend to help out, or rather to hinder sales with my pigeon French. I understand quite a bit of the language but tend to dry up in fear when I have to speak it, so I stuck to such reliable terms as point mousse (garter stitch) point tricot (stocking stitch - except apparently it is not, it is 'jersey' oops! See comments below), tres doux (very soft), the numbers for prices, grams, meterage and needle sizes and the trusty old Parlez-vous anglais? when all else failed!

It was really interesting to compare and contrast the fair with British alternatives such as the Stitch and Knit show. There were very few yarn stalls and the French crafters were intrigued by many of the yarns on Loop's and Habu's stands which we knit with frequently in Britain, such as the hand dyed sock yarns and unusual fibers we are used to. Most of the fair consisted of needle point and cross stitch, although there were a few things that caught my eye. There was an incredibly cute toy kit stand, la Sardine and you know that I cannot resist a plushie textiles creature.

I also spent most of the spare time I had poring over the Japanese book stall Junkudo. I have long admired Japanese craft books, but had yet to make a decision on which of the many beautiful books to buy. However, it almost proved more difficult having the hard copies there to thumb through as I found I wanted them all! I succumbed eventually to this retro styled amigurumi book which reminded me of some pictures I have of myself as a child with my own toys. I also really wanted a sewing book, however I spent most of Sunday agonising over which one to buy - I know from my previous forays into sewing that I would not end up using them all, so I was very restrained and decided on the simple tunics and one piece book, as it seemed the simplest.

The draping book, while fabulous, may be beyond me and the one with the fantastic grey dress with pockets on the front (regular readers note; my dress/pocket obsession is getting ridiculous) had no other patterns I liked.

Aside from the Japanese book stall, my favourite part of the fair was an amazing cross stitch exhibition. This was so fabulous, it needs another post, so stay tuned for a lengthy post on vintage needlepoint and artefacts and in the meantime feast your eyes on the la Tour Eiffel at the top of the post in glorious textured cross stitch to tide yourself over 'til then.

I cannot leave you without sharing a great and very apt picture, which I promised the lovely Juju I would post. Outside of the fair, it seemed the needle fever had spread throughout the city, as across from our hotel was the amazing 'Knitting Pig' restaurant. It was actually called Au Cochon de Lait, but the sight of the milk laden pig knitting ecstatically in the sign was all we needed to change its name. So there you go dearest internet, even the livestock knit in Paris; now I feel my affinity with the country of my ancestors even more...