Monday 15 October 2018

The Knitting and Stitching Show 2018

Colour! Sari silk ribbon bought from Stef Francis' stall
Japanese silk fabric squares - from the stall pictured below

Apologies for not writing down who made these stitched wall hangings.
Love these examples of nuno felting seen at the Art Felt stand
Jenny Drant has knitted this fantastic scarf for Handmade Happiness



What a week it's been! At lunchtime on Thursday I caught the train to Alexandra Palace to spent a blissful couple of hours wandering the halls of all things textile. If you haven't been to this annual show make a point of going next year. For anyone interested in knitting or sewing or textile art it is a total joy!

This year I was intrigued by the Japanese stall pictured above. The silk squares I bought which are richly textured I am already using in my medals for women.
Traditionally this material was used in the sash belts on kimonos and it, along with the Japanese gifts on this stall, make you think of nimble fingers and Japanese grace and delicacy. And the ladies gave out a free origami crane with every purchase.

Although I make 'wet' felt and needlefelt I have never tried nuno felting and I love the way this melding of wool and fabric pieces makes a drapeable, art fabric for clothes. The picture above makes me want to try nuno felting...

I fell for the colours of this sari silk ribbon and hopefully it will look lovely in some textile jewellery I plan to use it for.

At the Knitting and Stitching Show you can browse the work of established textile artists and art students specialising in textiles. Big wall hangings and installations that must take months to make. The clever scarf pictured above took months to make and I am so grateful that expert knitter Jenny Drant is allowing me to sell it ...

Yesterday, Sunday, I took a stall at Blackmoor Apple Day. Well it rained didn't it? It deluged down for most of the day. I had worked hard to produce a stall packed with my own makes. People kept telling me how crowded it usually was and how well they had done in previous years but no-one could control the weather and most sensible people stayed at home!

 At least now I have lots more stock for Handmade Happiness! And from Wednesday onwards Handmade Happiness gets into Christmas mode with new decorations from Sue Inglis and new decorations from me. Hope to see you there during the Christmas run up and if you do visit the shop please say hello. The Stats button tells me that lots of people regularly read this blog but it would be great to know who you are!!

1 comment:

bright star said...

It was lovely I was up from Cornwall and I went with my sister in law .It was a great day out ,lots of inspiration and I thought that the stalls were fabulous.I loved all the indie dress patterns. Will go again!