A Grand Day Out

Leaving Suffolk early and driving into the busy streets of north London and arriving at the Alexandra Palace with wonderful views across London always make this a special start to a day at the Knitting and Stitching show.  I didn't take many pictures as I was too busy looking (and buying) but here are a few to give you a taste of what I loved; starting with the work of Sue Walton and Ann Small.

Their exhibition was called "A Walk on the Wild Side' and they used everyday artefacts with fabrics to create a magical and enchanted display.

I also really enjoyed seeing the work of Renate Keeping - the apples which have been stitched to show the growth, ripening and decline of the fruit,

and the cake sculptures (more info about the apples and the cakes can be found on her website via the above link).

I was so pleased that I got to see the work of the Prism group of textile artists - I loved this work with tea spoons by Jackie Langfeld

and it was lovely to see Gina's dolls in real life too (sorry for the slightly out of focus picture).

The colours and shapes created by the work of artist Elisabeth Rutt, part of the Hue Textile group really appealed to me as well.

And of course we did some shopping too - I bought yarn, cotton and wool mix for a sleeveless sweater and some beautiful indian silk yarn for some kind of scarf/shawl,

some textile bits for something (I know not what as yet),

and loads, yes I mean loads, of fabric!

6 pieces - enough to make 2 skirts, 2 dresses, a tunic and a blouse all for just over £70!  The prices were so cheap I just couldn't resist and I've already started the tunic.

It was a grand day out :-)

A Touch of Lace

Whilst sitting around giving the needle eating cat lots of attention and cuddles I've managed to finish a knitted lace shawl/scarf.

It's a beautiful, fine, baby alpaca and silk yarn from Eden Cottage Yarns which I bought at the Knitting and Stitching show in October.

The pattern is from Ravelry (Daisy Chain Shawl)

I've never used beads in knitting before but they were surprisingly easy to do and add a nice weight and slight sparkle to it.  There's one in the centre of each flower and one at the end of each point.

And just as I was wondering what I could knit next the latest Brooklyn Tweed pattern book fell into my inbox, so that sorted that one out - new yarn ordered and pattern downloaded, oh and more knitting needles ordered as despite having a drawer full I don't have the right size ones to knit Merle (how can that be?)!

As for said cat, he's fine, 100%!  Enjoying a little snooze in amongst some fabric earlier on

A Trip To The Ally Pally

This is the time of year when Fran and I make our annual 'pilgrimage' to the Knitting and Stitching Show at the Ally Pally.  I think this was our 4th visit and, as ever, it didn't disappoint.

Although there were many lovely galleries of work, these were my two favourites; the first by Mandy Pattullo who re-fashions old quilts and fabrics into new patchworks and textile art.   

I particularly loved her use of colour.  There are lots more photos of the work in this exhibition on her blog.

The other gallery that really took our eye was the one entitled "Our World of Make Believe' - a wonderfully imaginative display of free form crochet and knitting by Mitsuko Tonouchi and Sonomi Tanimoto. 

I also really loved this work in the graduate showcase by artist Faith Wray.  

You can't see it from my poor photo but she'd taken photos of old buildings, and created panels using various mixed media, textiles and other materials based on the textures and colours. 

Of course I also did a fair amount of shopping; some alpaca and silk lace weight yarn from Eden Cottage Yarns ,

a rainbow of naturally dyed blue faced leicester yarn from The Natural Dye Studio (I plan to make a crocheted scarf)

and some other bits, mainly for using with the embellisher, including a lovely dark blue based silk brick from Oliver Twists and some fancy threads from Stef Francis.

It was a great day, one of the highlights of my year, and I'll definitely be back for more next year!

I'll leave you with the yarn bombed taxi that was outside

and a reminder that if you want a chance to win the needle-case made from Celia's fabric then pop over to this post and leave a comment, I'll be drawing the name on Wednesday.