Twisted Threads
This day last week I was in textile heaven, wandering around the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in London. My head was in a whirl (or was it a whorl?) as I ricocheted from crochet and jewel-coloured yarns to embroidery, felt, fabric and exquisite artworks. There was so much to see and so many textures, colours and creativity that it was all a bit over-whelming really. ‘Haberdashery heaven’, for sure, but there’s only so much walking around I can do, particularly in crowds! Although I probably missed out on a lot of things, I would like to share some of the high points for me. 
Maria Boyle is an applied artist and textile designer working mainly with the ‘soft materials’ of cloth, wool and thread, often using natural and textured fibres. These are carefully dyed, hand printed or painted and then manipulated with hand stitch and knit to create tactile one-off pieces. Her beautiful work was exhibited alongside Hanny Newton, whose work pushes the boundaries of how embroidery is used. 
We had a brief chat about the beauty of lichen-covered rocks and I told them about Sherkin Island and its lovely rocks before bumbling off to see what the next exhibitor had in store. Shona Skinner’s work has to be seen to be believed. This incredibly talented artist creates seascapes by deconstructing and fusing fabrics and using free machine embroidery, like a paint palette, to build up images. 
My photo isn’t great so do check out her website. For an idea of what can be achieved with felt, see www.bridgetbernadettekarn.com Colinette Yarns have been on my radar for many years and I have ordered from them on-line. 
I took the opportunity to enquire why they don’t have stockists in Cork as I feel that their ‘cornucopia of beautiful yarns’ would sell well in this part of the world. Then there was this breath-taking piece called ‘Constrained’ by Celia Stanley. 
This post could go on forever but I’ll end now with a story about Wildsherkin hauling a huge stash of Stylecraft Special DK yarn on her back through the Underground and managing to squash it all into her 10kg hand luggage to board a return flight to Cork…and she was very glad she did. Now in the hands of a certain fifteen-year-old, the yarn is softly undulating and rippling itself into this wonderful wavy blanket by Lucy of Attic24. The next Knitting & Stitching show will be held at the RDS in Dublin from 30th October to 2nd November. Last but not least, this post hasn’t been sponsored in any way.
The moment I see a photo of a collection of yarn, in all its great range of gorgeous colours, I too go berserk. I had put a scarf away I’m knitting from some soft, green alpaca yarn but now that I’ve completed a writing project, my knitting needles are reappearing. Can’t wait to get started.on it again. I enjoyed the photos of creative craft work in this blog. There is so much creativity in fabrics and yarn being enjoyed internationally by women and some men too.
lovely natural color shades on that yarn (first pic). They must have used plant dyes?
I’m kicking myself that I didn’t find out more about this yarn so sorry I can’t say for sure.
Very inspiring, Patsy!
Such a lovely tactile post Patsy . All that felty woolly softness …. I’ll be back to check out those links .
What’s the yarn in the top photo? (Or did I miss it?) I’m looking forward to the K&S in the RDS, but I fear there will be less luxury yarn at this show.
Jenny, sorry I missed this comment. Unfortunately, I didn’t take note of the yarn company.
I know that feeling of being utterly overwhelmed. Crafting is still pretty new for me, but I think it is going to be a lifelong love! Lots of hot tips for new places to explore though – thank you! :o)
Great to see your photos thank you, there was so much to see I’d forgotten about Shona Skinners beautiful work and Celia Stanley’s ruff. Can’t crochet, and after looking at the ripple blankets (which I didn’t spot at the show) wish I could. x
It’s just great to see it anyway. There’s so much I can’t do …like sew! 🙂
That must have been a great place to be. I especially love the stitched seascape.
Her work is amazing. The whole experience was very inspiring.
You had me from the first photo Patsy! A friend of mine blogged about this the other day and it looked stunning, such variety and such quality. Your head must have been spinning by the time you finished!
Thanks Anna. I’d love to see your friend’s post!
She is The Woolly Dog and her blog is at http://thewoollydogblog.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/the-knitting-and-stitching-show-2014.html. Her post focused more on the embroidery side.
Thank you!
Wonderful stuff, full of creative potential. That ripple blanket looks amazing….isn’t she lovely, the lady who created it 🙂
She’s gorgeous! She was on the stand but at the time, I had no idea who she was untiI I got home and checked her out! You have never seen so many women trying to get their hands on the blanket packs and she was incredibly gracious and calm!
I can imagine 🙂
Cant wait to see your daughters blanket…lucky you 🙂
I am going up to the RDS, so looking forward to my first Knitting & Stitching show!
You’ll love it! Comfortable footwear is a must. 🙂