The Knitting and Stitching Show

After a rather busy week which involved starting my uni course, wandering around Brick Lane for a project (and a rather amazing bagel), playing host to both my boyfriend and my Mum, all I should have done on Sunday was sleep in and relax right? Oh no! It was the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace! So at around 9am Sunday morning, Mum and I hopped onto a bus, then a tube and then another bus to make the annual pilgrimage to our favourite show.

I never fail to be inspired by shows like this - the student showcase is always amazing, there's always new things to see, and of course LOTS of things to splash your cash on. My Mum ended up buying a grand total of THREE books - Woodland Knits by tiny owl knits; Faux Taxidermy Knits by Sincerely Louise (notice a love of animal-inspired, slightly kitsch in a great way theme here?) and finally Toasty Volume 1 from Coop Knits. All are fabulous books and I'm half-hoping there'll be some kind of fake taxidermy tiger in my living room when I go home for Christmas!

Mum also got her paws on a beautiful skein of Titus yarn in Eccup from baa ram ewe. Titus is a wonderful yarn - 100% British made from Wensleydale (not the cheese), Blue-faced Leicester and Alpaca, all spun up in Yorkshire. Speaking to them on their stand you really got the impression of how proud they were of Titus, and so they should be - the colours are to die for and I'm so excited to see what new shades they release.

http://baaramewe.co.uk/products/titus-original-4-ply?variant=308252271

I had the pleasure of not only nabbing the most recent Selvedge issue for a fiver (very exciting as it's the Bible of Textiles and was also am issue based around knit), but also discovering a new magazine! Pom Pom Magazine is my new favourite read - short and sweet, it comes packed with beautiful knitting patterns, articles and recipes! So all my favourite things in one handy neat little package.

Winter 2013 Pompom Mag

I got the Winter 2013 issue, partly because it'll be going out of print soon but also because it had pictures of the Northern Lights in there - and I'm a sucker for anything remotely Scandi. 

In between reading and buying books and magazines, we both headed over to Black Sheep Wools and chatted with Sara - don't forget that you can download my cowl pattern from there now! We also had a lovely little chat with Stuart Hilard from the Great British Sewing Bee, who's released his book Sew Fabulous and was hanging out on Lady Sew and Sew's stand. He was a big fan of my cowl so hopefully he'll give it a knit too!

At the end of the day I was absolutely exhausted, but so happy I went. It's always worth the effort, and with a large haul of new patterns and reading material I really can't complain.

First up - the final outcome!

Thought I'd share some pictures of my FMP exhibition, as I really think it sums up my project, and therefore my products pretty well!

I was so glad I ended up with 2 boards rather than just the one, as I think leaving either the paintings, knitting or digital prints out wouldn't have been a fair representation of my project - everything connects and compliments each other. I'm ESPECIALLY glad that my birds had their space to shine - because who doesn't want to see little birdies wearing scarves?

The opening of an Etsy shop

Over the past few days and weeks I have been in the process of preparing some products and pieces from my Final Major project to sell in my very own Etsy shop!!

So in order to (perhaps) drum up some publicity and interest beyond the realm of my family and friends, I'm going to post up some images and information, letting you know what to expect to be able to buy!

My project was all based and inspired by the beautiful island of Anglesey - a place very close to my and my family's heart. I have very fond memories of staying in rented cottages as a young girl, being taken to places like Newborough Warren and Beaumaris. Nowadays, we go for epic walks around the coast - often missing lunch and making up for it with huge quantities of fish and chips.

 It was one particular walk around Holyhead that really inspired me to look at Anglesey in more detail - and thus, a project was born!

And an Etsy shop was opened right here.

Upcoming Exhibition at Manchester School of Art!