Knitting and Stitching Show - an epic journey

As always, I'm falling behind in my schedules. Travelling between two countries doesn't really help, neither does the fact that when visiting Finland a couple of days ago, there were some delays in European air traffic. It was a classic example from the series "things you don't want to hear from the pilot": there's something wrong with the plane but we don't quite know what it is. And please keep your seatbelts fastened at all times, we're expecting to have a rough ride tonight. But here I still am, alive and kicking, though not knitting as much as I'd like to.

The Knitting and Stitching Show ended almost a month ago and I still haven't told you the rest of the story. And to be quite honest, I don't think I'll ever tell you everything what happened there. Hihi. Here are some highlights, though.

If you've followed this blog for a longer period of time, there has been an introduction of the Knitting and Stitching show and what is on display there. It's quite a mix of international exhibitors, who are both selling crafts materials and artists showing their work. There are knitting gurus like Sasha Kagan and Debbie Bliss (Nicky Epstein wasn't there this year but she was surely missed), as well as other prominent figures of the arts and crafts world. Personally I've enjoyed most the displays of the Japanese artists - but they weren't there this year either. And when I've got myself started on complaining, let's go on: I really think that the yarn manufacturers' fashion shows should be free - now they're charging 3 £ per show. First, the entrance tickets cost 12 £ per day and then there were four different fashion shows by Patons, Rowan, Bernina and Sirdar. Attending all of them would bring the total to 24 pounds - then go and have some lunch and maybe two cups of coffee..and you'll find that your yarn-buying budget has been seriously dented. Missing the fashion shows doesn't really bother me, but this performance being fully booked really p*ssed me off. Then I considered travelling back to London another time - they're playing there next Monday - but that would have meant taking two extra days off from work (and using next year's holidays in advance), and while I was pondering this matter, even that show became fully booked. Great.

But let's have a look at the best bits of the show before I bore you all with this whining. Sarah Lawrence's work is exquisite. (and as often happens, I had found her web pages by accident a while ago, I think it was via Falklandwool. If you're into spinning, just have a quick look inside that link. But beware, if your self control isn't on high alert.) Then there's this brand new type of ecologically friendly knitting yarn. I'm kicking myself because I didn't buy any samples of Eco-Annie yarns. Some yarns felt rather coarse but I guess they wouldn't stay that way when washed a couple of times. Next time when I have a chance of collecting some samples, I'll definitely grab it. That's what I did at Selvedge's stand: last year I saw some back issues I wanted to buy but didn't want to carry around for two days, and when I returned to their stand on the last show day, they had sold out. Luckily there were huge piles of magazines this year and I got the ones I wanted. If you're looking for a all-round textile oriented magazine (and eye candy), this might be something for you. This is what they promise to deliver: " Selvedge Magazine... offers the world's finest textile photography, unparalleled design and peerless writing..." A-hum, they sure aren't too modest, are they?

Now, my strategy is to throw some photos at you and come back with some (shopping) links later. Let's start with samples of The Knitted Textile Students Awards 2006



Kyllä vain, ne ON tutteja tuossa neulepinnassa.




What a clever construction:
Inspiring, isn't it? Now, who's got any leftover yarn?
Vibrant reds









Sorry, I have trouble imagining how the hairy bits would add to my personal charm, if I were to knit socks like this.
And no-one told you that you could create the same effect more easily by using Online Solo yarn?


Woo-hoo! Meilläpä on apinankarvalankaa - eikä me pelätä käyttää sitä!




Voi sinua, äitin pikku vääräsääri, kyllä sinä olet sitten suloinen!

This garment is hugging you from every direction.
Colour, structure, feathers and frilly bits. What else can you ask for?



Kauneimmankin ruusun alla piilee piikki pistävä... vai miten se meni?


Jane Waller's work - too bad that the publishing of her book was delayed.

Friday the 13th and no accidents in sight

"Work hard, play hard", the saying goes. I have certainly worked hard lately, so I decided to sacrifice one of the few remaining days of leave and head for London for a prolonged weekend. There were several things I wanted to see and experience, the yearly Knitting and Stitching Show being just one of them. As always, I was full of good intentions and plans - last year I got a nice compliment from one of the absolute gurus of the modern knitting world, so the pressure was on to make something equally nice for this year's show, or if possible, outdo last year's scarf. The planning went well. It's just that the idea hadn't materialised by the time it should have. But, ever an optimist, I thought I'd have plenty of time to finish "it" on the Eurostar train and later I had the whole Friday for myself before I'd go to the KSS on Saturday and Sunday. This is the story what happened that Friday.


It was a gorgeous autumn morning: crisp, sunny and clear. Instead of taking the underground I decided to walk through the Hyde Park, and that was the right decision.

I passed Kensington Palace and continued past the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall towards the V&A Museum.




The reason for this early start was that I hadn’t ordered tickets in advance, yet wanted to be among the first ones in to see an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings. This strategy worked really well, arrived at the museum right on time and with rosy cheeks.And what a show that was! Scribblings on ancient paper, 1-inch-tall figures of men performing various tasks, muscles and joints bulging and stretching in such a lifelike manner that you just keep staring at them, never mind the queue that keeps building after you. The Queen seems to own quite a collection of the original drawings, reinforced by several other sources, so that the museum can offer quite an unique and wide variety of da Vinci's work. I wouldn't have missed this for the world.

There was another interesting exhibition at the Victoria & Albert museum, Fashion from the 60's which, according to a Finnish magazine, should have shown the work of a Finnish knitwear designer as well. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't catch a glimpse of it/them. Too bad - there would be something in the archives but I'd set my heart on seeing this particular collection.




There were hats,


shoes,


more shoes and



boots,


which were a part of this whole outfit in plastic.

On the other hand, there were also paper dresses



bold and colourful


but probably not too practical when it happened to rain.



Knitting wasn't unknown, either.



And just look at this renegade fashion.

Here I have to confess that this photo wasn't taken from the 60's exhibition but is from permanent collections. Does anyone recognize the designer and the year?


Next I had to make a decision. There would have been another 'serious' art exhibition in the city, but by this time there were far more people around and I knew I would have to queue, if I wanted to see this gathering of masterpieces. Paintings had been flown in from several corners of Europe, some even from the U.S., and you don't often get a chance to see these portraits at one go. Holbein's paintings are on display until 2007, so I thought I'd save something for my next visit.



And what was the alternative programme for the afternoon then? Hihihii. I did go to an art exhibition, although not as serious one as Holbein's would have been. Beryl Cook turned 80 this year, and her speciality is painting ladies with a lust for life (and fabulous shoes). Wonder why I preferred this exhibition?

But there was still something bigger and bolder to look forward to. A couple of days before this trip I was watching the BBC news, and learned that there was a brand new piece of art of Carsten Höller at Tate Modern. The first three photos are taken of the tv screen just as those news aired - I just had to see this!








The longest slide is 58 metres and it takes only a few seconds to descent from the fifth floor. Oh what a thrill! People of all ages seemed to enjoy it. -- I've misplaced the leaflet there was, but when I find it, I'll add a quote. It sums up exactly what the artist wanted to give us, and he truly succeeded in it.












But where are photos of me sliding down the chute? Unfortunately the queues were so long by this time that I just couldn't wait that long to have a ticket. I just watched the others, making a pledge that I'd come back for another weekend and be there as the museum opened in order to beat the queues. It was late afternoon and I still had to find my way to a new yarn and knitting shop which was on the same side of Thames but not easily accessible.

I knit London has just opened a small corner shop, and even though I bursted in on a Friday night (which is dedicated to knitting men), they were kind enough to let me in and buy some yarn. And some needles. And... well, as the saying goes, 'just try to stop me'. They are involved in a campaign which aims at having clean drinking water and sanitation for everyone. This Knit a river project requires just blue yarn which is worked into either knitted or crocheted 15x15 cm squares and put together, forming a symbol of flowing water. There’s more info on I knit’s website (I won’t give you a direct link, since there’s so much else to discover there; go and explore!

Some parts of the river had flooded the shop floor, and another part formed a waterfall…or was it just a curtain?

This is how the shop looked like when I left. It was rather dark already so I had to modify the camera’s settings. To cut a long story short: Friday had passed and my scarf wasn’t going to be ready on Saturday morning, no matter how late I’d stay up crocheting at the hotel.

(to be continued: KSS on Saturday and on Sunday )