Knitting and Stitching Show, Harrogate.

Well, I am so glad I went to Harrogate yesterday. The weather today has been dreadful. Cold and wet with hailstones and very windy.

The following images are all of the wonderful Royal Hall in Harrogate. The Knitting and Stitching show used the exhibition halls linked to this wonderful building. This was where the fashion shows were staged during the Show. Sadly, I was too busy elswhere to remember to return and come and sit to watch. Still, I would not have missed one moment of the time I spent searching around the exhibitions and stalls.

These first two show the stage and the wonderful ceiling in the ornate hall.

The next two show the design and decoration of the passages serving the main hall.

The last photo is of a pair of doors opening off one of the passages.

I travelled to Harrogate on a coach organised by the local Embroiderer's Guild. I am not a member, but they are happy to take non-members. It is so much nicer to be driven to such an exhibition and also brought back. I took Kathryn, my next door neighbour and her daughter. Kathryn beads when she has the time, and her daughter is studying Textiles for one of her GCSEs. Emily had not been looking forward to coming with us, but on the way home she was enthusiastic about coming again next year. She bought some items for projects of her own too!

There was so much to see. I went to see the exhibition about the Schiffli Project. I bought myself a copy of the book and it's accompanying DVD so that I can revisit the wonderful range of work which came out of the project. This was one I have been promising myself I would see for ages. I missed the exhibition when it was housed in Macclesfield, so was delighted to be able to catch up with it in Harrogate. The exhibits were every bit as fascinating as I had hoped.

Another thing I had hoped to find was yarn - well, specifically bamboo yarn. Toni, the writer of "A little yarn on the side", had suggested I buy bamboo yarn for a knitted top I had been having difficulties with. I didn't fancy buying yarn that I had not been able to handle first, so waited until getting to Harrogate. I did find some, but it was sock yarn and not suited for the top. Oh, it felt gorgeous. A definite must-get. Not finding any at Harrogate, I ordered some on-line today! I chose the mocha. I'll let you know what its like when it gets here. I can hardly wait!

I bought myself a new book full of gorgeous applique designs. The designer uses gauze and a soldering iron to create her wonderful pieces. Needless to say, I bought a small soldering iron too.... I'm looking forward to trying these techniques.

Then I treated myself to two new magazines.

Then it was off to the second-hand book stalls, my favourite stomping ground.

I even got some old patterns!

Then it was off to find threads and buttons, fabric for a project I should have completed months ago and some special wadding.

The fabric is silk and so is the wadding. They are destined to help me complete Serenity. This is a doll I started rather a long time ago. She will recline upon a chaise-longue, clothed in silk. The wadding is for the quilted cover of the chaise.

This is Serenity - not quite ready for her entrance yet. She is made from self-hardening clay, garden wire and cloth scraps. The fabric and rat tail silk ribbon is all to be used in the project. I have an idea in my mind, but I'm still not sure how she will turn out. This link is to my first figure.

This rather strange picture is Serenity, before I started wrapping her in strips of old cotton sheeting. Her joints are designed to work so that I can position her. She looks rather better now.

Those promised photos.

At long last, photos of the projects I have been working on lately.

Firstly, the paisleys. There are three of them:

This is Paisley One - hand-made felt with rather too much machine embroidery I really feel less would have been better with this one. However, I shall not be unpicking this one just yet.

The next photos are of Paisley Two. Again, the hand-made felt. (Thanks so much for teaching me Ruth!) This time the motifs were made using fabric scraps with much fun being had stitching through dissolvable fabric. The background design is an all-over paisley motif.

The third design, Paisley 3, has an all-over paisley motif background. Onto this I have placed a stumpwork paisley motif. I hope that I can give the name stumpwork to this technique. It was made using the same method, but has interwoven threads for a centre. Anyway, see what you think:

The next photo is of my new figure - Serenity. Not to be seen at her best, yet. She still needs some more work to finish off the body and then that chaise longue..... Well, I have drafted a design, but we will have to wait and see how this project gets on.

The last two photos show my dear friend Coco, who is snoring merrily on the chair next to me as I write. She has decided that she rather likes felt - I've found that its difficult to dislodge a cat when wanting to work on a piece she is sleeping on.

The figure is now complete, butI have still not decided on a name for him. He is my Garden Guardian, and sits on his chair in my dining room with a small friend. This is a pottery wren I was given several years ago.

And now, the chair I have made for him to sit in. The base is one of my large cotton reels, emptied recently. The flower was made basically like the "Bowl full of sunshine" article written by Ann Kirk in the current "Stitch" magazine. It is wired to keep in position on top of the cotton reel.

www.embroiderersguild.com/stitch

The top is now completed. I used some gauzy green fabric to extend the sleeves to the right length. The next picture shows the top of a sheet of water soluble paper being used to keep the fabric scraps together while I stitched. The stitching was intended to become a net making the cape for round my figure's shoulders.



The next photo shows the finished cloak - back view. I added bits to make it more interesting and in keeping with the figure.



The next piece being worked on is the chair - this will take a little longer to complete. The figure now has hair - but the photos will have to wait for some better light.

I have started on a new project. A figure. I have not made figures for many years, the last ones being a set of marionettes I made of the characters in the "Hansel and Gretel" story.
This new figure has a head, arms and lower legs made from self-hardening clay. Having left these to dry for some weeks, due to work commitments, I started the armature and dressing the figure on Saturday. The joints are movable, so that I can pose the figure.
The clothes have been made using free-machine embroidery decorations. The working name for the figure is currently "Jack o' the garden". A kind of guardian based on the old English myth of the Green Man, or Jack o' the green.
I'm enjoying letting his character grow as I work on him.