Knitting & Stitching show

Alexandra Palace, from the top of the W3 bus

Such a good day at the Knitting & Stitching show yesterday - much exciting work to see, and many conversations with old friends and new people, and (inevitably) some purchases - mostly thread (can one ever have "enough" thread?). First, a brief glimpse of the myriad shopping opportunities -

Wool yarn and tweed from Jameisons of Shetland, some of the many knitting yarns at the show

Linen threads at the Empress Mills stand

The main highlight for me was the exhibition of Dorothy Caldwell's work - pieces big and small based on her time in the Australian outback and the Canadian north. Simply beautiful - complex without being crowded. I went back several times to look and look.

Large-scale work...

...and intense smaller pieces

Another large one ...

... with a detail

These next three are part of a series of five

The ochre colours of the Australian outback ...

... and lichen and rock colours from the Canadian arctic

Also exciting, James Hunting's subtle, spacious work - and his patient answering of my questions. He works from the back so that the stitches are embedded in the cloth, doesn't frame the work, and it can two days to get the fabric background prepared.  

Two exhibits in the Graduate Showcase particularly caught my eye - Susan Syddall's printed plates and stitched sketchbooks (gorgeous drawing) - and Janet Steer's spun and woven maps with their adventitious red line marking the reconfigured route of her walk; we discovered a mutual adoration of the writing of Tim Ingold on lines and much else. 

Susan Sydall (from her website)

Smaller than a postcard - a little woven walk by Janet Steer that came home with me

Among the rest -

Many lovely pieces by Mandy Patullo

These dolls by Terrie Hitchcock were literally flying off the walls (to new homes)

"Evidence of Bodies" by Susan Chapman

Traditional crewel work - with a bit of the modern sneaking in

Among the Japanese Connections, dyeing and weaving by Yoko Koro - the weaving done from both sides/selvedges

A chance to see Tilleke Schwartz's complex work close up

Arctic animals - stitched down with variants of fly stitch (click on pic for a better look)

Kantha comes to the Arctic  in these ptarmigans

Today I'm taking lots of ideas from the show, and my photos, and those thread purchases, to the Contemporary Quilt weekend up at Wentworth Castle, near Barnsley. It's an impetus to start developing the "map folding" pieces started during the heat press course with Dawn Dupree in the summer.