Knitting & Stitching Show

Let's start with the purchases - well there was only one, a couple of hanks of wool intended for a camisole (aka woolly vest) - and I can hardly wait to get knitting -

The wool is from a flock of Wensleydale and Bluefaced Leicester sheep raised on a farm that's mentioned in the Domesday Book. The wool is scoured, spun and dyed in Yorkshire.

Mention sheepdogs while you fondle the hanks and you might get a story about the latest trainee, Sam, who for the first six months after arriving thought his name was "Out!"

Quite apart from my love of using wool for knitting, felting, and general wearing (including darning), this sort of enterprise ticks all the boxes for me - the old traditions, the links to the past, the support of local industry, the personal contact, and not to forget the amount of work and sheer slog involved. Plus, rare breed sheep ... and the joy of wool ...

So, that was my favourite thing at the show - the pleasure of buying a couple of hanks of wool.

Close second came the work of Consuelo Simpson, also concerned with keeping lost skills alive -

 And Yoke: Undercurrent, based on the Yorkshire canals - those are giant (inflatable) lock gates -

Stitched portraits of people and animals by Emily Tull =

 Lyrical landscapes with a sprinkling of chairs, by Helene Carpenter in the Fabricated Narratives display -

 Amarjit Nandhra's take on the pulkhari tradition -

 Debbie Lyddon's use of natural materials from the shore as dyestuffs -