Art Yarn For The Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show 2016

Handspun "cloud" yarn 

After exhibiting for a second time at "The Knitting And Stitching Show" in London's Alexandra Palace this year, I thought I would pack up my trunks and travel with them to their northern counterpart in Harrogate, which is between the 24th and  27th of November 2016. Now, I've spent a couple of wonderful weekends in Skipton and Haworth in Yorkshire, but I have never really been to Harrogate before, and I'm really looking forward to it! 

So, I have been busy making pretty things to take with me, including some fun new art yarns. 

Me and my beautiful Mum (Karen) at the Spring Knitting and Stitching Show

Super Coil Yarn 

 I've mostly been experimenting with super coil yarns. These guys are seriously fun to make! Firstly, I gather all my ingredients ( hand dyed roving in merino and corridale, hand dyed wensleydale locks, glittery bits, Llanwenog farm fleece  for texture) and carded myself some big chunky batts. Then, I spun a thick n thin singles yarn, making sure to add slightly more twist than I would normally. THEN, here comes the fun bit, I plied it using a strong cotton weaving yarn, and kept pushing the yarn up and up and up until it created these gorgeous jumbo coils.

Art Yarn

I just love they way they have turned out! It is pretty crazy yarn. I've taken to immediately winding them into skeins and then.. trying them around my neck as they look like arty necklaces to me. :-)

I also think this yarn would look gorgeous needle felted in lengths on a plain background , then cut and sewn into accessories- you could easily weave this too, making sure to weave some plain yarn in between rows to space it out a little, to really show off the texture.

The picture at the top of my post is another favourite yarn of mine I've called "cloud yarn" because the little white coils look like clouds! This is a similar techniques but with the super coil only in certain areas.

Hand dyed roving 

I've also been dyeing some Polwarth fibres, and carding my lovely balls'of'fluffness (AKA batts) in a rainbow of colours to take to the show.
This batt was made from merino, corridale, BFL locks, and chunky angelina in corals, midnight blues, purples and aqua. Yummyyyy.

Hand carded batt

Art Batt for Spinning and Felting 

Perhaps I'll see some of you in Harrogate. :-)

The London Knitting and Stitching Show 2016

I thought you might like to see some pictures from this year's Knitting and Stitching show.
I decided to take up the offer of returning to the same spot as last year, but this time I made sure I made enough batts and spindles to last me the whole week! I was so overrun last year with customers that I all but sold out of things on the last day.
The Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally is a five day show at the beginning of October in North London, and was always the highlight of my year as a visitor for many years.

Bright coloured batts on my vintage dresser

I really liked my little corner of the show- which is MASSIVE by the way, in case you have never been before. The Knitting and Stitching show is made up of four ginormous halls full of exhibitors of all genres in the craft world - sewing machines, yarn, fabric, artist exhibitions, haberdashery, books, felting supplies, needles and notions and so much more. I was surprised anyone found me at all, so thank you to everyone who came to see me and supported me.

My stall - batts, spindles, spinning wheels, art yarns, roving, weaving looms! 

I started preparing for this show three months before. I made 250 batts for the show- Thats 25 kilos of fluffiness! I also made a similar number of drop spindles, and dyed up 50 rovings in fake cashmere and my favourite- polwarth too. I loved making and designing all my handspun yarns, full of texture and hand collected fleece.

My handmade drop spindles 

Relaxing with mum at the end of day three, spinning of course! 

We offered to teach people how to spin on the stall, with a little difference from last year- this time we brought our spinning wheels too! Mum was so lovely teaching people on the (blue) wheel while I mostly showed visitors how to use a drop spindle.

There is always time for more spinning - we were kicked out most nights by the security guards for being the last ones there! 

Everyone loved my "Ice Crystal" batt - I think because the gold glittery angelina in the batt sparkled so much under the lights!

Ice Crystal Batts

I was surprised and excited to meet American superstar crochet designer Vickie Howell (http://vickiehowell.com) who popped by my stall on the Saturday with her film crew (eeep!) and got me to show her a few spindle moves. I also met the lovely team behind VAV magazine, a specialist weaving periodical made in Sweden with beautiful pictures and articles about the modern weaving community.

A shelf stuffed full of my hand carded batts

It was nice to be opposite my show pal textile artist Katie Essam again, who I met for the first time last year. Katie makes gorgeous embroidered and mixed media art pieces and it was lovely to catch up in-between the crowds.
We packed up after our five days in London and travelled home to Cambridge in no time at all. I can't wait to be back next year!
I will be taking my wares up to Harrogate later this month, so if you are nearby, come along because I'm sure you will have a fantastic day out.

The Knitting and Stitching Show 2015 - My Spin City Stall and loveaffair with Ally Pally

So. Just over two weeks ago now I made the decision to take up a last minute stall the UK's biggest knitting show. This was both an exciting decision but also a very daft one, as at the time I was prepping for Yarndale and had no extra stock or contingency plan, but I just couldn't let an opportunity like this slip past me. *Spoiler alert* It was my best ever show!

Spinning on my Spin City stall at the Knitting and Stitching Show 2015, Photo by Its A Stitch Up

I first went to the Knitting and Stitching Show eight years ago, when I was a textiles student living and studying in London.  Just thinking back to arriving outside the palace on the W3 bus makes my heart leap just a little bit as I had literally been looking forward to going to the show for years. I was knitting and textile art obsessed, and the thought of meeting some of my heroes and being surrounded by yarn was too much to handle. I can still feel the excitement of walking through the grand doors into the glass atrium and being confronted by a giant knitted ship- I had docked at my sort of place.

The beautiful Ally Pally - worth visiting alone!

My 1920s inspired knitted dress with beads trapped in the fabric that I made as a student

Fast forward a few years to 2011 and I had graduated with a first class honours degree in Knitted Textiles from Chelsea College of Art, and applied to be part of the Knitted Textile Awards by UKHK which exhibits at Ally Pally- and I was accepted! I showed garments that I knitted and crocheted inspired by the 1920s, created on antique hand knitting machinery with sewing thread and embellished with macrame and beading. Ah, to be a student again! Here are a few pictures of the dresses I made and took with me all those years ago and took to the Palace...

So naturally, when a chance appeared to have my own stall at the show which had inspired me as a student and had accepted me as a graduate designer was one I couldn't miss for the world. 

My stall all set up at the show on the first day

I had precisely eight days between the wonderful Yarndale and the opening day of The Knitting and Stitching show. One of these days was taken up by travelling back from Yorkshire, and another would be taken up with setting up my stand in London - so that only left six days to get everything ready, for a five day show! I pulled out all the stops and with only a little bit of panicking and a lot less sleep  I managed to get enough stock together which I hoped would look nice on my stall (which was quite a bit smaller than my usual affair due to the prices, even at last minute rates!) 

Here is a little video of my space all set up and looking pretty:

My little stall with my handmade spindles, fibre and faux cashmere rovings

I was overwhelmed by the number of visitors to my stall and the enthusiasm people took to the idea of spinning your own yarn - it was something not many people at the show had really heard of before, and it was a pleasure to bring the word about my craft and teach people about it. 

Knitted and stitched fish by Kate's Plaice 

As usual the show was packed with eye candy and one of my favourite exhibits was the amazing "Kate's Plaice, The Stitch Mongers" which was a faux knitted fish market! The actual fabric of the individual pieces were exquisite - Kate had laminated her knitted textiles with plastic and then over printed with metallic foil and then stitched into them with a beautiful array of beads and sequins. It was quite something to see as all the facets of the sequins lined up so beautifully. I loved the fact that you could buy a couple of fish and Kate would arrange them on a knitted plate for you to hang up at home. I mean- who wouldn't want some knitted fish and chips on your wall?! 

It was constantly busy at the show, sometimes you could hardly move!

I wish I could have shown you more pictures of the week but I was rushed off my feet pretty much the entire time- quite unexpectedly! I sold out a few times and had to keep travelling back to Cambridge every night to pick up more stock. Thank you to everyone who came to see me and make my time at the Knitting and Stitching show such a success! I am genuinely touched by everyone's enthusiasm and support for what I do- so thank you once again!
I'm hoping to get a stall at the Harrogate show in November, so keep your eyes peeled.
Louise x

Yarndale - And My Spin City Stall!

All ready at Yarndale!

What a weekend! What a show! I have just got back to my lovely sunny Cambridge house after a crazy fabulous weekend away in Yorkshire for Yarndale!  

Me and Mum in matching outfits on our stall.  

 Mum (the beautiful Karen Player) and I set off on Friday morning bright and early and headed north with our trailer in tow stuffed to the roof with all my colourful hand carded batts, spindles and hand spun yarns - as well as my trusty vintage dresser, birdcage, shelves and fabric walls!

After many a traffic jam and jam sandwiches we arrived about five hours later, and quickly set about erecting fabric walls and putting everything in place. I love seeing everything come together. Putting together a show stand for me is like owning a little shop for a couple of days, which is a dream of mine! The icing on the cake of me is putting up our polka dot bunting as I think it makes our stall look so festive.

I made quite a few new batts for this show, with bright colours in! They didn't last long. :-D
The most popular batt was "E Numbers" made from merino, faux cashmere and silk in a neon rainbow!  I also made a series of batts inspired by the planets. At the top of the picture below is "Saturn." I was so surprised to see a few friends from instagram meet me first thing on Saturday - saying they had to get to my stall quickly before my batts sold out!

Colourful batts on my stall

 I also brought with me my selection of drop spindles with pressed flowers, glitter, lace and pretty pictures trapped inside. Here's my spindle table all set up in my teapot collection!

Drop spindles in my teapot collection

 Mum and I are always happy to teach newbies how to spin. In fact - it is a total joy for me to teach people, because I love spinning so much and I love passing that on to others! I was bitten by the spinning bug about six years ago now, and I don't think a day goes by without my picking up a spindle. It's totally addictive and rewarding.
One of the best things about Yarndale for me this year was teaching people how to spin - and then those people coming back to me a couple of hours later or even the next day to show me how far they had come along! They had gone from complete beginner- some not even knowing what a drop spindle was- to fully fledged spinstars in just a few hours! I've even had an email from a textiles student with pictures of her newly spun yarn on the knitting machine on her first day back at Uni. I felt very proud of her. :-)

I think I might have a glitter addiction!

 The first day at Yarndale was my most successful show day ever. Thank you to everyone who came along and supported me, I feel so blessed. :-) We were pretty rushed off our feet the whole day - although we did manage to sneak in a couple of chocolate bars and tea breaks.

 After we closed on the Saturday we drove to our gorgeous Air BnB cottage in Barnnoldswick a few miles down the road and kicked off our shoes and settled down to eat nice healthy meal and watched "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie. Then I was up bright and early again on Sunday to straighten our stall out again for day two of Yarndale!

Blended rovings all stacked up

My handspun yarns

 When we got to our stall on the Sunday morning we were greeted by a herd of massive Swalesdale sheep!  They had the most gorgeous lacey fleeces and made such pretty sheep noises. I wonder who the breeder was? ;-)

Swaledale sheep at Yarndale

Herded by a friendly sheepdog!

We packed down at 4.30 when the show closed and headed back to our cottage for another night of film watching. I was so tired I went to bed before 10 - but I was woken up at 3 am by Mum excitedly because the Lunar eclipse was in full swing. We sat up and watched it together from the attic room with skylights flung open- a magical way to finish our weekend away.
I can't wait to go back next year.

Here's a little video of the show by the blogger +Helpful Mum  which features my spindles. Enjoy!

Yarndale - Preparing Fibre For My Spin City Stall

Batts on my studio shelves, including my new planet inspired colours! 

Yarndale is almost upon us! If you have never been, it is a crazy show full of colourful crochet and stuffed full of all the yarn, needles, fibre and patterns you could ever dream of. Even the crafters who turn up appear to be more colourful! One of the highlights for me last year was seeing all the gorgeous crochet cardigans and coats people were wearing at the show. There's a real community atmopshere, which is a pleasure to be part of. If you don't know already, Yarndale was created by the wonderful crochet designer Attic24, check out her designs for some gorgeous project ideas!

Wensleydale lock batts! Locks-a-licious! 

I've been working away in my studio at home in Cambridge preparing for the show- carding batts, dyeing fibre and making more spindles! 

I'm creating a range of batts inspired by the planets- in the first picture you can see the hot pinks of "Venus". I've also been going lock mad and carding up locks-a-licious batts chock full of Wensleydale curls or suri alpaca. These are proper art batts for free-form spinning! 

Dyeing Wensleydale locks in my garden 

Only four more sleeps until the show! I've got my Air BnB booked in a nearby village and new business cards printed, i'm almost ready! 

See you at the show! 

Louise x

Folk East - Spin City Weaving Workshop

What could be better than a folk festival with a craft area?!

Teaching weaving at Folk East

When I discovered Folk East was championing folk crafts as well as folk music my heart leapt. It made total sense! Folk music is all about keeping tradition alive and repurposing it for the current generation, and folk crafts such as knitting, weaving and hand spinning are fighting in the same corner.

The Folk Festival at sunset

My sign advertising my workshops and drop-in sessions

I applied to take part in the Folk East Art Arcade at Glemham Hall in Suffolk and was quickly taken up on my idea to host tapestry weaving workshops. Not only did this mean that I would be able to share my passion for all things wool and textured, I got to listen to my favourite music at the same time!

The woven wall-hangings we were making at Folk East

My Spin City sign outside my awning

A music festival is quite different from my normal knitting festival. Instead of having a pre-made stall, I brought along my lovely vintage caravan and set up shop in my awning, right next to the main stage. It was really handy to have my little 'home-from'home' attached to my stall. For example, if I needed a jam sandwich, I could just make myself one from my cupboards! If I needed to get a cushion for an extra workshop attendee - 'bobs your uncle I could get one from the caravan. I loved it.  

My weaving workshops were really popular, and I felt a real connection with my students.  I am a naturally enthusiastic person, and when I feel that coming back at me from someone i've taught a skill to - it might just be one of the best feelings in the world.

Deep in concentration

We all sat around and happily wove away for about an hour and a half per class. Each student received a loom to take home, a weaving needle and an array of vintage and handspun yarns to choose from to create their weaving. 

I went through the basic techniques, and then we quickly progressed onto TEXTURE! My youngest student was only 6 years old - and she left saying she wants to be a weaver when she grows up. Awhhh. 

I think one of the best moments was teaching a bobble effect technique to my Saturday group while listening to Sam Kelly live on the main stage. Not bad for a day at the office huh? 

Look how near I am to the main stage! It's right behind me. :-)