tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21636044109553365292024-02-21T00:05:19.292+00:00Bobbin' AlongFrolicks with fibre, wheeling through lifeCamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-20886391008968789532013-08-22T22:18:00.002+01:002013-08-22T22:18:34.150+01:00Spinning in The GreeceIt’s not often you get an invitation to bring your spindles and have a holiday in <a href="http://www.visitgreece.gr/" target="_blank">Greece</a>, the one and only part of the nearby ancient world I’d never visited. Dear friends kindly suggested I go to stay with them for a break, and to bring books, spindles, weaving or anything else that took my fancy. I packed up my tablet weaving books, tablets, some silk, some wool and, and, with spindles padded in my suitcase, off I went. In between being a traveller in this antique land, I started some wool on one spindle and silk on another, hoping to produce enough to warp up for a first go with the tablets.<br /><br />I’d no idea, until we went to the Greek <a href="http://www.namuseum.gr/wellcome-en.html" target="_blank">National Archaeological Museum</a>, that Athena was the ancient goddess of weaving, amongst all her other duties. There was a Linear B hieroglyph representing wool in one of the displays, alongside some Linear B tablets detailing the activities of lady weavers at court, and a number of what looked like woven scarves modelled in stone in one of the cabinets. Yes it’s true there’s a lot of very famous Mycenaean gold in the display cases, plus the fascinating <a href="http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/" target="_blank">Antikythera Mechanism exhibition</a>, but for the textile-lover there’s also a deep-seated veneration of the weaver’s art amongst the antiquities. <br /><br />We were lucky enough to catch the Saturday talk in English about the <a href="http://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/content/gallery-talks" target="_blank">Acropolis Museum’s research on archaic colours</a>. Apparently the statues around the building pediments, and elsewhere around the Acropolis, which we think of as just plain white, were anything but. Traces of vivid colour and the chemical signatures of pigments abound under the glare of modern microscopy techniques. The flowing folds in the statues’ fabric garments were adorned with coloured braids as well as gold ornament. The colours themselves have to be seen to be believed: it gives a totally different impression to the one we’ve all grown up with: Greek statues were not ‘white’ at all. <br /><br />One of the most fascinating colour remnants on a statue was on the shorts worn by an ancient sculpture of a Persian rider, identified by the design and colouring of his remaining attire. They’d even reproduced the weaving beside the statue to show both colour and form. My friend and I started debating whether it had been made using a form of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablet_weaving" target="_blank">tablet weaving</a> but we couldn’t quite work it out. Doing some internet research earlier today it looks very much like they were made using the technique known as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2pcDEnN3Jk" target="_blank">Sprang</a>, which I haven’t tried yet. If any of you have already had a go I’d love to hear about your experiences and how to avoid any pitfalls that the Sprang beginner might not see. In the meantime, here’s wishing you a surprising week ahead full of unexpectedly colourful moments, whether you’re spinning in the one and only Greece or elsewhere.
CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-39998077270813990282013-06-13T18:26:00.001+01:002013-06-13T18:26:13.373+01:00Ingenuity and catching boats I knew it: it slipped past me again. I’ve missed <a href="http://www.opensquares.org/" target="_blank">London Open Squares Weekend</a>, which was 8-9 June. I went for the first time in 2007 and it was a real inspiration to see <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22820774" target="_blank">so many green oases</a> in the midst of the concrete jungle, many filled with vibrant colour. For me, the most creative spirits belonged to the Thames barge owners who had created gardens atop their boats moored not far from Tower Bridge. The ingenuity - and engineering – required to create tranquil spaces floating on the water is tremendous, let alone their colour sense and plant choice. There were even fruiting trees aboard. <br /><br />I must bookmark the weekend for next year so I can get to see more of the amazing roof gardens, which particularly fascinate me, which work on a similar principle to the boat gardens. I’m a great fan of the work of <a href="http://www.nigeldunnett.info/" target="_blank">Nigel Dunnett</a>, who’s done so much to augment the space available for wildlife via roof gardens and wild spaces, and whose recent <a href="http://www.nigeldunnett.info/chelseaflowershow/chelsea13" target="_blank">RHS Chelsea show garden</a> was much acclaimed. With so many roof spaces potentially available and <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/science/stateofnature/index.aspx" target="_blank">Britain’s biodiversity rapidly decreasing</a>, there’s no reason for society to miss the conservation boat. We just need to move the boundaries of gardens to a 21st century height. <br /><br />As a ‘dyed in the wool’ spinner, if you’ll pardon the expression, one woolly-related boat I don’t want to miss is definitely on my calendar already. <a href="http://www.wysingartscentre.org/whats_on/events/annual_open_weekend" target="_blank">Wysing Arts</a> in nearby Bourn are having their open weekend from 6-7 July. Central to the weekend is the exhibition of work by <a href="http://www.wysingartscentre.org/whats_on/exhibitions/jonathan_baldock_solo_exhibition_and_performance_event" target="_blank">Jonathan Baldock</a>, including large-scale felt sculptures and knitted and crocheted ‘sculptural growths’. The picture opposite has kindly been lent by Wysing Arts for which I’m very grateful. <br /><br />Some of the elements of the Baldock exhibition will also be brought to life through contemporary dance under the direction of choreographer <a href="http://dogkennelhillproject.org/Henrietta_Hale.html" target="_blank">Henrietta Hale and the Dog Kennel Hill Project</a> on the Saturday of the open weekend. More ingenuity and creative surprises to look forward to! I hope they choose some of the woolly elements to bring to life: that would shed a whole new light on the potential of the gentle material we spinners work with. Here’s wishing you a week full of new possibilities in whatever you do. <br /><br /> CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-56456870743785558272013-06-06T22:36:00.000+01:002013-06-06T22:43:24.856+01:00Gertrude and The BeesAround this time a few years back I was enjoying a deliciously indulgent day course at <a href="http://www.davidaustinroses.com/english/advanced.asp" target="_blank">David Austin Roses</a>, trying different rose scents, from apple through to myrrh, in a way reminiscent of a wine tasting. It was a well-designed affair and your nose didn’t get tired at all of going from one stunning fragrance to another. This year, spring has been sold cold here in the east of England that everything plant-wise about a month behind so I’m still waiting for Gertrude. The rose Gertrude Jekyll, that is, my favourite Austin creation, which resides outside my front door. <br />
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It shares the space with a cutting bought at <a href="http://www.hestercombe.com/" target="_blank">Hestercombe</a> gardens, which Gertrude Jekyll herself had a hand in designing. It’s now a large <a href="http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Chimonanthus-praecox.htm" target="_blank">WinterSweet (Chimonanthus praecox),</a> which is doing a bit too well and will shortly take over the window if I don’t get stern with it. One day I’d love to have a garden full of Gertrude’s favourite plants, many of them my favourites too, but right now my concern is for the bees, and making sure there’s something open and available for them in this tough season. <em>Rosa Gertrude Jekyll</em>, alas, beautiful as she is, is not really bee-friendly, but I’ve plenty of species roses, like <em><a href="http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=3996" target="_blank">Rosa mutabilis</a></em>, which are. <br />
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I have a small Oxford Bee Co Red Mason Bee nest which is making a tiny contribution to bee kind, and I leave areas of my garden rather too wild for the neighbours’ liking at this time of year but full of flowers, to help the ‘proper’ honey bee-keeper two doors along. It’s wildflowers like these that have been in the news this week, the glorious magic carpets of their colours now <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/22766945" target="_blank">having declined by 97%</a>. And that’s not helping any of the bees out there to thrive. <br />
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There’s a plan to create Coronation Meadows across Britain for conservation, in remembrance of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22763855" target="_blank">HM The Queen’s coronation anniversary</a>, but listening recently to a radio adaptation of Dave Goulson’s ‘<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Sting-Tale-Dave-Goulson/dp/0224096893" target="_blank">A Sting in the Tale’</a> about <a href="http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-us" target="_blank">bumblebee conservation</a>, it’s going to take more than 60 meadows amongst our 66 million population to make a difference. So if, like me, you get a lot of inspiration for yarn colours from the artworks of nature around you, then why not sprinkle a few surreptitious annual seeds about and inject a little bee-friendly colour chaos into your garden. Wishing you time and space to create your own magic carpet of bee-friendly flowers somewhere nearby. CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-76162287873658114672013-05-31T22:54:00.000+01:002013-05-31T23:08:18.401+01:00Blue sheep, changing lights and woven flooringI really wasn’t looking for anything fibre- or sheep-related when walking between meetings in London last week: the sign just jumped out and hit me. With an hour to kill, a reasonable afternoon’s weather and an almost direct route heading east along the Clerkenwell Road in London, I originally intended to light a candle en route and remember an old friend. <br /><br />The cleaner at my first PR job, the lovely lady concerned was a true Cockney, born within the sound of <a href="http://www.stmarylebow.co.uk/">Bow Bells</a> amongst the Italian community around <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerkenwell">Clerkenwell.</a> We’d sometimes nip in to <a href="http://www.italianchurch.org.uk/">St Peter’s Italian Church</a> at lunchtime and light candles together: neither of us were Catholic but the practice made a quiet statement of faith in something bigger for both of us. Yet the Clerkenwell I now found before me, some 35 years later, was fairly unrecognizable, being gradually gentrified. <br /><br />The only advantage of this gentrification is the influx of design businesses of all kinds, from furniture to flooring. So there it was: an invitation a weaver couldn’t resist – to enter the world of <a href="http://www.altro.co.uk/Home.aspx">Altro flooring</a> and have a go weaving with its colourful offcuts. Alas my watch told me I didn’t have time to pitch in there, much though I wanted to have a go, but watching was fascinating! It was Altro’s contribution to <a href="http://www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com/">Clerkenwell Design Week</a>, which, I then discovered, was on its final day, with happenings all along my proposed walking route. <br />
Next I came across a blue sheep with some white inanimate companions, pointing to the <a href="http://www.sedus.co.uk/se/en/home.php">Sedus office furniture </a>showroom; then a fascinating sculptural and coloured light installation by <a href="http://www.alexandermulligan.com/">Alexander Mulligan</a> in conjunction with creative <a href="http://nicholasalexander.co.uk/">design group Nicholas Alexander</a> – the sculpture represented the swift passage of animals and people through Clerkenwell to Smithfield in historic times. Lastly I only by then had time to briefly admire the utter artistry of a willow sculpture, much like structure with an over-arching roof yet lit by fibre optics and small flower-shaped bronze-gold lights by <a href="http://www.sharonmarston.com/Collection.htm">Sharon Marston</a>. Wonderful work indeed. <br /><br />So next time you’re early for an appointment, it just goes to show that the creators of <a href="http://gerryanderson.wikia.com/wiki/Stingray">Stingray</a> were absolutely right: “anything can happen in the next half hour” so see what you can find. Sheep, weaving and fibres of all kinds are never too far away! Here’s wishing you a week of equally fascinating discoveries. CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-43375688954789830302013-05-16T22:06:00.001+01:002013-05-16T22:06:39.001+01:00Tulips, Textiles and Travels
Focussing my ‘phone camera is one area of ‘continuing professional development’ that I’ve yet to get completely under my belt. You know the feeling: you’re out and about and see something wildly beautiful, zap out with the camera, only later to discover that what you thought was the focus button in fact is nothing of the sort. You’d think I’d have learned how to do it by now, as I’ve been on frequent ‘Textile Travels’ from west to east in the last few weeks. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk/" target="_blank">WonderWool Wales</a> was just as it said on the tin: wonderful. This year’s visual treats were provided by the felters, with some amazing work on show. For me, the best was the many-layered, complex and beautiful work of felter <a href="http://www.feltinthefactory.com/" target="_blank">Caroline Merrell of Felt in the Factory</a>. Her felted chair covering was a masterpiece: my picture on the ‘phone camera just doesn’t do it justice. She apparently runs felted footstool courses, which I’m now desperate to do, as I’ve got a really old footstool that could really do with this kind of felty-facelift. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.feltinthefactory.com/" target="_blank">Felt in the Factory</a> also had a neat machine on their stand called a Groovi, which takes out all the hard work in the rolling and enables you to do deep layered felt that you can then cut and shape. Good for people with arthritis in their hands who can’t do the heavy wet rolling, though a bit of rolling is very good for getting rid of unwanted flab in the upper arms... says she, knowingly. I suppose it’s a matter of what’s easiest – and of course of the expense of a big machine like that. <br /><br />My next foray with the ‘phone camera was this last weekend’s Textile Fair at the <a href="https://www.warnertextilearchive.co.uk/" target="_blank">Warner Textile Archive</a> in <a href="http://www.visitessex.com/braintree" target="_blank">Braintree</a>. A friend spotted this piece of cloth for sale, all tied up in <a href="http://shibori.org/" target="_blank">Shibori </a>style. The myriad of little pinches of cloth, all tied with ultimate precision, reminded me of springs in a mattress. The utter patience of the person who prepared this! It was just one of many international textile cultures present at the fair. I bought some scraps of <a href="http://csdt.rpi.edu/african/kente/index.html" target="_blank">Kente cloth</a> to try to learn the language (another long-term project for when I retire), and some African bark cloth with a feel under your fingers that’s totally unique. <br /><br />Braintree has a long association with textile company Warners, just as neighbouring town <a href="http://www.localauthoritypublishing.co.uk/councils/halstead/centuries.html" target="_blank">Halstead </a>has a long association with the well-known textile family <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtaulds" target="_blank">Courtaulds</a>. It was in Halstead recently that the ‘phone camera came out again, this time with a great deal more success, to capture this colourists’ dream bunch of tulips. The florist who put them together is an artist in her own right: Monet couldn’t have done any better I’m sure. And at least I got them squarely in focus – which is in itself a small miracle. Here’s wishing you a weekend of small miracles of your own, and lots of focus to concentrate on enjoying them. <br /><br /> CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-29414558353689190522013-04-04T23:22:00.000+01:002013-04-04T23:22:13.609+01:00Stripes and Stars
“We are an amalgam of many selves ....and sometimes one of them escapes,” writer and poet <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/dannie-abse" target="_blank">Dannie Abse</a> said on<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rlptc/live" target="_blank"> BBC Radio 4’s Today</a> programme this morning. I know how he feels. The dichotomy of a double life as a wheel spinner and a word spinner leaves you constantly pushing one part of you forward while pushing the other back, sliding to and fro on a strange see-saw. The word spinner had to win out over recent weeks until just before Easter, when the wool spinning half of me made its bid for freedom at the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/:%20%20http://www.selvedge.org/default.aspx" target="_blank">Selvedge</a> Spring Fair. <br /> <br />What would you call a friend whose life-long support includes aiding and abetting the escape of one’s woolly nature, helping for two whole days at the fair in central London, doing all the driving, and being your most enthusiastic saleswoman? An absolute star: that’s the term I’d use to describe friend Frances, seen here talking mega yarns with a <a href="http://www.blogger.com/:%20%20http://www.selvedge.org/default.aspx" target="_blank">Selvedge</a> fair customer. There’s no doubt that our long tradition of going to fun-filled excesses with each other, started in childhood, is alive and well, and I certainly couldn’t do without her exceptional encouragement in all aspects of life. <br /><br />Speaking of stars, the sun decided to make its way through the thick bank of clouds this week, bringing out some star performers in the garden. I can’t resist a bargain bag of bulbs and these strong stripy crocus were the result of a gamble with an unidentified bag from the garden centre last autumn. I was hoping they’d be <em><a href="http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=589" target="_blank">Crocus sieberi</a></em>, but instead these tall elegant flowers, like Frances, have goodly long stems on them. And, also like Frances, though they shiver at the cold they’re not defeated by the freezing winds that climate change is bringing to the East of England at the moment. <br /><br />The <a href="http://www.rhs.org.uk/" target="_blank">Royal Horticultural Society</a> is updating its previous report on adapting gardens for climate change, so if you’re any kind of gardener, <a href="http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/crg/climate-change-and-gardening/" target="_blank">do join their survey</a> and let them know your experiences. Some 20 and more years ago it was predicted that climate change for the UK would bring us colder winters and wetter summers. That’s certainly been proved correct; let’s hope no more of those early forecasts come true since I for have had enough of bitter winds from the arctic keeping the ground too cold to plant in. I’m urgent for things to warm up as I’ve got trays of dyers’ <em>Coreopsis</em>, Weld and dyers’ chamomile waiting to go out, yet the greenhouse glass is still striped with frost every morning when I go down to feed the hens. <br /><br />Yet frost or no, I’m kept smiling by the starry warmth of true friendship, accompanied by the stripey warmth of beautiful colours in the emerging spring garden. Here’s wishing you a week similarly warmed by the sharing good things.<br /> CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-33027212344168234902013-03-17T22:54:00.000+00:002013-03-17T22:54:04.536+00:00Eggs-traordinary news!
At last a quiet minute to update! The last two weeks have flown by since I had a piece of amazing good news: I’ve been accepted to exhibit at the <a href="http://www.selvedge-drygoods.org/pages/exhibitions/" target="_blank">Selvedge Spring Fair</a> at Chelsea Old Town Hall in London next weekend (22-23 March). It will be a mad two days but it’s hopefully going to be full of fun and interesting conversations. I love <a href="http://www.selvedge.org/default.aspx" target="_blank">Selvedge magazine</a>: it’s packed with fascinating snippets from the history, future and culture of textiles from around the world. I’ve not been to a Selvedge fair myself but they go by reputation for their eclectic and creative mix. If it’s anything like the magazine, it should be enthralling for all participants, be they visitors or exhibitors. <br /><br />The Selvedge show poster is bright daffodil yellow, mirroring the tiny miniature daffodils now coming out around the garden. In my soil, the smaller the narcissi are the better they withstand the dry summers and deeply cold winters, so I’m gradually collecting <a href="http://broadleighbulbs.co.uk/wp/catalogue/" target="_blank">Alec Grey hybrids</a> wherever I can find them. <br /><br />I feel I should be responding to the primroses waking up for spring. Yellow is all around me, in the <a href="http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Rosemoor/About-Rosemoor/Plant-of-the-month/December/Mahonia-x-media-Winter-Sun" target="_blank">Mahonias</a> too, and in the yolks of the fresh spring eggs from the hens at the end of the garden. I thought I’d take some inspiration from my hens and make some egg-coloured yarn to take to the Selvedge show. I haven’t mirrored all the egg colours from my hens, as one is a<a href="http://www.freewebs.com/happy_hens/apps/photos/photo?photoid=38107128" target="_blank"> Heritage Skyline</a> breed, with a soupcon of <a href="http://www.araucanas.co.uk/" target="_blank">Araucana</a> in her DNA. Her muddy khaki eggs, though excellent for meringues, are not the most inspiring in shell colours! <br /><br />Having done all the fibre prepping, which takes a few hours, I hope I can get time to finish the yarn before packing up for the show on Thursday. With the unusually cold weather it’s the drying time that’s against me, as some of my skeins end up weighing nearly a kilo. There are also more than a few last-minute logistics to sort out - like how to get it all there! <br />
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So you’ll have to forgive me if I disappear from view again for a short while, re-surfacing I hope over Easter. If you’re coming to the <a href="http://www.selvedge-drygoods.org/pages/exhibitions" target="_blank">Selvedge Spring Fair</a> do find me and say hello: I’m on B43, which (I think!) is in the main hall. In the meantime here’s wishing you a week or two of blossoming good news of your own. <br /> CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-29003105569596251532013-02-28T22:23:00.000+00:002013-02-28T22:23:09.957+00:00Conversations with GreensI missed you all last week as I was catching up on the day job, having spent the previous weekend delighting in fantastically colourful conversations with many arty ladies at <a href="http://www.textilesinfocus.com/T_in_F_13/2013%20Poster.htm" target="_blank">Textiles in Focus</a>. What a show! Opening on Friday and finishing Sunday late afternoon, it was wall-to-wall colour, both from other exhibitors and displays of groups’ work to the visitors themselves. I’ve never seen so many amazing hand-made nunno felt jackets, woven shawls, felted bags, art embroidery and clothing of all kinds. I was even shown how a humble piece of brown wrapping paper could be turned into an absolute work of art by distressing it and applying different surface treatments like metallic paints. Incredible. <br /><br />Attracting much more attention than me and my <a href="http://handspinner.co.uk/ashford_country_spinner_spinning_wheel.html" target="_blank">Country Spinner</a> was my <a href="http://www.thehandweavingcompany.co.uk/" target="_blank">peg loom</a>, a very kind birthday present from life-long friend Frances, on which I’d started to try my yarn in rug form. Many ladies stopped to ask, to share memories from childhood, to watch or have a go themselves at the easy weaving. Being thick yarn the rug grew very quickly! I’d taken my skein ‘Among the Aspens’ out of circulation as I was itching to try it on the peg loom during the show. I also decided to spin a skein with a different green-selection colourway during the show to demonstrate the Country Spinner, as not many people have seen these big wheels. It must be spring coming in - the array of greens seemed magnetic to visitors. The emerging rug and my working baskets of fibre, ranging from minty greens to mustard colours, enticed many ladies to stop, feel the fluff, and talk. <br /><br />I’m no artist: I just love plants. And as every artist and gardener knows, there are very few greens and yellows that don’t sit neatly together in some kind of order. You’ve only got to look at the early spring sunshine coming through the backs of evergreen plants’ leaves to see a world of variety in one entity. Interestingly the greens drew much more interest that the blacks, bronze, whites and creams of the zebra-style material I was spinning on the first day of the show. The greens even attracted an interview with <a href="http://www.justhands-on.tv/" target="_blank">Just Hands On TV</a> - not something I’m used to. As a PR person in the day job I’m usually crew-side of a TV camera, not in front of one! I gather when the videos are uploaded from Textiles in Focus I’ll be sent a link, which - if I’m not too shy! - I’ll share here. <br /><br />Most of all at the show I enjoyed the company of very many interesting, intellectual, colourful women, and exchanging wildly enthusiastic conversations from the <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jwwVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA124&lpg=PA124&dq=madder+in+zeeland&source=bl&ots=VpLKKfDO50&sig=4VSLygTIn-t-0Bm3FFUWmv-f00E&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tNEvUaL7IOW00QX-n4HwDQ&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=madder%20in%20zeeland&f=false" target="_blank">production of madder in Zeeland</a> to ways of mapping out and creating circular rungs on the peg loom. Sharing their insights, looking at their work, and sharing a common passion for colour and creativity was an experience second to none. Here’s wishing you a week of creatively profitable conversations, and a sharing of goodwill with all those around you. <br /><br /> CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-10082744297425209672013-02-14T22:30:00.000+00:002013-02-14T22:30:41.695+00:00Glass Ceilings and Just Deserts
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">No-one could
accuse women in architecture of being shrinking violets, yet apparently they
are still not getting their just deserts, according to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/-glass-ceiling-pay-gap-revealed-26-of-women-directors-earn-less/8642307.article?blocktitle=Most-popular&contentID=-1" target="_blank">Architects’ Journal</a></i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
this metaphorical talk of ‘glass ceilings’ and fair and due rewards was
swimming around in my brain last weekend, while under my own physical glass ceiling
in the greenhouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleaning is supposed
to be cathartic, but such items in the media only serve to make my greenhouse
cleaning more vigorous, to think this inequality still exists and in a
supposedly enlightened profession like architecture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I suppose
when you think back, though, it’s not that long (in terms of geological time!) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>since my grandmother’s generation of women were
first deemed sufficiently intelligent and discerning to vote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are we asking too much to expect pay equality
inside three generations? Personally I don’t think so, but <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>perhaps our craft sector is one in which
artistic merit and skill reap rewards more equitably for both men and
women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All that vigorous cleaning, prior
to planting this year’s vegetable seeds, reaped rewards for me too:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a few fleeces were found hiding under the
workbench – the last available place for storage!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">These were
the more time-consuming fleeces to process, such as a beautiful but tangled
Leicester LongWool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best of last
summer’s fleeces, from the <a href="http://www.thefarmanimalsanctuary.co.uk/fleeces.php" target="_blank">Farm Animal Sanctuary</a>, are already washed, some are
dyed, and are waiting for use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will
have to wait a few more days though, until after <a href="http://www.textilesinfocus.com/" target="_blank">Textiles in Focus</a>, which opens
in Cottenham, nr Cambridge tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Three of us from our local spinning group are exhibiting, <a href="http://www.outwardimages.co.uk/" target="_blank">myself</a>, Clare
of <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boos-Attic/351628434875783" target="_blank">Boo’s Attic</a> and Lesley of <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/FibreTastic" target="_blank">FibreTastic,</a> with her amazing wool necklaces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Producing
craft products on a small, part-time scale, will never allow us to gain the
bulk discounts from suppliers that would gain us anything other than diminutive
just deserts for the effort involved, especially in a still-recessionary
market. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then perhaps we do if for
more than just fiscal reward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
extreme detail and technical skill that goes into some of the works of textile
art on the <a href="http://www.fibrefusion.org.uk/" target="_blank">FibreFusion </a>stand opposite mine at the show would put top couturiers<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to shame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yet they’re not after millions or board directorships, they’re primarily
after satisfying their creative instincts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here’s wishing you a week of fulfilling your own creative instincts, and
if you’re coming to Textiles in Focus, do come and say hello.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-41904588727928052082013-02-07T22:02:00.002+00:002013-02-07T22:20:36.584+00:00My Kingdom for a Rug<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s funny how you get an idea of what a fictional detective
might look like as you either read or listen to investigative stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m currently listening to <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sovereign-Shardlake-C-J-Sansom/dp/0330436082/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360271723&sr=1-6" target="_blank">C J Sansom’s ‘Sovereign’</a>,
featuring the very human character, Tudor period lawyer Matthew Shardlake. It's a very
well-woven story with so many threads appearing yet joining seamlessly together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My ‘mind’s eye’ picture of Shardlake came
unwittingly alive this week when just the type of face I’d imagined burst onto
our TV screens as the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-21328380" target="_blank">facial reconstruction of real king Plantagenet Richardthe Third</a>, re-discovered under a Leicestershire car park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">How do our mental pictures of people and things gather their
momentum?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can understand that a
lifetime of visiting art galleries, museums and country houses, of viewing
historic portraits and being taught about past lives and times would colour our
imagination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet you still have a
mental picture of how you want something to look when you start making, whether
you’re working to a knitting pattern or making it up as you go on loom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve very little for your mind’s eye to go
on, but there’s still a picture in there waiting to come to life under your
hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was a little doubtful that my
colour and texture combo for a peg-loom rug recently would work but luckily using
each colour in very small amounts brought together by the figuring in the
fluffy blue seems to make it all hang together nicely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s the second peg-loom rug I’ve made (I tried a small
tester one earlier in the summer), but I’ve got plans for a larger project
using one of my mega yarns. I want to try doing a circle – no idea how to achieve
that but maybe it’s about starting small with a full stop and increasing
gradually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least I know that in
colour terms, whatever I do will be quite tame compared to the amazingly
inspired creators in the Foundation Rugs’ video of their <a href="http://foundationrugs.co.uk/pages/exhibitions" target="_blank">‘Rug Addicts’ exhibition</a>!
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My rug weaving won’t have a definite <a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/videos/o/oriental-carpets-top-and-bottom" target="_blank">top and bottom either, like the hand-knotted beauties in the V&A’s collection</a> (illuminated in detail by
Curator Jennifer Weardon’s videos). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
always impressed by the phenomenal attention to detail in Middle Eastern
hand-woven rugs, like those due to be displayed at the <a href="http://www.larta.net/" target="_blank">London Antique Rug and Textile Art Fair in April</a>. I'm also overwhelmed by the amount of skill and effort it takes to make them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Though </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Root-Wild-Madder-Chasing-History/dp/0743264193/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360258140&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Brian Murphy’s book ‘The Root of Wild Madder’</a>
was written some time ago now, one still wonders whether today’s hand-weavers
are really getting just rewards for their artistry. The complexity of their patterns
and their cultural significance have engaged many brains across the centuries,
including apparently <a href="http://www.freud.org.uk/exhibitions/74348/sigmunds-rug-to-sleep-to-dream-no-more" target="_blank">Sigmund Freud</a>, who had quite a <a href="http://www.freud.org.uk/archive/collections/rugs" target="_blank">collection of Oriental rugs</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My little bit of weaving though will be much less complex:
my patterns will already be set by the colour of the yarns I’ve made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I get warped up in time I’ll take my peg
loom to Textiles in Focus, so come along and see how I’m doing if you can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d appreciate any constructive comments or
ideas on how to make a circle. King Richard the Third may have pledged his kingdom for a horse in
battle:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll just settle for a mega-yarn
rug that approximates something round, and won’t be too much of a battle in
holding its shape!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s wishing you a fruitfully
creative week, guided by the foresight of your mind’s eye. </span></div>
CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-6715868748273180372013-01-24T23:03:00.000+00:002013-01-24T23:10:27.376+00:00Beauty and the Browns<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In
the day job this week I’ve been trying to find something exciting to say about
products that are basically brown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bit
tricky even for a wordsmith like me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Surfing around I found enlightenment on the <a href="http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-messages-meanings/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology/all-about-the-color-brown.html" target="_blank">Sensational Colour</a> website,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which told me that brown signifies stability
and approachability, amongst other wholesome connections. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose that’s why humans gravitate towards
the browns of tree bark, wood and soil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet all those three can vary
greatly, from almost black to almost pink or almost white, but wherever they
come on the brown scale they are unconsciously comforting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s
browns of another sort though that I’ve <em>not</em> found so comforting myself in
recent days:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>brown parcels, or rather
their cost, to be precise. I’ve been trying to find ways to make it viable to
send some of my yarns to the USA, via normal post or courier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The prices the couriers quote are phenomenal,
as they use a volumetric rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
virtually doubles the price, so those ladies kindly enquiring via <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/OutwardImages?ref=search_shop_redirect" target="_blank">my Etsy shop</a>
will have to bear with me a while longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There must be a way to do it somehow without it costing the earth!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In
connecting further with browns, something hopeful caught my eye involving
reducing the cost to the earth of man’s engagement with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the <a href="http://e360.yale.edu/" target="_blank">Yale 360 newsletter</a> this week, there
was a story of residents in the prairies <a href="http://e360.yale.edu/feature/in_us_midwest_restoring_native_prairie_ecosystems_kessler/2603" target="_blank">restoring natural habitats throughtheir gardens</a>, returning colour, flowers and eventually wildlife to the
landscape “yard by yard”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was really
cheering to read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If, as the old saying
goes, money begets money, then maybe we should try the same addage on good news. Perhaps seeing more of it would beget other good news, and so on until it becomes
irrepressible and shifts the emphasis away from the adversarial, finger-pointing,
blame culture that seems to reign supreme amongst much of the mass media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">So why don’t we start here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s your good news? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mine is another piece of beautiful brown:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a card sent to me by a friend in Las Vegas of
a Roadrunner bird in its natural habitat, in <a href="http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/blm_special_areas/red_rock_nca.html" target="_blank">Red Rock Canyon, Nevada</a>,
beautifully photographed by Peggy Hamlen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s now gracing my office wall and inviting me to give a ‘Beep Beep!’ every
time I race past, like its cartoon cousin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My other good news is finishing a huge skein of multifarious browns in
Shetland wool, now sitting on my niddy-noddy waiting for further attention. Its merging stripes
remind me of something the <a href="http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/manet" target="_blank">artist Manet</a> said:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“There are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against
another.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s hoping your coming week is full of life’s
richest colours</span>CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-78381593061495512952013-01-17T22:36:00.000+00:002013-01-17T22:36:28.027+00:00White-out and Zebras
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Essence of winter:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>that’s what I’d call it if I could bottle snowflakes combined with white
winter scented plants and the type of frost that almost sticks to everything in
sharp jabbing finger-shapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though with
the rate at which snowflakes disappear, even <a href="http://news.bis.gov.uk/Press-Releases/Cable-announces-step-change-to-turn-ideas-into-growth-684f6.aspx" target="_blank">Dr Cable’s new superfast patenting service </a>wouldn’t be able to keep up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of his aim is to help small businesses understand
how to gain a return on <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>their creativity.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other side of his campaign is to
crack down on intellectual property theft:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>something the new designers launching themselves at February’s <a href="http://londonfashionweek.co.uk/schedule_aw13.aspx" target="_blank">London Fashion Week</a> may rapidly have to get to grips with as their designs get
splashed across the media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My choice for a patent would not be to everyone’s
taste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only other spinners would
understand the perfumed attraction of “Eau de Fleece” drying on the radiators
after being washed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And perhaps only other
gardeners would truly appreciate the deeply heady scents of winter plants,
which in my garden peep out and grab you by the nose from hiding places in the
snowy borders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You just get a hint of
the three different Sacrococca varieties I have as you walk past, <a href="http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1784" target="_blank">S. confusa</a> and
<a href="http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1786" target="_blank">S. ruscifolia</a> in shady spots and <a href="http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Wisley/About-Wisley/Plant-of-the-month/January/Sarcococca-hookeriana-var--digyna" target="_blank">S. hookeriana</a> in a sunnier corner as it needs
more light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My other half though thinks
their scent is akin to burning plastic!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Happily, there’s <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/09/gardens-winter-scents" target="_blank">plenty of choice when it comes to winter scent</a> in the
garden. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve just acquired my first Daphne,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Daphne odora, whose buds are full of
promise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there’s one more winter
plant I’d like to add to my collection, the less well-known white-flowered and
intensely-scented <a href="http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=4292" target="_blank">Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Deben’</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alongside the snowdrops and Sacrococcas, that
would just complete my scented winter white-out outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indoors too I’m looking at white colours, in trying
to decide how best to replicate in fleece some white zebra stripes for a new
yarn I’m making for <a href="http://www.textilesinfocus.com/T_in_F_13/TEXTILES%20IN%20FOCUS%20-%20Official%20Programme%202013.pdf" target="_blank">Textiles in Focus in February</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I’ll get some inspiration from the BBC’s
fascinating series <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l9mf8" target="_blank">‘The History of Art in three colours’</a>. Last week’s colour
was blue:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this weekend it’s white. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you look closely as the interface between the black and
white stripes on pictures of zebra, defining them is not quite so...well,
black-and-white. There are all kinds of graduations of brown and cream in there
to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like the snow and ice outside, varying
hugely in colour with the daylight’s intensity (or lack of it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll
have to go for a happy medium and hope that works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s wishing you a brilliant winter week,
with sufficient light to see all things clearly, and a perfumed path to smooth
your way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-41636851220367681362013-01-10T23:24:00.002+00:002013-01-10T23:44:06.670+00:00Humans, Hobbits and Hairy Yarns<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you’re not a fan of Tolkien’s magical sagas, then at
least familiarise yourself with a picture of a <a href="http://www.thehobbit.com/" target="_blank">Hobbit</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, I discovered earlier this week, <a href="http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/the-sceptic-tank-blog/2234375/humanity-takes-an-unexpected-journey?wt.mc_ev=click&WT.tsrc=Email&utm_term=&utm_content=READ%C2%BB&utm_campaign=BusinessGreen%20Weekly%20Newsletter%20090113&utm_source=Business%20Green%20Weekly&utm_medium=Email" target="_blank">is whatwe will have to become if we’re to survive in a climate changed world</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally, though I’m not so much bigger
than a Hobbit now, so perhaps I’ll be OK!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am beginning to wonder about my physical make-up though, having read
an article about marketing utilising one’s hormones to define potential product
preferences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Research by <a href="http://www.derval-research.com/en" target="_blank">Diana Derval and colleagues</a> has revealed that pre-natal hormonal influences may give some of
us a propensity for amplified senses which affect our choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Apparently some of us hear sounds four times louder than our
fellow beings, and some are six times more sensitive to textures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must be one of the latter, since any guard
hairs unwittingly left in commercially-produced yarn seem to stand out like
barbs to me when I put a sweater on, or sit on a garment or chair covering made
from certain types of fabrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t get
me wrong, I wouldn’t be without wool, especially if, as the weather forecasters
say, global warming in the UK will be more like global cooling and bring us
more Siberian-style winters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s
just there are some fibres I find harder to take unless I’ve had a hand in
preparing them myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Recycling unwanted textiles, itchy or not, <a href="http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2012/11/30/recycling-sector-growth-takes-family-business-from-rags-to-riches" target="_blank">seems to be big business</a> these days, if <a href="http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2230547/video-defra-urges-businesses-to-strip-down-on-textiles" target="_blank">DEFRA’s Rags to Riches campaign video </a>is anything to
go by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too much textile material is
still ending up in landfill – 350,000 tonnes of it in fact – so <a href="http://www.wrap.org.uk/category/materials-and-products/textiles" target="_blank">we’re being encouraged to recycle more</a> and also take a more ‘repair and restore’ attitude
to clothing, as our grandmothers and great-grandmothers were doubtless well versed
in doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The high turnover in low
quality cheap clothing can’t be helping the environment across the global
supply chain, including the landfill sites of our very small island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So how to change attitudes?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Perhaps everyone in major resource-consuming communities
should be put back in touch with their textile roots through some kind of ‘national
fabric service’ in which they have to grow, harvest, dye, spin and weave their
own textiles for a short while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That could
put the perceived value back into textiles. Maybe Design & Technology teachers
could take a step back in the textile ingenuity chain to humankind’s evolution
of thread. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or at the very least maybe the
<a href="http://www.craftclub.org.uk/" target="_blank">Craft Council’s Craft Clubs</a> could get all ages at school trying spindles and
making the yarn they use for their knit & crochet projects. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ah well, better get off my soap-box (or should
I say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sewing </i>box!) and return to the
world where my every personal fibre will be analysed still further by market
researchers. Here's wishing you a beneficial and analytical week ahead, with few interferences from life's little guard hairs. </span></div>
CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-86152964492499573522013-01-03T22:39:00.000+00:002013-01-03T22:39:15.274+00:00Textile trepidation turn-around?I’ve been listening hard to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/tvoc" target="_blank">Melvyn Bragg’s programmes on the Value of Culture</a> this week but, unless I’ve missed a bit, I’ve so far heard nothing about the vital part textiles have played and do still in the development of human values and society. Are textiles just so fundamental that they are completely ignored in reporting and exploration of ‘culture’? If we take modern fashion to be a form of ‘high art’, then textiles are just as central to cultural identity today as they have been in developing societies since the dawn of time. Yet recognition of their importance as an expression of the inner being or of perceived power is almost always left out of programmes on TV and Radio. <br /><br />A repeat of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ymn8h" target="_blank">The Forum’s episode ‘Real versus Digital’</a> over the Christmas holidays came a little closer, in that it at least acknowledged a human’s need to make things, exploring the links between virtual worlds, mathematics and craft. But here again craft was represented by something extremely mainstream, namely pottery. Not a frayed edge nor a woven scrap was included, even though fabrics have been around almost as long as ceramics in history. It’s almost as if textiles just don’t exist. <br /><br />Happily though, a glance at the <a href="http://www.textilesociety.org.uk/events" target="_blank">Textile Society’s events calendar</a>, or a flick through the pages of my favourite <a href="http://www.selvedge.org/" target="_blank">Selvedge magazine</a> proves that we do live on the same planet as these commentators. Maybe it’s up to all of us to start pushing harder for coverage of textiles and textile art in our ever-widening media. After all, there are surely enough of us either running or starting up textile and fibre-related business and contributing to the economy: look at the success of some of <a href="http://www.prime.org.uk/creative-client-turns-hobby-into-career" target="_blank">entrepreneurs who’ve set up successful enterprises</a> with the help of <a href="http://www.prime.org.uk/" target="_blank">PRIME</a> – the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise. <br /><br /> So who’ll join me in fighting the good fight on behalf of textiles? If you think I’m barking up the right tree, why not come along to <a href="http://www.textilesinfocus.com/T_in_F_13/2013-show.htm" target="_blank">Textiles in Focus</a> in Cottenham, near Cambridge, in a few weeks time, and we’ll exchange ideas. All the best campaigns begin at grass roots level so let’s put our heads together and have a go at pushing things forward. Without some kind of co-ordinated effort, textiles will languish at the dusty edges of media interest, and the vibrancy of all those arty people visiting shows like Textiles In Focus and who create their own <a href="http://www.textilesinfocus.com/T_in_F_13/TEXTILES%20IN%20FOCUS%20-%20Official%20Programme%202013.pdf" target="_blank">fabulous fabric artworks</a> will not get the recognition they deserve. Here’s wishing you a week full of recognition for your efforts. CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-579882511900745192012-11-30T00:04:00.001+00:002012-11-30T00:04:07.941+00:00Dyes, Pies and Whys
Dyes and pies: that’s how I’ve labelled the blackberries in the freezer, and it’s a good job I kept some, as this year’s crop has been extremely low because of the weather. I’ve sneaked a few out of the ‘dyes’ bag – the better ones – to make up the deficit in the ‘pies’ bag, but I’m going to regret that when I reach for the dyepot this weekend. I wish it was as easy to turn wool bright colours as it is to grow plants which create an <a href="http://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/Botanic/Home.aspx" target="_blank">intensely colourful backdrop in winter time</a>. <br /><br />My natural dyepot experiences have so far produced subtle colours rather than the deep and consistent shades you get from <a href="http://www.worldofwool.co.uk/products/27/23mic_64s_merino/dyed_merino_wool_tops_1.htm" target="_blank">World of Wool’s</a> artistic palette of colours. I therefore tend to use the commercially-dyed material for yarns to put in<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/OutwardImages" target="_blank"> my Etsy shop</a>, and the natural dyes, which can be a bit flighty if I haven’t measured things properly, for my own home use. Suppliers like World of Wool are good at doing their due diligence, but when I was asked by a prospective Etsy customer in the USA recently about shipments, and discovered what their regulations demanded of suppliers, I found I still have a lot of learning to do about sourcing.<br /><br />It wasn’t just the transport issue – bulky yarns like mine seem to require ‘volumetric’ costing by shippers, thus extra expense – it’s that apparently I need to be able to identify the origins of every single component I use, which, with the fluffy stuff I make, can be quite a lot! If I’m thoughtful about what I’ve got to do to assure my very small supply chain, imagine how hard it is for fashion designers and even more for retailers, though at least they should have the resources to make active choices. According to Greenpeace’ report <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/Campaign-reports/Toxics-reports/Big-Fashion-Stitch-Up/" target="_blank">‘Toxic Threads’</a>, launched last week, some of them are falling down on the job. <br /><br /> The side-effects of industrial-scale dyeing processes can be added to the issue of ‘wool miles’, raised previously on this blog, as something that we as spinners ought to think more about. So my challenge for 2013 is to find ways of applying some form of ‘<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ipp/lca.htm" target="_blank">life cycle analysis’</a> to my woolly materials, in the same way as I advocate its use to others in a manufacturing context. I’m willing to give it a try as I believe the planet is worth saving, and as a gardener too I feel I ought to be doing more to help. Plants are valuable, and climate change will affect their growth patterns and our abilities to harvest and use them as our ancestors did. So here’s wishing you a thoughtful week, bending your mind to ways and means to make a difference, examining your own ‘whys’, and possibly your dyes and pies too. CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-55909683234538037952012-11-22T23:12:00.000+00:002012-11-22T23:23:29.648+00:00Work-Life imbalanceLife’s web sometimes spins us a few tangles and that’s certainly been true for me in recent weeks. Firstly there came the totally unanticipated and most untimely passing of a close working colleague, for whom I then had to do both a professional and personal duty by writing all the necessary media announcements and obituary. In the middle of the turmoil, pre-arranged building work got underway here, meaning I had to move out of my small office, along with some 12 years of paperwork which needed sorting, and I have only just got back in here at the start of this week. Happily it hasn’t all been stress: the return of frosts have changed the balance in the garden to a much more autumnal palette, and my oldest and first spinning wheel, nicknamed ‘Stanley’, and I have made up from our wobbling-out-of-true quarrel and are now working famously together again. <br />
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Being a ‘lone ranger’ as a businesswoman, having any ‘work-life balance’ is actually quite hard. You feel that you need to go the extra mile all the time, particularly when the economy isn’t good, to show that you’re worth your salt. And working from home there’s always the guilt-feeling that you should slip back into the office and “just” finish something off: of course you emerge three hours later. Operating in not one but two fields these days, also having to keep up professional accreditation with CPD points, plus whatever share of family duties come my way, and rapidly the concept of a ‘balanced lifestyle’, let alone a ‘balanced diet’, goes out of the window. Apparently though I’m not the only one, as my <a href="http://www.enterprising-women.org/" target="_blank">Enterprising Women</a> newsletter tells me. <br />
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<a href="http://www.enterprising-women.org/static/ew_growthreport.pdf" target="_blank">Their report</a> into women’s potential for providing growth in the economy revealed that 39% of their UK survey respondents found it hard to achieve ‘work-life balance’, quite probably because 68% of them are, like me, the sole operatives of their businesses. And like me they’re probably ‘chief cook and bottle-washers’ (or should I say ‘domestic godesses’?) in their households too. This “predominantly micro-business-based” community of women, though, are apparently less than confident about marketing themselves and/or their wares, with 41% of respondents “not knowing how to build a sales pipeline”. Now that figure really does surprise me. Why set forth in a business if you don’t know where your market is? Market research – even at a basic level – should be the foundation of any offering, whether it’s pictures, PR, pets or pottery. Simply plunging in can cost a whole pile, which most of us these days would have to think twice before investing. <br />
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Pricing is always an awkward issue, especially for small producers unable to gain big discounts on their raw materials, but we should think about our output, whatever it may be, in terms of value more than price. And we should put a very definite value on priceless things that keep us personally in balance, like swooshing through the fallen autumn leaves and drinking in the vision of <a href="http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Wisley/About-Wisley/Plant-of-the-month/February/Clematis-cirrhosa" target="_blank">ice crystals on frozen flowers</a>. After all none of us can say how many bright frosty autumn mornings we will see in our lifetimes, so every one of them should be precious. Here’s hoping you can achieve a positive balance in your work and life this coming week.CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-43808457576031085352012-10-19T01:05:00.001+01:002012-10-19T01:05:20.720+01:00Happiness and the Basket Case
How happy can a person be with making a basket? TV historian Ruth Goodman was almost childishly gleeful with her achievement on the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mmt8t" target="_blank">BBC’s Wartime Farm</a> this evening, making a basket to carry messenger pigeons. Maybe I’m a bit of a ‘basket-case’ myself, but I know that happy basket-weaving feeling. Even if it did cause aching thumbs, I was really pleased with making my first basket in about two years on a course at <a href="http://www.dennyfarmlandmuseum.org.uk/" target="_blank">Denny Abbey</a> the other weekend, taught by a Yeoman of the <a href="http://www.basketmakersco.org/" target="_blank">Worshipful Company of Basketmakers</a>, <a href="http://www.basketmaker.net/" target="_blank">Sandra Barker</a>. <br /><br />It’s the first time I’ve worked under Sandra: in previous years I’ve had great fun working with coloured willows and dogwoods on courses with <a href="http://www.basketassoc.org/index.php" target="_blank">Mary Butcher</a> at the <a href="http://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/Botanic/Page.aspx?p=27&ix=2787&pid=2877&prcid=4&ppid=2877" target="_blank">Cambridge University Botanic Gardens</a>. Teachers all have their different approach to things but share one thing in common – their passion for their craft. You can see it makes them happy transferring their skills to others, and it makes us happy to receive those skills, and to end up with a tangible achievement we can take home. It’s nothing to be hidden: we’re not after showing off, we’re just pleased to have made something worthy and useful. <br /><br />Psychologists recognise the primeval need we have to make things: it makes us feel, <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-creativity-cure/201205/creativity-happiness-and-your-own-two-hands" target="_blank">as one article says “vital and effective</a>”. It gives us back our place in the world and the feeling that we as individuals can effect positive change. No wonder textiles and basketry were once the mainstay of medical Occupational Therapy. <a href="http://www.cot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Modern Occupational Therapy</a> has come a long way from the offerings of the 1960s while the value of craftwork too has been much better quantified. The Crafts Council’s <a href="http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/files/file/7cec2fd1e3bdbe39/making_value_executive_summary.pdf" target="_blank">report on the economic social value of makers</a> says they gain from their craft “ confidence, self-esteem and a sense of value,” and that young people engaging with craft gain “a sense of autonomy and control”. <br /><br />Control isn’t exactly what I’d call the <em>construction</em> phase of my basket but it made the grade in the end. Letting go control is more possible weaving with other materials, though the collection of materials I’ve got on the loom at the moment are probably more controlling me than the other way around! Yet, as the <a href="http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/summary.php?id=crafts0610" target="_blank">Institute for Employment Studies points out about craft graduates</a>, people in our sector carry with them: “ persistence, self-motivation and belief, professional attitude, a strong work ethic and dedication to creative practice”, which should at least see me through the battle with the mohair in the warp. <br /><br /> Whichever walk of creative or business life you choose, such attributes are to be proud of. So here’s wishing you the joy of process, persistence and positive outcomes created by your own hands this week<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.</span>CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-89367950043206913972012-10-12T00:03:00.000+01:002012-10-12T00:03:00.913+01:00Serendipitous Silk ScrunchingI was reminded in the <a href="http://www.jekkasherbfarm.com/" target="_blank">Jekka’s Herb Farm</a> newsletter this week that my gardening heroine, Gertrude Jekyll, once said gardening teaches you “patience, watchfulness, ...industry and thrift...and above all..entire trust.” I certainly charged off to the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boos-Attic/351628434875783" target="_blank">Boos’ Attic</a> dye workshop last Saturday full of trust in our teacher Clare, determined to be as industrious as possible and achieve as much as I could with thrifty use of the dye colours, but allowing excitement totally to override the patience and watchfulness bit! I couldn’t wait to get started, especially as I’d been allowed to bring along some silk to try dyeing after we’d finished with the initial dyeing of yarns. <br /><br />I’d been visited by a little serendipity with silk at the last workshop. A few twists of the silk and a few dobs of colour produced the most amazing effects with the colours running into each other and tumbling over the white space. This time my excitement had been wound up (pardon the expression) by reading articles on different types of <a href="http://shibori.org/" target="_blank">Shibori</a> dyeing. The library had a copy of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shibori-Fabric-Folding-Pleating-Dyeing/dp/0855328959/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349987588&sr=1-10" target="_blank">Elfriede Moller’s book,</a> which amongst other techniques shows how to iron, block and tie fabrics for Shibori dyeing. I’d also seen an article in <a href="http://www.ashford.co.nz/newsite/site-pages/the-wheel-magazine" target="_blank">Ashford’s magazine The Wheel (issue 21),</a> about Arashi Shibori, delivering texture as well as effect. Only trouble was I didn’t have a drain pipe of the right size, nor some of the other kit suggested, so it took a little thinking outside the box to come up with alternatives. <br /><br />I wound a couple of silk ties around big stones and wrapped them with crochet cotton; silk scarves were ironed like Origami shapes in different triangles and pleats, then rolled and scrunched up with the cotton. And the small silk hankies got tied up and strung up every which-way to see what happened. As to adding the colour, I did a mixture of random dabbing here and there, squirting some through the ends of the silk rolls towards the middle, and even a little over-dyeing. Happily the Spirit of Serendipity was with me again, and the first round of results are here to see. <br /><br />One of the kind ladies on the workshop said one of the resulting scarves reminded her of “cathedral windows”. I was fascinated on that one by the feathering effect caused by the pleating, rolling and wrapping with the crochet cotton. Another one reminded me of a child’s kaleidoscope, with the coloured glass changing as it falls about into new patterns. The other two, in pinks, purples and browns, look as if I’ve been printing with autumn leaves, though in truth it’s just down to patterns of scrunching and tying. To make the colour penetrate more evenly maybe I need to deploy some of Gertrude’s ‘patient watchfulness’ and be a bit more thoughtful about where I pleat and tie in relation to what I want to achieve. <br />
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Yet whilst I’d love to know more about Shibori techniques, part of me just wants to enjoy the randomness of simply ‘having a go’. That’s what I love about fibre-related crafts. They allow every one of us to express ourselves, liberate our spirits, and learn new things, whether by luck or by teaching, but in both cases without feeling desperately harnessed to “the right way” of doing things. Here’s wishing you a liberating week of expanding your creative horizons and challenging your own perception of the status quo.CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-87908601035471914232012-10-04T22:51:00.000+01:002012-10-04T22:51:15.360+01:00Poetry, Power and the P DriveThank goodness it’s <a href="http://www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk/">National Poetry Day</a> today. My computer ‘troubles’, which have led to major upheavals in the past few days, are now over thanks to the heroic and willing cadre of two sons and husband, far better at gadgety things than I am. Collectively they managed to rescue my P Drive, comprising all my pictures, my e-mail, and most importantly, everything related to the day job. I can’t pretend to have been my calmer self during the process, but my spirits were empowered by <a href="http://www.winningwordspoetry.com/poems/thinking-2">Walter D Wintle’s poem ‘Thinking’</a>, which echoes my own mantra when faced by life’s little obstructions, namely: “I <strong><em><u>will</u></em></strong> win.” <br /><br />I only came across 'Thinking' this summer. It was one of the <a href="http://www.winningwordspoetry.com/">‘Winning Words’</a> series on BBC Radio 4, airing around the time of the London Olympics. It’s from <a href="http://faber.co.uk/catalog/winning-words/9780571290123">Walter Sieghart’s anthology of the same name</a>, which I promptly put on my birthday list and was privileged to receive. I treasure my poetry books, many of them going back into childhood and reflecting the seasons, like <a href="http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=2282&c=23">“Come little leaves” by American poet George Cooper</a>. Cooper’s lifespan must have crossed over with another of my favourites, <a href="http://www.robert-louis-stevenson.org/poetry">Robert Louis Stevenson</a>. His poem ‘Autumn Fires’ from ‘A Child’s Garden of Verses’ is highly evocative of this season of ‘..mists and mellow fruitfulness,’ as Shakespeare put it. <br /><br />There’s a fascinating <a href="http://www.robert-louis-stevenson.org/poetry/9-a-childrens-garden-of-verses">reproduction of the 1895 edition of ‘AChild’s Garden of Verses’</a> online, which will interest to anyone with a liking for or social history. It’s the vibrant colours in ‘Autumn Fires’ that tempt me first into the garden and then back to the loom with a head full of ideas. Matching nature’s glory isn’t easy but I pay my woolly homage each autumn, working with whatever materials I can find. Mohair (from Angora goats) isn’t easy to weave with but it’s worth the perseverance. It gets all stuck together in the warp on a rigid heddle loom but with careful handling you can get around it. And it has its own powerful effect on texture, changing the whole feel of the piece, making it misty, soft and desirable. Fibre fashions come and go, but for me weaving is all about texture, and, at this time of year, creating a fusion of colour worthy of the average autumn leaf. <br />
<br />I doubt if there have been many poems about natural fibres, goats or sheep for that matter being recited during <a href="http://www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk/">National Poetry Day</a>, but if anyone has any to share, about spinning, weaving or any other fibre crafts, you’re welcome to let us all know. I saw some good Haiku coming through during the day via <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9587235/National-Poetry-Day-best-poetry-tweets.html#">Telegraph Books’ poetry tweets</a>, and what’s more, to reinforce the stereotype of the British being eccentric, I gather today saw the investiture of the first <a href="https://twitter.com/canalpoetry">Canal Laureate, Jo Bell</a>, working with the Canals & River Trust. Perhaps Jo will create some poetry around sheep in misty fields on summer mornings as life beside the canal towpath starts to awaken – maybe we ought to ask if such‘requests’ are allowed? <br /><br /> I see the Poetry Society now has a <a href="http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/info/prescription">‘PoetryPrescription’ critical review service</a>, to encourage better poetry writing. But poetry, like art and textiles, is highly subjective, and besides which I for one am far too introverted to send in any of my scribblings for comment! Poets are brave people, distilling the essence of their person and experiences into a few lines and putting it out there for everyone to see. Maybe we should all take a metaphorical leaf out of their collective book and indulge in a little more self-expression in our constrained modern lives. Here’s wishing you a powerfully liberating week with your creative exploits - and one that’s completely techno-trouble-free.CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-56133677842882015882012-09-27T22:23:00.000+01:002012-09-27T22:23:06.309+01:00Of buried textiles and boardroomsI’ve never seen archaeology presenter Neil Oliver look so fascinated. He was presented, in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01n3gbj/Vikings_Episode_3" target="_blank">episode 3 of the BBC’s ‘Vikings’</a> the other night, with a Viking woollen mitten around 1,000 years old: his eyes lit up with appreciation. Viking women were highly proficient in textile production of all kinds, but only recently have the heights of their achievements come to light. After reading <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/women_01.shtml" target="_blank">Judith Jesch’s fascinating article</a> about Viking women’s lives, I went surfing to find out more about the Oseberg ship burial of a high status Viking woman. <br /><br />They say time flies when you’re enjoying yourself, and steeped in <a href="http://forest.gen.nz/Medieval/articles/Oseberg/textiles/TEXTILE.HTM" target="_blank">Anne Stine Ingstad’s article</a> about the incredible preservation of the Oseberg ship textiles, its 30 pages slipped by before I knew it! It’s clear that Viking women were not only able to marry beauty with utility in their textile crafts but were also held in high regard for their skills, wherever they were based. Anne Stine Ingstad’s article reminds us of the precision, the organisation (of what today we’d the ‘supply chain’) and the decisiveness needed to create such high quality woven articles. <br /><br />Precision, organisation, decisiveness are not new terms in the female lexicon. Yet at the moment there seems to be a plethora of women’s networking organisations and <a href="http://www.iwib.co.uk/?aid=WITBA&cid=WITBA" target="_blank">conferences</a> emerging - and gaining members and delegates – as if these words were new to our realm of experience. I have to admit that I find programmes like <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mnwcb" target="_blank">Hilary Devey’s ‘Women at the top’</a> just a tiny bit embarrassing. The notion that women are ‘being held back’ just doesn’t seem to fit with the business women I know today, whatever their line of country. <br /><br />It’s well accepted that gender diversity in the workplace makes for better business. I can therefore understand the ethos behind campaigns like <a href="http://www.women1st.co.uk/" target="_blank">Women 1st</a>, which is aiming to increase the ratio of women board members in the hospitality, passenger transport, travel and tourism sector (from roughly 6% today), thus ensuring better representation for the 60% female workforce. I also totally agree there are still bastions where greater female representation would create a genuinely better working environment and future. <br /><br />The new UK organisation of <a href="http://www.womenonboards.co.uk/" target="_blank">Women on Boards</a>, launched in London earlier this week, is seeking greater female representation on company boards, aiming to achieve a mix that includes at least 40% women. There’s also the slightly lower targeting <a href="http://www.30percentclub.org.uk/" target="_blank">30% Club</a>, supported by some pretty major companies. The number of women on boards does need to be improved though in my view by merit rather than by quota. <br /><br />I’m certainly not ‘anti-men’ either. It’s just that women bring a different perspective to business management that can beneficially run alongside the male mindset. Women are mental ‘weavers’, capable of bringing together many threads and make them work as a whole. At the same time we’re able to look ahead at the bigger picture, tracking down the resources needed to achieve continuing good results. We simply want to be recognised, as were Viking women a thousand years ago, for the different but equally valuable contribution we offer. Here’s wishing you a week of opportunities to weave your own positive future.CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-46367258784285350772012-09-21T00:06:00.001+01:002012-09-21T00:19:42.809+01:00Old soundscapes and new business landscapes<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
I was away with the day job last week but was interested to hear on the radio the ‘<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9750000/9750779.stm" target="_blank">sonic tribute’ to the closing of Bush House</a> in central London, the home of the BBC World Service for so long. It was eerily fascinating – almost like being inside the mind of the composer – or perhaps I should say compiler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With soundscapes now featuring regularly in art galleries it set me thinking about the interconnectedness of arts, crafts and other disciplines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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They say as one door shuts, another one opens, and the closing of Bush House was linked to a piece of better news for all of us in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">original</i> Doctor Who generation:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the re-opening of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19568120" target="_blank">BBC Radiophonic Workshop</a> in response to the advance of the digital age in music and art. The Radiophonic Workshop will doubtless return to being a leader in using electronic technology to push forward innovation in music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the same way today saw a fascinating crossing of cultures in the Crafts Council’s <a href="http://www.assemble.org.uk/programme/whats-on" target="_blank">Assemble 2012 event</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Alas I wasn’t able to go, but from the resulting Tweets it seems to have opened the doors to a vibrant cross-fertilisation of ideas. Talks ranging from ‘The Craft of Surgery’ and ‘Embroidered Engineering’ to ‘Biomaterials and Future Making’ have given participants from many disciplines an opportunity to step out together along new and innovative paths.<o:p> </o:p></div>
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At the same time, the Crafts Council is examining collaboration as a means of creating monetary value for makers, through its brief but pointed exhibition <a href="http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/about-us/press-room/view/2012/exploring-craft-and-luxury" target="_blank">‘Exploring Craft and Luxury’</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s on for the next few days at the <a href="http://thedesignjunction.co.uk/about/#" target="_blank">Design Junction</a> as part of the <a href="http://www.londondesignfestival.com/" target="_blank">London Design Festival.</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Monetary value is not usually the starting point for craft makers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But would it really hamper our creativity if we took a step back and thought first about markets and creating a viable promotional niche?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Like artists and photographers (including those capturing stunning images for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19637073" target="_blank">Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2012</a>), <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> we </span>makers start with ideas, colours, inspiration and materials, and work hopefully towards selling our work. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t have to cross the divide totally and look solely at the monetary aspects, but matching a little more commercial sensibility to our creativity might enable more of us to continue doing the things we love, even in a recessionary economic environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The occupations of those in the <a href="http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/dinamic-content/media/Research/Research%20Centres/CICWL/100W2Wsupplement2012.pdf" target="_blank">FTSE’s 2012 list of ‘100 Women to Watch’ in business</a>, compiled with Cranfield University, demonstrate women’s abilities to look ahead, foresee risks, manage complex finances, communicate views and meanings, and to extract the best from themselves and from others. Craftswoman or businesswoman, those talents are within all of us. Here’s wishing you a week in which you can use all of them to their full potential.</div>
CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-16644803967097782422012-09-06T23:39:00.001+01:002012-09-06T23:59:39.981+01:00Horizon, Hockney and the Hippocampus<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
“It’s blue.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“No it’s grey but with some blue in the grey.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Well to my mind it’s definitely blue.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Re-painting the garden table last weekend highlighted just how differently my other half and I see colours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as if to underline the problem along came the news this week that <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2197888/Men-women-really-DO-things-differently-Our-brains-process-colours-different-ways.html?ito=feeds-newsxml" target="_blank">men and women really do process colour information differently</a> in the brain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Women apparently see more detail in colours, whilst men are better seeing small detail in moving objects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, research available out there in internet land seems also to suggest that language and colour are linked in the brain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps if you’re a linguist you get an even better view of the spectrum!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The polymath Stephen Fry chose to launch his new series of Fry’s English Delight with a programme on the language of colour a few weeks ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00xck46" target="_blank">David Hockney, being interviewed by Stephen Fry,</a> suggested that we see colours through our memories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can understand what he means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vivid yellow and chocolate black of a seemingly giant sunflower head, seen against a South-of-France blue sky is certainly deeply embedded in my psyche from travels with my family in childhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Holding these powerful yet very individual stimuli to account when trying to reach agreement over a paint colour card is thus very likely to generate differences of opinion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No two people’s experiences in life are exactly the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About a year ago, the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b013c8tb" target="_blank">BBC Horizon series dedicated a programme to the science of colour perception</a>, from cultural, medical and psychological perspectives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Expressing what you see may well depend on the angle of light and its reflection where you live, and its consequent effects on the development of your local language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The programme-makers seemed to find it curious that a certain African tribe spoke of water as being ‘white’ as opposed to our notion of it being ‘blue’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you live in a parched land defined mainly by earth colours, you’re going to have a different view, not just of the palette of colours but of their significance too, compared, say to people featured in Michael Palin’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Himalaya series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In those lands, snow melt water brings forth a mass flowering of many hues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These colours are reflected in traditional dancing costumes, such as those in <a href="http://palinstravels.co.uk/static-56?searchbox=Bhutan&type=photo&limit=8&offset=2&totrows=34" target="_blank">Basil Pao’s photography for the series</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the same way Scottish fabrics often reflect the mosses and mountains, heaths and heathers in their landscape of origin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<a href="http://bigthink.com/think-tank/color-perception-the-brain" target="_blank">Neuroscience </a>would have us all boiling our life experiences down to a chemical soup in the brain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet because none of our lives are exactly the same – thank goodness – there will always be differences in perception and use of colour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let’s celebrate the individuality which brings us the Monets, Gaugins and Hockneys, and that brings us a world of symbolic patterns, textures and <a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/c/colours" target="_blank">colours</a> in our <a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/d/dyed-textile" target="_blank">textiles</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s wishing you a week coloured with interest and good fortune in your making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-48499186314133368182012-08-30T22:28:00.002+01:002012-08-30T22:28:27.530+01:00From chutney to the starsWhen Professor <a href="http://www.hawking.org.uk/" target="_blank">Stephen Hawking</a> told the capacity crowd at the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19408222" target="_blank">Paralympics opening ceremony</a> the other night to “Look up at the stars” and be curious, I’m pretty sure my green tomato chutney wasn’t featuring in his mental landscape. Being curious about everything though makes for a fascinating life. Having been both amateur astronomer and chutney-maker in my time I can vouch that both involve a good deal of exploration, of one’s self and one’s environment. <br /><br />As a small child, before my brother was born, when sent to bed in summer I’d invariably creep to the curtains and watch the sun set and the stars come out. As an adult, after putting my children to bed, I remember watching progress of, I think it was, <a href="http://www.planets.org.uk/comet/swift-tuttle" target="_blank">Comet Swift-Tuttle</a> standing in a cardboard box under an ideal dark sky in the garden of our thatched country cottage, hoping my feet wouldn’t get too cold. Even today I’m delighted by the continuing detailed images from <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/m68.html" target="_blank">Hubble,</a> like this picture of globular cluster M68. This is probably more what Stephen Hawking had in mind! <br /><br />Chutney too has warranted a lot of curiosity, from receiving an <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Preserves-Preserving-National-Federation-Institutes/dp/0356061264/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346358019&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Olive Odell</a> book on preserving as a young wife, to my continued lapping up of new recipes and new fruits to try. My <a href="http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=131" target="_blank">Medlar</a> tree delivered in abundance for the first time last year, involving a frenzy of recipe searching, and netting several jars of very tasty medlar jelly and even a medlar tart, recipe origin anno domini 1545, thanks to <a href="http://www.godecookery.com/trscript/trsct025.html" target="_blank">a fantastic site full of ancient recipes</a> – it’s a whole universe for exploring in itself! Curiosity is something that should never be allowed to fizzle out in human beings, however tired or busy we become. You just don’t know what you can do until you try. <br /><br />Stephen Hawking’s words at the opening ceremony were poignantly motivating, telling us that whatever difficulties we face in life, there’s “always something you can do”. And finding out what you can do is a worthwhile journey to make. I didn’t know I could spin – or would even like to – until trying it four years ago, and my has there been much fluffy water under the bridge since then. Fibres from Ramie (my latest conquest) to Yak, Possum and Llama, Angora bunny fluff and Angora goat (mohair) and multifarious sheep crosses, have expanded my horizons beyond my wildest dreams, from my first faltering try at a spinning wheel.<br /><br />What we as a society can do if we try is summed up for me in that other <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/gallery-indexEvents.html" target="_blank">Curiosity,</a> the one sitting quietly working away on Mars and sending back phenomenal images like this of the landscape at the foot of Mount Sharp on the Red Planet. Whilst I’m enjoying a bit of blue sky backing the red colourings around me in at the start of autumn, Curiosity is almost mirroring the colours I see in the landscape of another world. And that, to me, is utterly fascinating. Here’s wishing you a week full of worthwhile curiosities.CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-20259963122898679342012-08-24T00:00:00.003+01:002012-08-24T00:00:51.453+01:00Opening Statement<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Firstly apologies for not updating the blog last week: I was away - not with the fairies but with best buddy Frances exploring the West Country, and trying to steer well clear of anything related to computers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything else, though, we enjoyed in abundance:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>good friendship, tea & cakes, <a href="http://www.gertrudejekyll.co.uk/" target="_blank">Gertrude Jekyll</a> gardens at <a href="http://www.hestercombe.com/" target="_blank">Hestercombe</a> and <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/barrington-court" target="_blank">Barrington</a>, a boot full of willow collected from <a href="http://www.musgrovewillows.co.uk/rw_shop/ShopViewCat.php?&dx=1&ob=3&rpn=index&new_cat=1515&sid=f14b70ba8758c63d3aa6309837409480" target="_blank">Musgroves</a>, and local cider and cheese – a winning combination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also enjoyed our first go at using a peg loom, weaving the rug opposite in the hotel room over 2 evenings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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We certainly got some strange looks from chamber maids and hotel staff coming in with a peg loom and leaving skeins and balls of wool around the room as we worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took just a couple of hours on each of two evenings to complete this, our opening statement in rug-making terms. I could never see how a peg loom could work, until we lifted the first set of pegs and slid the weaving down the warp threads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even then it didn’t seem real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would this really hold together?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you can see it certainly did, and now I can’t wait to make a bigger one, perhaps even using some of my <a href="http://www.outwardimages.co.uk/" target="_blank">mega yarns</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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This small but epic production is on a linen warp and comprises fleece from a sheep called Noggin, sadly now in the Great Sheepfold in the Sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It represents the whole gamut of fibre preparation from washing and carding the fleece to spinning, plying, dyeing and weaving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Noggin rug yarn was dyed with plant dyes only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re interested, from top to bottom (up to down) they area;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>exhausted woad; exhausted Brazilwood; woad over weld, dyers’ greenweed and exhausted dyers’ greenweed, Brazilwood, woad, pear leaves modified with iron water, Golden Rod, Golden Rod with pretty exhausted woad, medium-exhausted Brazilwood and exhausted woad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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It’s given me encouragement to get plant-dyeing again before the dyers’ greenweed and Golden Rod are completely over in the garden, so I’m busy washing fleece on sunny days – a beautiful Leicester cross with lustre picked up from <a href="http://www.thefarmanimalsanctuary.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Farm Animal Sanctuary</a> stand at Fibre-East.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve already got a haul of my own madder root, grown from seed and left for <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Colour-Prepare-Natural-Plant/dp/1845335694" target="_blank">Jenny Dean’</a>s suggested 3 years before harvesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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My bedtime reading in the hotel, after excited bouts of weaving, has also inspired me onwards. It was from Jenny Dean’s blog: the three entries on <a href="http://www.jennydean.co.uk/wordpress/?p=888" target="_blank">Anglo-Saxon dye experiments,</a> in which she used only plants, including to produce the alum mordant replacements, and came up with a fantastic array of colours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From a kitchen now scented by coloured willow, plants cut for dyeing and yarn waiting for its transformation, here’s wishing you all a similarly colourful and productive week ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2163604410955336529.post-57010153282315124382012-08-09T23:23:00.002+01:002012-08-09T23:36:19.298+01:00Bees, blackberries and botanicsEven if you ask them most politely, bees are just too busy to stand still while you photograph them. I want to let them have the best of the Golden Rod (Solidago), before I take some for natural dyeing on recently-purchased fleeces. At this time of year all my interest coalesce: bees (I’m a would-be bee keeper), plants - their uses and history, and wool. <br />
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With the huge range of acid dyes and ready-dyed Merino tops (rovings) available, it’s thought-provoking to realise just how much time our ancestors must have spent achieving a wide range of colours from natural materials. Having been lucky enough to go on a course run by natural dye expert <a href="http://www.jennydean.co.uk/wordpress" target="_blank">Jenny Dean</a>, and having successfully replicated shades of the colours in her <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Colour-Prepare-Natural-Plant/dp/1845335694/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344538947&sr=1-1" target="_blank">‘Wild Colour’ book</a>, I can vouch for the necessity of having all one’s dyeing ducks ready in a row before starting. <br />
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Dye plants feature in the new ‘Garden of Edible and Useful Plants’ at London’s <a href="http://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/" target="_blank">Chelsea Physic Garden,</a> which opened a few months ago. The Chelsea Physic is one of London’s hidden treasures whose influential history is somewhat masked by its lower profile today. I say that with great affection, being one of those who’ve studied and received a Diploma in Plants & Plantsmanship in a slightly musty classroom in the Chelsea Physic’s inner sanctum. <br />
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The head gardener’s aim for the new space is: “to bring people closer to the plants which are inextricably woven into our everyday lives”. Have we forgotten already how inextricable that link is? I hope not, or the work of centuries will have been for naught. Making sure you had the right plant for making medicine or indeed for dyeing resource-expensive cloth in times past was essential. The eyesight of many scribes and medieval monks was devoted to keeping the knowledge chain intact. You can see the intensity of effort by tracing illustrations of the common blackberry from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Dioscurides" target="_blank">Juliana Codex</a> (the Vienna Dioscorides), through other copies of both Dioscorides’ and also Apuleius’ texts, such as the <a href="http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/medieval/mss/bodl/130.htm" target="_blank">11th Century Bury Herbal</a>. (See if you recognise woad or madder in the Bury Herbal pictures!)<br />
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A blossoming of interest in herbal cures and dyes amongst intellectual ladies like <a href="http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/mgmh.html" target="_blank">Maud Grieve</a> in the last century gave the knowledge of centuries a helping hand into the modern era. Today, the mantle of spreading useful plant information to create a sustainable future has been taken up by the <a href="http://www.pfaf.org/user/default.aspx" target="_blank">Plants for a Future</a> database, which is a superb resource. It alerted me to the existence of a <a href="http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Asperula+tinctoria" target="_blank">Dyers’ Woodruff</a> I hadn’t come across: like every human being I still have a lot to learn. <br />
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Blackberries have various medicinal uses as well as offering potential - if rather elusive - to the natural dyer. My own experiments dyeing with blackberries are mixed. Thinking I’d sufficiently mordanted my Teeswater locks to achieve a purple-pink colour, they promptly turned smokey blue when I washed and felted my yarn. But experimentation is all part of the fun, as Jenny Dean’s trials re-createing <a href="http://www.jennydean.co.uk/wordpress/?p=917" target="_blank">Anglo-Saxon dye colours</a> show. <br />
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There’s just so much out there that could bring us back into balance with nature. Here’s hoping you find something natural that opens new vistas in your coming week.CamiKnitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325179905514549180noreply@blogger.com0