Knitting and stitching Show

It used to be an annual event for me to visit this show when it came to Harrogate. That was back in the days when I lived in Yorkshire and I was a knitter, now I live in the Netherlands and I am a felter and a knitter. So I was pleased to be able to combine a visit to the show , now looking also from a felters perspective , with a visit to the UK to help look after my new grandson.

Compared to the equivalent shows I have been to in the Netherlands in the intervening years it was HUGE and incredibly busy - and I went on Thursday. It was great to meet up with Yulia Badian and see her mermaid project. Also to talk to Dionne Swift , and to Alysn Midgelow-Marsden and see their fantastic textiles. I enjoyed seeing the felted work, from the Black Sheep exhibition that I had only see as pictures before.

A piece by Maria Friese.

Amazing fine felted bowls by Gladys Paulus

I was amused by these quirky knitted items , so retro.

And I think this knitted dress is truly fantastic.

I did manged to persuade myself that although cheap, 10 balls of orange wool was not going to help my stash busting targets and was probably not a good colour. But I did buy a few things.

 

Overall it was great to return .

 

 

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What is the right size ?

I recently saw some felted baby boottees with crochet tops. I thought I'd adopt the idea with a twist and convert a pair I made a while ago into having knitted tops, I used variegated sock wool for the knitting. It worked well. But I wondered about the size , they seemed a little large.

I have a knitting friend, Ria , who has knitted more than 300 pairs of new born baby boottees, since 2006. All embroidered with the name of the baby. What a lovely thing to do. Here's the comparison between the expert Ria's boottee and mine.

Clearly mine are rather on the large size.

So I thought I'd try again.

Here's a comparison of the large and small resists used for the two pairs, the smaller pair do have shorter legs to allow for the knitting.

After completion comparison. Neither the right size , I think one is too big and one to small.

 

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A new beginning ......

Tomorrow is a land mark day for me as I will become officially retired. After 36 years of working as an engineer in the petrochemicals and oil industry I am hanging up my PPE , calculator and stopping attending all meetings. Not that it has all been bad , far from it , but it's time for me to move on.

This last week I have been practicing for my new life, on a final week of holiday. Lots of felting , some cooking and a long walk.

I have also been organising my felting room including separating my knitting books from my felting books.

Knitting still wins shame !.

Finishing felting and knitting WIPs.

 

A felted tree ornament.

Two rag dolls made many years ago by my mother modeling a couple of the baby hats I have completed. Patterns from one of the collections from the talented woolywormhead.

Some carded sky ready for a new project.

It feels good .

What now . Well as we used to say at work , focus and finish!.

Finish my felting course by say October.

Decide where my felting focus will be. This will require some search and experimentation so will not happen over night , maybe September or maybe even December.

Be organized , and have structure to my week. This is little difficult at the moment as I await the birth of my first grandchild , who does not knew anything about planning yet .

And eventually on the medium term move back to the UK

Enough to test my artistic skills and keep my project management skills working I think.

 

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Knitting Hats

I continue to get organized for my course, collect yet more fibre and learn how to mix paint. In the meantime time I have been amusing myself by knitting hats.

First is the Campden Cap. This is a Woolly Wormhead design and the first of her patterns I have knitted. Woolywomhead is a hat architect. I can really recommend her patterns. They are clearly written and come in multiple sizes and are often just a little bit different . This cap attracted me as I was keen to see how to make a peak in a knitted hat. It actually has a small piece of Ikea draw liner knitted inside it.

Next has come two head warmers , knitted first and then with the addition of felt flowers. One for each of my daughters to match the cowls I made for them last winter.

Finally in this hat marathon , I started a KAL - A knit Along . This is for a Woolly Wormhead mystery hat and there are lots of other people knitting along all round the world. I am using some sublime yarn , made from angora and merino, that I have had in my stash for years. The KAL takes place during November and here is my first days work , about half way along the brim. Interesting to see how this will develop into a hat!

For more of Woolywormhead designs go to www.woollywormhead.com

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WIPs

Well as I am in a bit of a lull feltingwise whilst I wait for the final assessment from ArtyBird of my course work. I decided now was the time to revamp my small felting room. I have extended the table, courtesy of Ikea and almost painted all the walls white. This was a real slog , and I have never known pale blue paint be so hard to obliterate .

Here it is almost ready and too tidy for creative thought and my first and biggest WIP

In the meantime to keep my creative thoughts flowing I have been working on my knitting WIPs. Time to try and finish a few. I can't admit to the real number of knitting WIPs I have. That is a secret. Here's just two.

 

A Camden hat by WoolyWormhead. I was going to take part in the KAL for this hat on ravelry but somehow have been distracted by the painting. This will be a Christmas present for the hat lover in my family.

The start and possibly the finish of a blanket, unless I get on and order some more wool. This is also a present for an undefined date in the future , so no need to hurry with the ordering.

One things for sure I need to finish something before felting overtakes me again. Which will win?

 

 

 

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