Tag Archives: knit

The Woollen Woods in Derbyshire

Posted on by Abi

A month or so ago I wrote about the upcoming Woollen Woods project that I was taking part in. Knitters from near and far created woodland creatures to be hung in Belper Park Woods as part of the Here and There Art Trail taking place in the town. The event was a huge success and seemed to delight everyone who was able to visit.

For those who were too far away or otherwise couldn’t make it I thought I’d post up a few snapshots plus a wonderful video created by the chaps at Ablewild.owlswool

I forgot to take my camera so these were only taken on my phone but the animals were so fabulous that even a dodgy phone picture can’t spoil them! I think the pic above should be named ‘Owls in Love’.

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Red squirrels eating acorns, ‘real’ red squirrels are such a rare sight that it was lovely to see our native breed even if only in knitted form. This must be Mummy, Daddy and baby squirrel.

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These three snails look distinctly like they might be up to no good, perhaps they were gossiping about the other animals in the woods that day.

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This guy has obviously eaten all of the acorns and is now having a rest by some beautiful flowers.

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There were even tree climbing bunnies, a sight you’ll only see in Derbyshire!! No doubt he was trying to get a better look at all the other chaps hiding in the trees.

I didn’t get a decent photo of everything (there was loads there!) and I was rather caught up hunting with my kids to find it all. The following video shows off a lot more but even this misses out some of the pieces, it just gives a wonderful feel of the whole event. My kids feature a lot in the video, my youngest took far more photos with his Grannie’s camera than I did. Hopefully the event will take place again next year and it is definitely worth a visit if you can.

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The Here And There Art Walk with Woollen Woods in Belper, Derbyshire.

Posted on by Abi

During the weekend 23rd – 25th May 2015 the Here and There Art Walk is due to take place in Belper Parks wood in Derbyshire. Artists of all kinds have been encouraged to join in with this event and artwork should be popping up amongst the trees for all to see. Rather than getting out my pen and paper I’m joining in with the yarn bomb inspired by the Woollen Woods event taking place countrywide. All manner of knitted woodland creatures will be taking up residence in the branches and it’s sure to be a welcome sight for any families, dog walkers or art trail visitors.

woollenwoodssquirrelUnfortunately my contribution is rather tiny at the moment. I’ve got no excuse really, I just keep forgetting to knit! In fact my knitting has been so slow to progress, that you might be forgiven thinking I was trying to break some kind of world record for the slowest growth of stitches! I have contributed a mouse so far (he’s quite small though) and I’ve been knitting a squirrel forever, so long in fact that I thought he was a fox until I double checked the pattern and realised I’d forgotten what I was making. At this rate I really should be knitting a snail!

If you want to get involved (and you’re faster than me) there’s still time to knit, crochet or otherwise combine textiles to be included in the woods. All you need to do is get in contact with the Yarn bombing organiser Anne Clark of Anne Clark Handmade and I’m sure she’d love to see your efforts.

If you don’t fancy getting involved with making any of the creatures then do pop along to see them all in situ, hopefully the weather will be good but the knitting should be at least partially protected from any rain under the leaves and branches.

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This Old Thing – Vintage Patterns

Posted on by Abi

this-old-thingIf you’ve been watching Channel 4 recently then chances are that you caught a bit of Dawn O’Porter’s new show ‘This Old Thing’. In it Dawn tries to convince vintaphobes (my new word, do you like it?) to swap their brand new mass produced clothing for the unique wonders of vintage. She’s mostly successful and is certainly introducing a whole new group to second-hand (excuse me vintage) clothing.dawnoporter_2954682b

As for myself I’ve always had a bit of a love hate relationship with ‘vintage’. I love historical fashions (I’d be dressed in a bonnet everyday if I could!) and I love being unique so vintage definitely appeals. However I don’t always love vintage stores, I’ve visited several which were cramped, badly lit, musty smelling and generally uninviting. However all of that would be nothing if I bagged a real vintage treasure, unfortunately many are now overpriced and underwhelming and their idea of good quality clearly differs from my own.

On the flip side when vintage is done well, enticing stores with bright colours and enthusiastic staff, it can be incredibly exciting. Only the other day I was bouncing about my house with glee having found a 1970s Clothkits dress in perfect condition and it cost me the princely sum of £8!

However I have an unwavering passion for vintage patterns! With them I can create wonders from the past with my own two hands, I could even use vintage fabric if I wish. The end result is just as unique, and even better, I can tailor things to my own choice and size. I could even make them again!

patternRecent acquisitions include a wonderful collection of knitting patterns. I can actually remember many of these sitting about the houses of my relatives. The best creation by far though is a wonderful Teddy pattern that my Granny knitted for my brother when he was a baby.snidneys2

The Teddy was named Sidney and was dearly loved. Unfortunately my brother (being a baby and all) had the audacity to throw up on him and thanks to a trip in the washing machine he stretched and never looked the same. Despite this Sidney became something of a phenomenon in my little village and before we knew it Sidneys (all named after the original) were popping up everywhere, knitted loosely to resemble our stretched one. Of course what none of those knitting Mommas knew was that Sidney was named by my Father after Sid Snot who was one of Kenny Everett’s many characters!snidneys2-crop

I picked up my needles recently and knitted my bro a brand new bear. However what I hadn’t expected was the size difference between the new bear and the original, it goes to show what a washing machine can do to hand knitting. If it hadn’t been for this gorgeous vintage pattern Sidney would have spent the rest of his days alone but now he has a significantly smaller brother to keep him company.

So I guess Dawn is right, there’s still life in This Old Thing. 🙂

 

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