Selvedge

A few weeks back I had the pleasure of accompanying the John Arbon Textiles gang to the Selvedge Spring Fair. The show was held in London, at the Chelsea Town Hall - a beautiful building! Fibre-y shows I've been to in the past have all been held in big (and rather unattractive) venues, so this was a very welcome change. Warm wooden walls and lovely architectural details were the perfect backdrop for the array of beautiful textures and colours that were on display at the show. 

For those who don't know, Selvedge is a magazine that focuses on textiles arts and artisans. Each page is beautiful and inspirational - can you tell I like it? The show featured venders selling everything from vintage Hungarian textiles, hand embroidered woolen dressing gowns (I might have bought one...), intricately hand stitched dolls, French antiques and so much more. I could have left with a very big hole in my bank account, and came very close to it!

In my usual Emily fashion, I was so swept away with the display that I neglected to gather the names of a lot of the talented people I spoke to, but I'll do my best to reference the photos I've taken.

Of course, my day began with a visit to John and Juliet. Their stand looked lovely, and the cold weather outside seemed to be inspiring shoppers to keep their toes warm in a squishy pair of wool socks.

I have hunted high and low for the list of venders at the Spring Fair, and come up empty handed. Sadly, I'll just have to share my pictures, hope you are inspired at the least!

 

I just love how delicate the stitching is on these dolls. Even though their faces are out of focus, you can see their tiny little mouths and rosy cheeks have so much detail.

I flipped out for these stunning hand woven blankets, pillows and throws from Catarina Riccabona. For once I had the sense to take a photo with her name in it. The way she combined colours with naturals and textures within stripes and...everything. I want one of her blankets in my life...someday...

This was my favourite piece from the collection of vintage Hungarian textiles. It's a small tablecloth, and the most special thing about it is that there is a section in the center that has faded with time and use, so it's colours range from bright red into dusty pink.

I bought myself a beautiful ribbon from this basket, to use in my hair. Of course, I chose one that was too short...so now it's hanging from a peg board. Curse my thick hair!

This was, without a doubt, the most exciting thing that I saw at the show. It is an antique hand embroidered fox!!!!! Look at the rabbits running across it's back, and the squirrel in the top left. I cannot imagine hand-stitching this. Obviously it was made my the most patient and determined person who ever lived! I foolishly didn't get the name of the lovely girl who was selling it, and can't find her anywhere - apologies if you are out there!

Another lovely stand, and another forgotten name. Throughout the day, I began to refer to this stand as "the gray folks" I'm sure that they have a much more lovely and eloquent name than that! I had to get a photo of them for my mom - just check out those linen aprons. They also had hand dipped candles and felted slippers...all gray of course!

Cute silly things

 

More fun and pretty things... 

 

There was so much to see and do, and I've made a couple of amazing purchases...too many I'm sure. When the weather is warmer up here on the moor, I will get out my new silk frock and take some photos, but that's all for the time being.

new pattern approaches

hiya folks! I have some rather exciting (I think) news...I've been working on a new hat pattern in the lovely JA Textiles Knit by Numbers merino. The pattern is almost ready to be released, just a few little tweaks and couple more photos and it'll be there! I have a lovely group of test knitters hard at work as well, and can't wait to see their creations as they pop up on Ravelry.

 It's a very simple hat, with an easily memorized textured stitch pattern, hidden contrast colour in the brim and one more little pop of colour on top - a pom pom! The pattern should be all ready for knitting before April rolls around, so stay tuned.

 I'm currently knitting up my third! The troubling thing is that once I start dreaming up colour combinations, I can't really stop myself...wonder how may hats I'll knit before I'm satisfied? I think everyone knows what they're getting for Christmas this year, just hope you like pom poms!

UPDATE: the pattern will be available by April 2013. You can find it on Ravelry here.

UNRAVEL

Hello!

After a very, very lengthy pause, I'm back with a quick post about the past (very fun) weekend. Since my arrival in England, I've been hearing about Unravel in Farnham - all good things of course. So, on Saturday I journeyed up there on the train to meet John and Juliet who had a stand there for the weekend.

The venue, the Maltings, was such a cool place! There were loads of little rooms and corners to explore, all filled with great knitted decorations and funny little bits of textile goodness. 

I always set out for knitting shows saying to myself that I don't need to buy any yarn. Always. Sometimes I've been able to stay strong and not empty my wallet. Not this time. It was too exciting to see sellers and yarn that I've never seen/met in person before; Skein Queen and Juno were certainly hilights.

Old favourites were there as well, the Natural Dye Studio and their beautiful (obviously) naturally dyed yarns. I am not biased in my love for them, even though Phil and Amanda's lovely daughter Daisy happens to be my flatmate.

Meghan and Lydia of Pom Pom magazine - I have subscribed since the beginning - had an awesome stand filled with all the projects I've planned to knit from the past four issues.

 

 

 

I have loved those mittens for ages...must get busy and knit them! The pattern is called Vivo, for anyone who is curious, and they are indeed intarsia, worked in the round!

The John Arbon stand was lovely as usual, and generally too busy for me to squeeze in! 

 

I did manage this pic from the stage above the stand. I especially love the fibre set up (bottom). A very exciting addition to the stand this year was just a teaser of the colours I've been blending at the mill. I surprised myself in creating 2 colours that are almost identical to ones that I used to dye; North Sea and Unpredictable. I've snagged a skein of each for myself, and am allready knitting up a project in Unpredictable. Here's a peek at both...

 

 

I have more colours planned, so look out for them soon ;)

Now, onto the part where I loose control and buy too much yarn. I almost made it out of the Juno stand , but then panicked about someone else getting the yarn I wanted and rushed back. Is that entirely nuts?

 

3 skeins of Milly Singles in colour Faded. At the moment, these are my favourite!

My first skeins of Becoming Art (very surprised to see yarn from back home all the way over here in England). I couldn't resist 2 skeins of Cielo Sport in Clove and one in Fig.

Apparently the photo of Fig isn't going to load. I'm sure that you're getting bored of all my photos by now anyway.

And then there is the dark horse. It's the colour that I might not always go for, but decided that I couldn't live without. It's fyberspates Vivacious DK in tweed imps.

 

 If you can believe it I did buy a bit more yarn than that, but I ran out of sunlight. oh dear.

It was so lovely to run into Ce and Dani, the Uncommon Thread and Lioness Arts, respectively and even come across Alli, a friend from Canada who has also made the move to England recently.

All in all it was a very successful and action packed Sunday. Now, to get knitting!

I've been away too long

Just as I was getting into a routine with blogging (and liking it very much!) I was thrown off course by loosing my internet connection. Just over a month ago now, I moved into a bungalow in Barbrook with my good friend Daisy. We've been having a lovely time settling in - a proper post about the new gaff will follow! Sadly, this is the reason why I've been missing for so long. Hopefully posting will be back on track soon.

In the meanwhile, I have lots of little posts planned to catch you up on this past month's goings on. Lots has been happening!

In November I journeyed to London to meet my very good friend who was visiting from Toronto. Fun! We had a to-do list about a mile long, and got straight to exploring as soon as he arrived - at the Borough Market. Having been there once before I knew what I was in store for, and arrived hungry.

On my first visit, I was completely overwhelmed by all the food I wanted to buy, cook and eat. The selection of local venders is fantastic! This time, I tried to remain calm and think about the things that I could bring back to Barbrook with me (sadly, this meant that I could not buy the entire wheel of comté.) I could, however,  indulge in the grilled cheese sandwich! The grilled cheese folks were also serving up roasted potatoes with this molten cheesy goop on top...I almost died.

It was lucky really that I couldn't stock up on breads, cakes, fresh game, fish, fruit and veg....I'm sure I don't need all that food!

We had a lovely time wandering around,  taking in the delicious smells and checking out what everyone else was eating. It was great to see really specialized vendors as well - like the liquorice people (at least, that is what I know them as). They were offering real and fresh black liquorice from all around the world. This time around I bought some ginger liquorice and a malty, chewy ball thingamajig. I would include a photo to clarify that description, but I've eaten them all already!





Another highlight of the market visit was our visit to Monmouth coffee. I'd been here before as well and loved the selection of fair trade, single origin beans...though both times I've forgotten to buy beans for home!

 

I meant to get a photo of the butcher block table in the center of the room. It has communal bread, butter, jam and honey in the center. If you're lucky enough to get a seat, it's not a bad spot for a Saturday morning coffee I'd say. Oh yes, and the queue was around the building!

 

 Our trip to the Borough Market was a success, we left with heavy bags and full tummies (not to mention a good caffeine rush!)

Here are just a few more pictures, because I can't resist!

food festival

This Sunday was the annual Lynton food festival. I had no idea what to expect on entering...not that my expectations were particularly high or low. The important thing was, of course, that there would be fresh food from local producers. I do love food! I was prepared with some shopping bags and my camera, and very happily discovered that the Lynton food festival is quite a happening thing!

 Without a doubt, the most beautiful stall of the day offered smoked garlic, chard, fresh flowers and squash. I was in heaven...where to you even start with that kind of selection?

The squash is so lovely that I can't decide what to cook with it - the food has to be as beautiful as the squashes are.

Depending on my mood, I might try to argue that chard is the king of vegetables. I am very fond of it any day, time or place.

and garlic. These folks were really winning the day!

There had to be a baking competition (can't believe that I didn't know about this sooner!) The cakes submitted were all Victoria Sponge, and competition was quite stiff from what I could tell.

terribly serious. 

The Rising Sun was offering up pints and mussels...this is where things got a bit messy.

 John and Station tucking into some mussels.

Meanwhile an enthusiastic omelette making competition was underway outside the town hall. I still argue that most of the "omlettes"  being made were hasty scrambled eggs...with bits of shell in...but it was all good fun. Here's Phil having a go

 

Carnage at the omelette table.

Some more bits and bobs because I can't resist a good food photo.

Daisy with a fresh jug of unpasteurized milk from a neighbouring village. Pretty great.