One of my favourite events of the year is The Knitting and Stitching Show, at Alexandra Palace. I've been a regular visitor since the early 1990's, when it was a quick drive around the North Circular Road from home.
Now I'm in Colchester, it's a bit more of a trek to get there....... Last year's visit by car resulted in an almost 3 hour journey home, and the previous year's jaunt on the train was marred by a lost travel card. So this time I decided to give the coach a go.......it may take hours to get there, but at least I have a seat, and can read during the journey. (It's so blooming cheap too, which is an obvious bonus!)
After arriving at Victoria, I wandered down to Tate Britain to see the Barbara Hepworth Exhibition before it closes at the end of the month. As with most exhibitions these days, you can't take photographs, but here's the mini exhibit guide.....
The works on show ranged from early figurative carvings, to abstract wooden and bronze pieces. There are collages, drawings, sketches and a film showing her at work in her St Ives studio.
Hepworth's early carving work in the first room of the exhibition is shown in context, with carvings from artists such as Jacob Epstein and Eric Gill.
The exhibiton is on until the 24th of October, so if you want to see it, you haven't got long.
After a quick slice of cake, and an apple juice, it was onto the tube to Wood Green, then a quick ride on the courtesy bus to the beautiful Alexandra Palace for the main event.
Luckily I had a gorgeous sunny day, the trees in the park are just starting to turn golden, and the view is spectacular, but I was on a tight schedule, so no time to enjoy the panoramic views for me.
I was dying to get inside to see Kate Jenkins' knitted fish counter which is a complete and utter joy, well worth the trip just to see the sardines, prawns, mussels, lobsters et al...
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| Kate's Plaice - Kate Jenkins |
Sequined lobsters, crabs, red mullet, plaice, scallops and even squid and octopus are all there in their woolly glory. There were even some fab frenchie fishes complete with berets and breton tops!
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| Kate's Plaice - Kate Jenkins |
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| Kate's Plaice - Kate Jenkins |
Staying on the food theme, I love this quilt, in the SAQA food for thought exhibition
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| Vicki Bohnhoff - Pepitas |
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| Vicki Bohnhoff - Pepitas |
Another "edible" work that caught my eye was from Kate Barlow on the Royal School of Needlework stand
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| Kate Barlow |
Back to the woolly theme, the Selvedge team were showcasing the work of Sophie Digard
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| Sophie Digard |
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| Sophie Digard |
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| Sophie Digard |
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| Sophie Digard |
....and if woolly birds are more you're thing, how about these? From Toft Alpaca
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| Toft Alpaca - Bird Menagerie |
If you're going over the weekend, make sure you check out the exhibition area, there's loads more to see.
I didn't plan to shop much, as my stash is full to the brim! A few Liberty fat quarters, some silk ribbons and wool felt managed to smuggle their way into my (eco) tote bag. I even splashed out on some alpaca wool, for my (postponed) knitting project.
Down the hall, the beautiful Italian coast is recreated in stitch, lots of visitors were getting pictures by the fabric cliffs.....
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| Cinque Terre - DAMSS Fibre Art |
Then it was back to Victoria, for a quick spaghetti dinner, and the protracted coach journey home. If only coach drivers knew the streets of London like me...... Oh, well no day is perfect!!!
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