Little and Large
Over the last few weeks, I have been able to indulge my passion for materials - mainly yarn, but also woven fabrics, threads, and in fact anything that can be made into something else - by attending two very different shows. Each is at one end of the size scale.
St Abbs Wool Festival, held this year in Eyemouth on 7th November,is a celebration of local wool producers and practitioners.
The Knitting and Stitching Show at Harrogate is a national showcase and market place for designers, suppliers and academics.
Having visited both within a short time, I was moved to write this little piece about the unique place that each occupies in the spectrum of my experience.
First to Eyemouth. A friend of mine, who is also a textile-head, has been telling me about this festival for a couple of years, but this is the first time we have been able to go. Turning right off the A1 and heading into new territory next to the sea, Eyemouth is a small beautiful place with a community hall taken over by the Festival for the day. The exhibitors were so skilled, courteous and engaging, the visitors enthusiastic and focused. As is ever the case, a sensory overload was inevitable, but was palliated by a stroll on the beach in the sunshine.
Harrogate is such a different kettle of fish. This year's visit was probably my fifth, so I had the charm of familiarity rather than novelty. Each of the Exhibition Halls is crammed with goodies of all descriptions for those who do things with textiles, uttering their siren calls - 'buy me, no, buy me!' I broke with my own tradition by buying a length of a sumptuous silk/satin rather than adding to my yarn stash. The sensory overload here was different, augmented by the crush of thousands of people inevitably going in the opposite direction to my own chosen route. The rain outside was a little less inviting as a decompressant, but the shops of Harrogate can rival a beach.
After such intense experiences, it is pleasant to return to the more usual.
I am slowly devouring the latest of Susan Guagliumi's books.
As a devotee of hand manipulated stitches, I find her writings inspire and encourage my own experimentation. That's what I'll be doing this afternoon.
