Creative Textiles Course : week 10

Well! last week of the term! we finish early for the Christmas break and return early January 2008 to a packed programme that includes WET FELTING (what ever that ACTUALLY is!) and applique amongst other creative activities!

This week was taken up by presenting our chosen topic or project that reflected a personal interest inspired from our course thus far. Being a more lowly "level I" the pressure was not on to achieve massively creative highs (which is lucky! for me, at least!) however our tutor was dead impressed overall with our general standard of not just the work/projects produced but our dedication to them and work on achieving said project - which is rather promising not least encouraging!

We had such a wide selection of presentations and each was so totally different! notably I enjoyed the craft with yarn and sticks the title of which I've temporarily forgotten but I think it originates from Mexico, possibly? this was SEW simple and yet sew effective, I really liked it for the fact that the lady working on it had used such different materials including a recycling theme of cut up plastic grocery bags as well as yarn and other "garden materials" to produce a variety of sized and themed ideas.

I wish I'd taken my camera!
I wish too I'd taken a LARGE EMTPY BAG!

I could have run off with another lady's MARVELLOUSLY inspiring "Blackwork" themed project however the bag would have to have been very large as she brought along last years "pieces" to share with us newbies her work prior on this lovely embroidery!

Interesting to have a snapshot of the history and tradition behind these craft and textile themes this has been one aspect I've particularly enjoyed about taking this very different course. (As well as learning a little of the techniques, of course!).

In the near future, I must simply MUST learn a bit more on hand stitching and embroidery in particular and feel a visit to the bookshop is in order!

Another super project was some stumpwork! this was stunning in that it was a first attempt and an awful lot of work and detail went into the finished piece (a sweetie bag!) if it were mine I'd be wanting to hang it on the wall or something! I can't imagine how it was "done" and don't think I want to even know! I do know I couldn't possibly do anything like this!!

Slightly daunting is the ideas and creativity behind some of the projects which was reflected in three different "knitted" pieces where it was good to see how the finished pieces were arrived at from work on areas that provided initial inspiration! It would be too "easy" to look at a piece like the lovely cabled baby cot blanket and just "see" a knitted cot blanket. Or to look at the beginnings of a block patterned scarf and "see" a scarf made up of blocks of patterned stitches and this is definitely MY personal area of short coming! I still can't quite see HOW one arrives at a marvellous piece of own inspired and interpreted work from an "idea" that is developed. Hopefully if we can continue the class, all will be revealed! Either that or I shall have to get good at hiding the PATTERNS/BOOKS from whence MY work came from! lol!!

We shared ideas through another newbie (like me) presenting her own sketch book on progress to date and I could identify with the panicky feeling of just not knowing WHERE TO START and WHAT TO DO there is just SEW MUCH!! its like brain-overload!

I think I need to be more focused and decide what I'd like to develop and to that end I've started thinking and decided I definitely want to explore hand stitch/embroidery work and include beading in that too.

I hope I've not missed any other works, I feel certain I have! we were a small "select" group on our last day with others having commitments elsewhere but it was just aswell! the 2 hours just ISN'T long enough!

My own presentation on the awful I mean LOVELY, Kiri went well, I didn't have a lot to show as progress has been slow due mostly to my late start in the project together with the fact that its clearly a more advanced project than I am actual knitter of!! But it was enough to give a flavour of and to share some of the interesting facts around shetland lace knitting traditionally.

Thanks to cyber-knit-pal-Sarah for her lovely yarn ends! I used three or four for my samples on this project and they are now knitted up and taped into my sketch book and duly shown as evidence of my swatching for this project which I absolutely WILL work further on to complete if only to ta-daa! in class one day!!

Big thanks and hugs to tutor, Sarah Hazel, for being such a marvellously encouraging and approachable tutor and absolutely everyone must buy her book too!! ;-)