Well, I definitely picked the right day to go to the Harrogate Knitting & Stitching Show. It was flipping cold weather, but at least Storm Bert wasn't showering me with snow, rain, sleet and buffeting me with high winds. I'm glad to be cosy & snug indoors today, but yesterday I caught the train to the lovely, rather genteel town of Harrogate. (Oh, if you're wondering about the display of tassels by the way, they just caught my eye. You could buy everything crafty under the sun at the show.) However, back to Friday.
My outward journey got off to a slightly ropey start when - the second the train pulled out of the departure station - I realised I'd left a bag in the waiting room. Luckily I'd still got on a crossbody-strap bag with my house keys, phone & bank card in it. Plus my lunch bag! But I'd left behind a small pink rucksack with - among the tissues & crumpled receipts - my phone charger, hair brush and reading glasses in it, and a little coin purse. I let the train conductor know & he tried phoning the station. They didn't pick up. I spoke to the info desk when we reached Leeds (where I'd to change for the Harrogate train). He directed me toward another info desk. Who directed me toward a guy in high-vis. Who suggested I pop into the platform office. Where another gent phoned his team leader who said I'd be best going to my departure station and hopefully someone handed the bag in ...
I have to say, all the Northern Trains staff I spoke to were friendly, polite, as helpful as they could be. I'm not blaming them for a second. But it really bought it home to me how seemingly impossible things can be done effortlessly nowadays. You can go online & look up an encyclopedia's worth of knowledge in seconds. But a simple telephone call to a number where a member of staff will actually pick up? Nah. Anyway, Yorkshire folk are on the whole honest, so I've every hope the bag will've been handed in, and I'll pop into the station office on Monday and enquire. If it's lost, it's lost and I won't lose sleep over it. Right, back to the show. When I got there, it was around 10.30ish and absolutely heaving. Mainly women, obvs, and most of them with money to spend and endless numbers of vendors only too willing to help them part with it. Anyone who dismisses the craft sector as unimportant needs to see how much cash changes hands at venues like this.
You entered the show to a display of quilts, sponsored by Janome. This beauty - forgive my poor photography skills - is called 'High & Deep' by Kim Aeran. The info board states '
Machine pieced, machine quilted. Self dyed cotton, a little commercial cotton. Parents are like high mountains and deep water. We don't recognise their love while we are in their arms. However, just step back and see them, and we realize parents are like river flowing quietly amid the great mountain with deep valley'.
This zinger's appropriately called 'Satsuma'. I find oranges and yellows difficult colours to work with, so I really appreciated the skilled way they're put together here. It's by Kate Sandford, and it's pieced from scraps, sewn with Aurifil thread and on a domestic Bernina. Love it!
As well as contemporary quilts, there was a display of old quilts too, and absolute treasures they are. The amount of hours that will have gone into those tiny hexagons! Sadly this quilt was 'Maker Unknown'. I wonder if it was one woman's passion project, or maybe various women in a family collectively pieced it?
There were several large information boards around, so you could understand more about the history of these textiles.
I was especially taken with this old quilt that was displayed so you saw the backing papers that'd been left in. (Sorry about the glare from the lights. It was in a glass case, so that was unavoidable.)
There's something moving about the glimpses of such fragile old letters and papers that otherwise might've ended up being thrown into the fireplace.
Next up were works by embroiderer Harriet Riddell. This is 'Ragwort Anarchy'.
Harriet not only had pieces on display, but was there with her trusty sewing machine offering stitched portraits for sale. The customer sat in front of her and, as we watched, she stitched their portrait. I bet she'll be exhausted by the time the show finally closes on Sunday afternoon.
Another section of the show was a display of Indian miniature garments by Geeta Khandelwal. Utterly delightful. There's something about seeing things made in miniature, isn't there?
It was hard to take photos without getting other people in shot. (I didn't want to take clear pictures of them if they'd not given permission.)
The clothes were shown on these wooden stands or on poles, so you could get up close to peer at the stitching.
That coat in the centre is one of my favourites. I could happily wear that!
To avoid this blog post getting ridiculously long, I'll show the photos I took of stunning indigo pieces by Julius Arthur and pictures of Jessie Chorley's embroidery in another couple of posts. Instead, I'll wind up this post by showing you the masses of leaflets I couldn't help collecting, plus what I bought.
I have a vague idea about turning them into a junk journal, as a memento of the show. If you wondering about the thread spools, there was a basket of '
free, help yourself', so I did. I know the white plastic isn't as pleasing as vintage wooden spools, but they're still useful and we do need to give plastic a second life by re-using it, don't we? I'm imagining either making paper scrolls to wind on them or sewing a slow-stitched scroll or two.
When it came to purchases I had to be sensible. Especially as I'd already splurged £15 on the train tickets and nearly £20 on my entrance ticket. So I bought three of these John James pebbles. Always useful to have more needles as - if you're anything like me - you can never find the perfect one to stitch with. And if by faint chance you do, it gets lost down the back of the sofa in about five minutes flat.
I also couldn't resist this bundle of impossibly soft, hand dyed wool. If I remember rightly, it's from Wensleydale sheep. You filled a paper bag with as much or as little as you wanted, and it was 10 pence a gram. I've no idea what I'll use this for, but oh it's so soft and the colours are so pretty! That's a good enough reason to buy it as far as I'm concerned.
Honestly, if I had a fortune I would've spent it. Sashiko thread, Japanese printed cotton, linen in muted shades, Indian artisan fabrics, gorgeous beads, buttons, tassels, wooden printing blocks, good quality felt, covetable tweeds ...
Right, I'll stop lusting over it all and say bye for now. I'll be back tomorrow with more from the Harrogate Show, and I hope you enjoyed that glimpse of what was on offer.
Comments
Post a Comment