Yarndale

Went to Yarndale - a celebration of crafting creativity - in Skipton.  Held at Skipton Auction Mart, it was a textile extravaganza rather like Woolfest in Cockermouth but slightly bigger and with yarnbombing.  It was a fantastic day out!

I arrived on the vintage bus shuttle from the station which was great fun and was decorated inside with pompom sheep and flowers.

Vintage Yarndale Bus

Once there all manner of fantastic vendors were displaying their wares and it was very hard to resist what was on offer.  I was entertained by the display of knitted Andalusian food...

...which as you can see included sardines skewered with a knitting needle - how apt! Was bowled over by the bunting...

...and enjoyed the yarnbombs especially the balls of wool and knitting needles - simple but effective!

Yarndale was also collecting yarn from all the creative visitors for the Skipton Oxfam shop who were going to transform it into lots of lovely stuff to raise money for Oxfam.  Promoted both in the Oxfam shop and at the event it was very successful. I think they'll be creating goodies for quite some time.  How great is that!

Yarndale & Oxfam working together!

I neglected to take photos of the vendors - too busy looking round but here are some of the stallholders who took my fancy...

Colourcraft - dyes, foils, angelina etc.
http://www.colourcraftltd.com

Eliza Conway - vintage bits & pieces and all sorts

Ingrid Wagner - big knitting & crochet
www.ingridwagner.com
 
Jackie Lunn - fabulous felt creations
http://www.jackielunntextiles.co.uk/ 

Namolio - lovely linen yarns
http://www.namolio.com/ 

Textile Garden - amazing buttons & braid
http://www.textilegarden.com/ 


There were, of course, absolutely loads of fantastic vendors and lots of amazing yarns.  You can find out more about them and Yarndale here:
http://yarndale.co.uk/

Work in Progress

After spending a good deal of the summer with a bad back and unable to make any headway at all I am finally back into the swing of things.  Hurray!  So I've started with a few new products which you might like to take a look at.  Some are carrying on the vintage theme of the map and music products that I have been making and some (shock, horror - it is only September!) are for Christmas!!!  So here they are ...

Domino Brooches

More domino brooches

Yes - you're right I did feel the need to arrange my dominoes in order in each row as if playing dominoes!  But, these brooches are quite small (approx 3cm x 1.5cm) so you could wear a few at a time and arrange them, domino fashion!  Light bulb moment - I shall go and try it out at once!

Coin Brooches

Finally, I have taken the plunge with my coin stash and made some penny brooches.  Some are date side up (tails) and some heads.  Quite interesting fact: if you're looking for specific dates you won't find any after 1967 as there were none minted later due to impending decimalisation!

Bikes on the road

Bikes in the country

Living in bike city I decided to make some bike cards.  I have made a few before but now have a couple of variations - let's call them urban and rural!  Which is your favourite?

Reindeer and mini snowflake cards

I know it's still months till Christmas but I have been doing some advanced making with these really cute reindeer and mini snowflake cards (& bigger snowflake cards as well - incorporating some lovely buttons!)

Snowflake & button cards

All these items will be available at my next event:
http://hippystitch.blogspot.co.uk/p/events.html 
and also at Blossom Street Gallery & Framing, York.  


You can find out more about Blossom Street Gallery & Framing here:
http://hippystitch.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/blossom-street-gallery-framing-york.html
and here
www.webayyork.co.uk/Blossomstreetgalleryandframing 

Learning to Crochet

I thought I'd tell you about my crochet experience which began this summer and is still going on.  In July, (after the Yarnbombing in Rowntree Park - http://hippystitch.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/york-yarnbombing-event-rowntree-park.html), York had a Festival of the Rivers - http://www.yorkfestivals.com/rivers-festival.html.  I went along and happened upon Ruby McGrath of Frank & Olive.  If you haven't heard of Frank & Olive here are the details ...

Ruby makes fantastic, colourful crochet garments, accessories and home textiles (not to mention a full workshop programme!).  At the Rivers' Festival she was doing crochet sessions.  How could I resist?  She showed us how to make granny squares - something I've wanted to make for years and never quite got round to.  I came away inspired to continue so take a look ...

Granny square under construction

Completed granny squares!

They're not perfect but I'm definitely getting better and Ruby was a great teacher.  Thank you Ruby, for a new skill!

www.frankandolivecrochet.com 

Blossom Street Gallery & Framing, York

Artwork: Kate Semple

There's a new gallery on the block - just by Micklegate Bar in York.  And it's well worth a look! 
 

Wild flower art by Catherine King, ceramics by Marianne Von Tucka and Pete Colbridge

Spacious gallery - seascapes by Rosie Dean

Excellent choice of frames

Art supplies

Cards and stationery

Blackboard & grass steps! Art by Anna Harding

Not only can it meet your needs for cards, art, pottery and jewellery, you can get your pictures framed here too!  And if it's not a bespoke frame you're after there are also ready made frames and art supplies as well.  The friendly owner and framer, Kim Oldfield, has made this gallery into a light, welcoming space where you can browse quite happily.  And if you've got some little ones there's a blackboard wall for them to doodle on (and some grass stairs which I love!) to keep them occupied while you enjoy looking round!

Kim is promoting local and regional artists and is currently stocking work by:

Art
Ian Cameron
Rosie Dean
Anna Harding
Adele Karmazyn
Catherine King
Mick Lynch
Kate Semple
Kate Young

Ceramics
Pete Colbridge
Katherine Ann Mutch
Marianne Von Tucka

Jewellery
Hippystitch and more to come.

 

Mick Lynch

Ian Cameron

Fabric necklaces by Hippystitch, ceramics by Katherine Ann Mutch

 

Map based "People & Places" jewellery and notebooks by Hippystitch

Don't miss out - go and check it out!

Current opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday 9.30am to 5.30pm
Sunday 10am to 3pm
Closed Monday

www.blossomstreetgalleryandframing.com

On Sale in Oxfam Now - "Yarnbombed in York" Goodies

This is just a short post to let you know that all those lovely "Yarnbombed in York for Oxfam" items are now on sale in Oxfam in Goodramgate, York.  You've still got time to bag a bargain or snatch a souvenir of that fun day in Rowntree Park back in July!  
 

Window Display at Oxfam, York

Yarnbombed Goodies

Butterfly Garlands

You may remember Stevie's Lace Tree - well, for Oxfam, it became Stevie's Lace Cushion (but note those tree buttons just as a reminder!)

Stevie's Lace Tree

Stevie's Lace Tree becomes a cushion!

Tree Button

So go on - dash on down, support a really worthwhile charity and get a little souvenir of community crafting.  You know you want to!

Yarnbombed in York for Oxfam - Available for Sale - August 2013

Pterodactyls not yet extinct!

Bee, ladybird & bluebird

Bowl of fruit & vases of flowers

Well - most of the yarnbombing treasure has been sorted and transported to Oxfam in Goodramgate.  We have already sold some items and raised over £100 to get things started.  We hope the remaining treasure will bring Oxfam some much needed income to go towards funding their important & fantastic work!  It has the potential to bring in over £1000 for Oxfam but only if you go along and buy it.  Even if you just want a pompom as a souvenir of the event - it all adds up.

Check out what's going their way .... 
 

Awesome "alliums"

Unique Umbrella

Beautiful bird houses

Humpty, Owl & Rabbit - all looking of a new home!

Nice mice!

Cushions, throws & picnic rug

Bunting - many & varied

Fabulous Flower Garlands

Beautiful Butterfly Garlands

Perfect Pompoms

Tie on flowers

Basket of birds

Vase of flowers, pot plant, basket of fruit & veg, taselled tie back 

Knitted Hairclips

Knitted Brooches

You remember that amazing curtain on the Dovecot - well here it is returned to it's original form - 4 blankets! 
 

From blankets to curtain to blankets!

Yarnbombing all packed up & ready to go!

So if any of this takes your fancy it should be on sale in Oxfam, Goodramgate, York in August.  Get down there with your spondulicks and grab a piece of something that was Yarnbombed in York for Oxfam.  There's still time to be part of it!