Out in Style (craft)
This year is turning out to be a comparative social whirl for me. Quite out of keeping with my usual routines, I'm finding that popping up and down the country is turning into quite the habit for me lately. This past weekend I was off again, invited by the lovely ladies at Stylecraft to visit beautiful Yorkshire and meet up with the #StylecraftBlogstars again.
This is my third visit to Stylecraft HQ (you can read more about the last trips here and here) and it's always a joy. Not only do we get the chance to meet some like minded yarny folk, Stylecraft have also kindly arranged some fun and interesting things for us to get up to while we are there. This time we visited Salts Mill which is a rather fabulous place, part art gallery, part book shop and part diner as well as having an eclectic range of boutique shops to browse.
We were there primarily for the Hockney exhibits so we concentrated on the 1853 gallery and the collections on the 2nd and 3rd floors but I could have stayed much longer, there was lots I could have spent time looking at. It was David Hockney's 80th birthday in July and so the gallery celebrated by showing some of his theatre set designs but I was pretty taken with 'The Arrival of Spring', showcasing a whole series of pictures he created using an ipad. The colours were so vivid and joyful and of course, totally inspiring!
Detail from one of the iPad pictures
After a hearty meal and a restful night, the next day we were ready to gather for all the excitement of the yarn previews and an opportunity to learn a new craft.
I do love the bit where we find out what goodies Stylecraft have in store for us for the months ahead, it's like a juicy sneak peek behind the scenes! This time I've shared the most recent yarn releases on my latest podcast if you fancy a look, and there's even more goodies to come too. I can't spill the beans on everything quite yet I'm afraid. (Although, oh my, I want to - new Special DK colours - squee!!) But I can tell you there's plenty to look forward to!
To finish up the day we had a special visitor from the Ring of Tatters, who kindly agreed to try and teach us all the art of Tatting. I'll be honest and admit that it's not something I knew the first thing about. I'd heard the term 'tatting' and had vague notions about knots and possibly thread, but beyond that I was clueless. Luckily Sue was an expert and was happy to enlighten us a little more about this intricate craft.
It turns out that tatting is very much about knots and thread and the most delicate and detailed creations can be made using it. We only had time to learn a few of the basics but it was enough to get a feel for how to 'flip the knot', which is one of the essential skills of the craft. And while I don't think you'll be too blown away but the results of my afternoon's endeavours, I did leave armed with a mini starter kits and some resources to help me learn more.
If you're intrigued to find out more yourself, do pop along to the Ring of Tatters website, where you can learn more, find local groups and also become a member.
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I'll just leave you with a few shots of the day...
Impressive results from an experienced 'Tatter'.
Sue loves to use her tatting skill to make jewellery.
My own first steps in the art of tatting!
S x
♥
#CherryHeart
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Thank you for sharing - I loved getting the inside peak
ReplyDeleteI was so happy to read about your tatting experience! I taught myself shuttle tatting a few years ago, after having dabbled in needle tatting. There are many helpful books and videos out there. One of the aspects of tatting that I love best is it's portability. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThose tatting samples are beautiful. It looks like really patient work :) Looking forward to seeing the new stylecraft dk colours!
ReplyDeleteWe saw the Hockneys when they were first shown at the RA some years ago, they are so interesting to see aren't they.
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