Wool House

Would you like to join me on a visit to the Wool House exhibition at Somerset House in London?

Lots of pictures (!) : I wanted to try and capture the true flavour of the exhibition for you : enjoy 🙂

As you may already know, the Campaign for Wool launched the Wool House exhibition as the world’s biggest ever celebration of Wool, exploring interiors, crafts, fashion and all aspects of this wonderful natural fibre.  Wool House offered a window on the way in which wool can inhabit a space, with leading interior designers demonstrating use of wool fibre within their work across individual rooms.  You can find out more about the exhibition and the Campaign on the Campaign for Wool website.

Come and take a peak inside…

 

A dramatic black and white themed entrance hall greeted us including a life sized crochet bear created by Shauna Richardson.  Aren’t Shauna’s crochetdermy skills amazing!?

Look at this beautiful Hummingbird Wallhanging designed by Alexander McQueen:

 

The corridor linking each themed room contained this stunning 100 foot wool runner designed by Cristian Zuzunaga:

 

This Modern Room was created by Anne Kyyro-Quinn:

In contrast, the Natural Room was created by Josephine Ryan:

 

Every home needs a wool corner like this one, a cosy nook with a feature chair, maybe a table for books and some favourite things to make it a bit special…

Look at those gorgeous vintage welsh wool blankets…..

I completely fell in love with the Nursery designed by Donna Wilson:

 

 

 

Look at these amazing Wall Hangings by Claudy Jongstra:

 

Welcome to the Craft Room : a place to meet and enjoy workshops being run by Rowan Yarns, the Sublime design studio and Debbie Bliss, and watch spinning demonstrations.

When we arrived, great fun was to be had with both young and old enjoying the chance to learn to knit and crochet.  We were thrilled to be able to have a go at hand spinning yarn on a drop spindle:

 

We admired the many beautiful yarns on display and mood boards created by the designers:

 

 

This stunning granny squares throw made from Rowan Purelife Renew, designed by Marie Wallin and featured in Rowan’s Purelife Home brochure inspired my daughter to start a little crochet project on the train home (more about this later..)

You can read more about the Rowan Purelife British sheep breeds yarn range and accompanying brochures here.

I instantly recognised examples of Anna Wilkinson’s work; have you read her book Learn to Knit, Love to Knit?

 

The weaving room:

 

We just managed to fit in a brief visit to Liberty of London before our train journey home….

Haberdashery delights – Liberty Tana Lawn:

 

And swooning over Rowan Yarns of course! :

 

 

Finally, a walk through snowy London and some knitting (for me) and crochet time (for Miss E) on the train journey home:

Check out the fabulous Edmund the Easter Bunny pattern available for free on the Rowan website: a very portable little one ball knitting project just right for train journeys as were the Granny Squares crocheted by Miss E in Rowan Pure Wool DK.

Are you feeling inspired to bring wool into your life and home?

 As an ambassador for Rowan Yarns I’m looking forward to sharing my passion for yarn, knitting and crochet with you. I’d love to hear from you via my blog or my Knitandpurlgarden Facebook page  – I hope to hear from you soon!

Claire

Easter Preparations…

This weekend I have been eating mini-eggs preparing for Easter….

I’ve been working on a little crochet basket/bowl inspired by designs in this lovely book, using some pretty Rowan pink handknit cotton from my yarn stash.  The pattern starts off with a few rounds of simple trebles (UK) to form the base of the basket, followed by some rounds of bobble or popcorn stitch to form the sides and double crochet (UK) to finish off.

Today I made a floral lining out of a scrap of Liberty Tana Lawn “Betsy” that I purchased from EBay.

 

To be filled with eggs from our chooks:

 

Thank you ladies:

Or Easter delights:

 

 

I think after Easter, my little crochet bowl might find a nice home in the bathroom or bedroom as a tidy for bits and bobs:

This weekend, we’ve also been enjoying the pre-school puppet show and getting Easter tattoos:

And I’ve been trying on my new sandals:

With fingers crossed for some sunshine instead of the wintery showers and hail that the UK has been experiencing this afternoon!

Have you got any Easter projects on the go at the mo?

I’m possibly off to knit some bunnies from Made by Ewe here and Rowan’s Easter Collection here &/or these cute little chickens ‘Esther, Ernie & Enid’ from Rowan (pattern here).

And knit some more of my big project…

Happy Easter crafting!

xx

Its a Spring Thing (and a doily addiction…)

Spring seems to have sprung all over blogland today and I’ve certainly been inspired by all of the lovely photos and bright Spring colours popping up on the internet.  I’ve had a small stash of candy coloured cotton 4-ply yarn that has been calling out to me for a while now and having seen lots of doilies and similar pretty lacy crochet patterns on the internet I had to give it a go…

I started off with some Rowan Siena 4ply in light pink and the Victoria Doily pattern in Jane Crowfoot’s book Homespun Vintage.  Jane describes in her book how, following the popularity of crochet during the Victorian era, the 1950s to 1970s saw its revival again (it went into something of a decline during the two world wars possibly as a result of rationing and the difficulty in sourcing yarns), with lacy patterns and doily work suddenly becoming very popular.

Here’s my finished doily (ravelled here); it seemed to look right at home alongside my vintage sheet patchwork blanket…

Jane talks about the delicacy of crochet work in a doily replicating the look of lace making the perfect table decoration.  Any excuse to get baking and get the vintage china out…

A close up of the excellent Lemon Drizzle Cake (made by Miss E, not me I confess): yummy!:

I’d also wanted to make these pretty little coasters for quite some time (see the free pattern over on the Yvestown Blog):

Ooops: they seemed to multiply quickly and before I knew it I had a whole stack (Ravelled here):

 

 

I think these coasters would also make rather a nice Mothers Day card, with the addition of a sweet little bit of fabric backing:

On the lacy crochet theme, I thought you might like to see these lovely little containers from Ikea.  They’re meant for plants but I bought them for a couple of pounds each and they’re just the job for keeping knitting needles and crochet hooks in:

 

Loving the Ikea lilac too; I wish we had a lilac tree in our garden:

I spotted some real Spring flowers in the garden today too:

Happy Springtime! x

Crochet Scarf by Erika Knight for Rowan

Woo hoo: I’ve just finished putting my crochet scarf together.  I have to admit the crochet motifs have been finished for a while, waiting to be assembled! The pattern was designed by Erika Knight using Rowan Amy Butler’s Sweet Harmony, 100% merino wool with a fabulous chainette structure, featured in the Rowan Farmhouse Knits brochure (published by Rowan in 2011 for the Autumn/Winter season).

Amy Butler describes the “synergy and fit” between her yarn Sweet Harmony and Erika’s “gorgeous contemporary style” creating “the perfect combination to illustrate the spirit and inspiration behind her Farmhouse ethos”.  “The ‘Farmhouse’ idea is a state of mind, a cozy feeling you get over a long weekend in an isolated location…. surrounded by all the things you love… the air is crisp, a warm fire is in the fire place, homemade food is slow cooking in the kitchen and you’re planning what ‘not to do next’ with your closest friends and family…. Maybe a long walk in the sunshine is in order or possibly some lounging with a favourite book.”  

Ooooh, I’m there already Amy….

Amy Butler introduces the reader to some fabulous knitted and crochet designs from throws, cushions, and chair covers to accessories such as a slouch beret, multi coloured scarft, gloves and cabled socks.  The garments are described as being a mix of key pieces including simple cables, stripes and a crochet skirt.  The Sweet Harmony colour palette is selected from Amy’s fresh and vibrant fabric collection Soul Blossoms, which work together offering a beautiful mix of fabric and yarn.  The colours are simply beautiful as you would expect from Amy Butler in collaboration with Rowan, with names including Snow, Lake, Frost, Mist, Glamor, Saffron, Henna, Fern, Jade and Cinder.  Sadly (for me) the yarn has now been discontinued, but you can quite easily pick up the yarn from Rowan suppliers on the internet; alternatively you may find a suitable substituted yarn from the current range (a yarn substitution list can be downloaded from the Rowan website’s FAQ area).

My pretty crochet scarf is made up from 3 x 100gm Amy Butler Sweet Harmony in Frost 132 and features a mix of flower and circle motifs.  A size 9mm (no 00) (US M13) Crochet Hook is recommended.  The scarf is very generous, being approximately 86 cm (34 inches) long and around 18 cm (7 inches) wide.  The scarf was great to work on: crochet is a very portable craft and it was easy to pop some yarn and a crochet hook in my bag and work on a motif here and there when I had the opportunity.  Project Ravelled here.

 

What have you been knitting or crocheting recently?  Have you made or admired any of the items in the Farmhouse Knits collection?  I would love to make this crochet cushion or this patchwork throw, which combines knitting and crochet: an effect that I really love. The throw combines bobble, rib, cable and moss stitch.  Do you like to combine knitting and crochet too?

I have a little project in mind for the Spring combining some yarn with a piece of gorgeous Liberty Tana Lawn fabric that I purchased a while back from Ebay.  Here is a sneak peak:

Watch this space… xx