Wool House at Somerset House

Wool House at Somerset House is full of innovative textiles, garments and furniture and is a showcase for all the different uses, textures and colours of wool. Organised by the Campaign for Wool and curated by Arabella McNie, Wool House is supported by many well known designers and companies.

Yarns for weaving.
Photo by Emma Vining

Mood board by Damson and Slate
Photo by Emma Vining

The Saville Row room came complete with a pinstripe upholstered chair, a cupboard full of paper garment blocks and fabric samples and fabulous examples of what can be made with the wonderful wool fabrics.

Pinstripe Chair
Photo by Emma Vining

Paper garment blocks and wool fabrics
Photo by Emma Vining

Photo by Emma Vining

Featured fashion designers included Mark Fast, with a stunning wool dress and Vivienne Westwood with eye catching platform shoes.

Dress by Mark Fast
Photo by Emma Vining

Shoes by Vivienne Westwood
Photo by Emma Vining

Tapestry work by Claudy Jongstra was set in a big space where there was room to appreciate the scale of the pieces. A nearby table had samples of the yarns used that could be touched and handled to feel the quality of the wool.

Tapestry - Composition Blue and Composition Yellow by Claudy Jongstra
Photo by Emma Vining

Yarns used by Claudy Jongstra
Photo by Emma Vining

The Classic Drawing Room designed by Fox Linton Associates contained a stunning array of features, including beautiful winged pendants by Kate Ramsey and the amazing dress by Kong Fanfan made from recycled DVDs that I had seen in a Selfridges window display a few week earlier.

Classic Drawing Room by Fox Linton Associates
Photo by Emma Vining

Winged Pendants by Kate Ramsey
Photo by Emma Vining

Dress by Kong Fanfan
Photo by Emma Vining

The Modern Room was created by Anne Kyyro-Quinn. Working with felted wool, she has explored cutting and folding to create visually stunning effects. The curved wall with three dimensional felted wool stripes has acoustic sound absorbing properties.

Manipulated felt cushions by Anne Kyyro-Quinn
Photo by Emma Vining

Curved wall with 3D felted panels by Anne Kyyro-Quinn
Photo by Emma Vining

In complete contrast to the bright modern room, Josephine Ryan created the Natural Room, full of fabulous cables on garments and furniture!

The Natural Room by Josephne Ryan
Photo by Emma Vining

Cables in the Natural Room
Photo by Emma Vining

Other rooms featured include the Nursery by Donna Wilson, the Snug by Arabella McNie, the Study by Ashley Hicks, the Bedroom by Kit Kemp and the Entrance Lobby. The Hallways display had incredibly long wool runners which fitted perfectly into the elegant corridors of Somerset House.

Masai Indigo Runner by Roger Oats.
Photo by Emma Vining 

Infinity by Cristian Zuzunaga
Photo by Emma Vining

The Campaign for Wool was launched in 2010 by it's patron, HRH The Prince of Wales. It is a way of uniting farmers, leading brands, retailers and the international wool textile industry to promote real wool as a sustainable fibre for fashion, interiors and the built environment. Wool House at Somerset House has certainly covered all of this in a unique and inspiring way.

Image from the Campaign for Wool website

Slipknot: The Knitting & Crochet Guild Journal

Slipknot is the journal of the Knitting & Crochet Guild and my copy of Issue 138, March 2013, just arrived by post.

The Knitting and Crochet Guild's 1891 Sampler
Image from the K&C Guild website

The front page of Slipknot has this picture of the Guild's 1891 knitted sampler, showing the incredible detail of the stitches and fineness of the yarn. An article by Kathleen Kinder is all about her study of this sampler and other examples held by the Guild. Her recommendations of further reading, in particular the online resources, are excellent. Kathleen's in depth study lead to the publishing of her book, Inspiration of Lace Knitting.

My review of the Kaffe Fassett Talk at the V&A in December 2012 (also posted on this blog) is also in this issue, on p15. I hope my article will encourage visits to the Kaffe Fassett Exhibition, soon to open at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London.

Image from FTM Website

As well as details of the K&C Guild's convention in July this year, other articles in this issue include book reviews, encouragement to visit Ruddington Framework Knitter's Museum, reviews of Woolfest, Shetland Wool Week and much more. Lesley O'Connell Edward's excellent 'Did you know?' compilation is full of things I didnt know! Barbara Smith's article on pattern leaflets with garments designed by Mary Quant is based on her research on the leaflets held at Lee Mills. The Guild has two thirds of the 27 Mary Quant leaflets produced. Angharad Thomas brings us up to date with the huge cataloguing project at Lee Mills, where students on placement from Huddersfield University have been invaluable in their help.

I am really pleased to have been included in this Issue and am keen to continue to contribute to Slipknot, so I will be looking out for other knitting events to review and write about. There are so many exciting things going on that would be great to share with other members and on this blog, of course!