Here is Part Two of my post about the Knitting and Crochet Guild Convention. It was such a great weekend, it needs two blog posts to do it justice! Our speaker after lunch on Day two was the very talented Louise Walker of Sincerely Louise. Louise is a commercial photography graduate who was determined to include knitting in her degree work!
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| Faux Taxidermy Knit by Sincerely Louise |
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After several extremely creative projects, including knitted wigs, an appearance on the Alan Titchmarsh show and a Boden campaign, Louise was asked to create a book about faux taxidermy knits. Faux Taxidermy Knits has been very successful and Louise told us about the styling and photography she used in the book. You can find all Louise's knit kits on her Etsy Shop, Sincerely Louise. She is currently working on dinosaur knits and I can't wait to see what she tackles next!! You can read more about Louise on her blog.
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| Faux Taxidermy Knit by Sincerely Louise |
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| Faux Taxidermy Book and Knits by Sincerely Louise |
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| Louise in conversation after her talk |
After her excellent talk, Louise ran a "Photograph Your Knits" workshop. I was lucky enough to have been on one of her previous workshops at Unravel in Farnham two years ago and was keen to learn more. Louise had lots of tips for us and very kindly allowed us to photograph Hippo!
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| Our photography workshop group |
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| Our photography workshop in progress |
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| Hippo by Sincerely Louise |
The other excellent workshops that were going on at the same time were Brioche Knitting with Marie Wright, Irish Crochet with Sally Magill and Two Handed Stranded Knitting with Ann Kingston.
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| Marie Wright's Brioche Knitting Workshop |
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| Ann Kingstone's Two Handed Stranded Kniting Workshop |
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| Sally Magill's Irish Crochet Workshop |
After dinner, Tricia lead the Show and Tell session. I was absolutely blown away by the talent of my fellow delegates. The knitting and crochet on show ranged from exquisite shawls to protest banners and from fantastic dresses to heirloom garments that have now been donated to the Guild Collection. Here are just a few of the many highlights of the evening.
Designer Ann Kingston was at the Convention with her beautiful new book, Lace Knits. Ann explained to us that the designs in her book are all named after her local area and that her best friend from school is one of the models! It is a gorgeous book with lots of detailed information about lace knitting and stunning garments and accessories to knit.
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KCG Convention 2015: Show and Tell
Ann Kingston with her Lace Knits Book |
Designer Rita Taylor was also at the Convention and talked to us about her lovely new book,
Vintage Knits for Babies. If you look closely at the photo you can see Rita's crochet slippers!
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KCG Convention 2015: Show and Tell
Rita Taylor with her Vintage Knits for Babies Book |
Betty had brought along her beautiful fuchsia waistcoat. She had knitted this lovely garment using the fuchsia chart I had designed for her after last year's Knitting & Stitching Show. You can read about Betty's Fuchsia Challenge here.
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KCG Convention 2015: Show and Tell
Betty in her beautiful waistcoat |
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| The Winners! |
Our last morning began with a detailed run through of the Guild's new website. Tricia took us through the new layout, page by page, highlighting many of the excellent sources of information that are available for both members and non members. You can take a look here.
After coffee (and cake of course!) we split into workshop groups. The workshops included Tunisian Crochet with Anne Flanagan, Knitting and Crochet for more than two hands with Judy Jones and beginners crochet with Trisha Basham. My workshop was with designer Sarah Alderson, who very gently led us through a double knitting project to make a Love Owl Coaster. I have done a little bit of double knitting, but changing colours was challenging! Sarah showed us how to correct mistakes and cast of in a beautiful braided edge. We didn't complete the coaster in the workshop, but my train journey home gave me the perfect opportunity and here it is!
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Love Owl Coaster by Sarah Alderson,
knitted by Emma Vining |
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Love Owl Coaster by Sarah Alderson,
knitted by Emma Vining
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I had a really excellent time at the Convention, catching up with old friends and making lots of new friends. I am very proud and happy to be part of such a knowledgeable, interesting and friendly knitting community. If you are not already a member, please do come and join us!
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