Form Through Colour at Somerset House

Form Through Colour is a wonderful exhibition of Christopher Farr hand tufted rugs featuring work inspired by Joseph Albers, Anni Albers and Gary Hume.

Child's Room Rug, Anni Albers
by Christopher Farr

Display cases in the centre of each room show contextual information relating to the design development.

Gallery Room

Close up of display case showing an Anni Albers design

An excellent series of videos in the centre of the gallery explore colour theory. Christopher Farr describes his design process from client brief to colour experimentation to final proposal. A second video looks at Joseph Albers' unique approach of teaching students how to "see". You can also experiment with a fantastic iPad app, Interaction of Colour. This app allows you to explore the Joseph Albers colour principals and then go on to create your own colour schemes from a huge array of colours.

Interaction of Colour iPad app

Display case featuring Joseph Albers' Interaction of Colour

Joseph Albers' The Homage to the Square
by Christopher Farr

The Gary Hume door rugs are fantastic! The use of precise hand carving of the tufted rug to create the raised circles and rectangles is an excellent way of representing Gary Hume's original work with household gloss paint.

Gary Hume Door Rug
by Christopher Farr

A room of Gary Hume Door Rugs
by Christopher Farr

Christopher Farr has also created a mesmerising room full of hung Anni Albers fabrics. I was fascinated by the way the patterns change with light and distance as you walk through the room. 

The room of hung Anni Albers fabric
by Christopher Farr Cloth

Anni Albers Fabric
by Christopher Farr Cloth

Anni Albers Fabic
by Christopher Farr Cloth

This stunning exhibition is on at Somerset House until the 31st August 2014 and I will definitely be returning for another visit. 

The Knitting & Crochet Guild London Group Meeting

Members of the Knitting & Crochet Guild London Group spent a beautiful afternoon learning all about entrelac knitting in the garden of Grosvenor Chapel. Such a lovely spot to learn, knit and chat with a very colourful end result!

Entrelac Knitting Samples by London Group Members

Our excellent tutor for the afternoon, Linde Merrick, explained the technique and showed us some examples including these lovely accessories from the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection.

Entrelac socks from the K&C Guild Collection.

I love the change in scale in this entrelac hat from the Guild Collection.

Entrelac Mitts from the K&C Guild Collection.

Linde lead us gently through the many steps involved in entrelac knitting. Beginning with a foundation row, we were all delighted to see our samples grow one triangle or rectangle at a time. Here is my sample growing one section at a time. Most of my photos below show only the Right Side of the work, but entrelac sections are knitted on the Wrong Side too.

Foundation Row

Cast off row completed.

I love the 3D effect on the Wrong Side of the work!

We discussed the pros and cons of this technique, including the many ends of yarn left over for sewing in, the difficulties of picking up stitches evenly and the bias pull of the stitch pattern. The pros of this interesting technique were illustrated in a stunning book brought along by Tricia, called Entrlac: The Essential Guide to Interlace Knitting by Rosemary Drysdale. The amazing diagonals, beautiful colour changes and interesting textures featured in the book all looked fantastic. The entrelac stitch dictionary in the book inspired us all!

Thank you to the group organisers for a lovely afternoon. Looking forward to the next meeting in early September already!

The Knitter Magazine Issue 73

Part 2 of my Hampton Court Tote Bag and Device Covers subscriber pattern is in this month's issue of The Knitter Magazine!

Hampton Court Tote Bag, Kindle Cover and Phone Cosy
Copyright Emma Vining
Image from the Knitter Magazine

My phone cosy and Kindle cover patterns are on pages 28 and 29 of the subscriber issue. Last month's Tote Bag was worked in Wendy Supreme Luxury Cotton Chunky Yarn for a large scale version of the criss cross pattern. In this month's patterns, the Kindle cover is knitted in Luxury Cotton DK and the phone cosy in 4ply. These small projects are quick to knit up and only have the side seams to sew to finish off.

Hampton Court Phone Cosy and Kindle Cover
by Emma Vining for the Knitter Magazine

A big thank you to the family and friends who let me test cover and cosy sizes on their kindles and smart phones!

City and Guilds Diploma in Hand Knit Textiles

I am extremely proud to have received my City and Guilds Hand Knit Textiles Diploma Certificate!!!

My tutor, Loraine Maclean of Knit Design Online, presented me with the certificate on Friday. The Diploma course has been the perfect balance of teaching and independent work and I have learned such a lot over the time of the course. Thank you so much to Loraine for all the outstanding teaching and mentoring. 

Knit Today Magazine, Issue 100

This month's Knit Today Magazine is full of bright summer knits and I am very excited as the "Designer Chat" is with me! The Knit Today team asked me all about my design inspirations.

First part of the "Designer Chat"!

My colourful Chevron Cushion Covers are also in this Issue. There are two versions: the Purple Cushion is worked in King Cole Merino Blend Aran and the Rainbow Cushion is in King Cole Merino Blend DK.

Purple Chevron Cushion Cover for Knit Today Magazine
copyright Emma Vining

Rainbow Chevron Cushion Cover for Knit Today Magazine
copyright Emma Vining

The stitch pattern is a garter stitch ridge chevron that is separated by stocking stitch sections. Worked in one piece, the covers knit up quickly with only the side seams to sew up. The opening on the back is made by slightly overlapping the borders when sewing up.

Purple Chevron Cushion Cover Opening
copyright Emma Vining

Rainbow Chevron Cushion Cover Opening
copyright Emma Vining

There are lots of lovely patterns and great articles in this issue.

The Knitter Magazine Issue 72

My subscriber copy of The Knitter Magazine, Issue 72 arrived in the post this morning and I am delighted that my Hampton Court Tote Bag is the subscriber exclusive pattern! The criss cross design is reminiscent of the brickwork used on Henry VIII's palace at Hampton Court.

Hampton Court Tote Bag by Emma Vining

The textured pattern is created using stocking stitch and reverse stocking stitch areas divided diagonally by twisted stitches. The Tote Bag is knitted in Wendy Supreme Luxury Cotton Chunky in Cherry. This soft, smooth cotton yarn shows off the stitch pattern really well.

I used leather handles from Uhandbag.com to finish off this smart bag. They are attached using D rings, also from Uhandbag.com and webbing from C&H Fabrics.

Leather handles and large D rings from Uhandbag.com
Webbing from C&H Fabrics

Large D ring from Uhandbag.com
Webbing from C&H Fabrics

The Tote Bag is the first of three patterns. The patterns for the matching Kindle Cosy and Phone Cover will be in next month's Magazine.

Hampton Court gadget set by Emma Vining

How My Visit to the British Museum Unfolded

The British Museum is one of the most inspiring Museums in the World. I love how the building unfolds as you walk in and discover each layer of beautiful architecture and stunning exhibits.

The British Museum
Photo by Emma Vining

The British Museum
Photo by Emma Vining

During my visit, the Great Hall changed before my eyes as it got dark outside and the lights came on.

The British Museum
Photo by Emma Vining

Over the past few months as part of my 'Interiors" project with the John Allen Design Group, I have been working with paper sculpture and folding. I wanted to represent my view of the British Museum in this medium so I began with photomontage and put together a mix of different view points to show how I see the Museum.

Folded Photomontage
Copyright Emma Vining

To uncover the inside layers, I have made a short stop motion animation and you can now watch 'How My Visit to the British Museum Unfolded' on YouTube!