I will be teaching crochet (and knitting) at The Tea Rooms, in Stoke Newington on the 14th February, St Valentines day! So I thought for something a bit special we could make some crochet hearts, you can wear them as a brooch or give to someone you love! I will be there on the Tuesday morning from 10am to 12noon, and then Wednesday 15th from 7pm till 9pm. Please contact The Tea Rooms to book your place.

Yesterday, I was at the V&A with my fellow machine knitters, looking at the iron works for some inspiration for a new up coming project. This must be one of the few times I’ve gone there not to look at fashion or textiles directly, but I can totally see why the iron works were suggested, gates with intricate lattices looked just like knitted lace.

Anyway after photos and sketches done, followed by obligatory tea and scones in the amazing cafe, I stayed in the shop a little longer after the others left, inspired by beautifully designed accessories and spotting a couple of floral wood blocks for printing (I will buy these another time). Finally I went to leave, calling it a day, which was full of inspiration, shapes, pattern and design, when I was handed a free ticket to a fashion show/performance that was just about to begin....

Sat near the back, I still had a great spot to capture the models as they appeared out on the catwalk. “Models at Work” was a performance piece by Paris based museum director, curator and performer Olivier Saillard, featuring five famous french models: Axelle Doue, Claudia Huidobro, Anne Rohart, Violeta sanchez and Amalia Vairelli. The performance was in five parts and rather than showing off clothing, it was more about the models gestures and the idea of dressing and design and the elements involved in clothing shown on the catwalk: Black sheaths, An exercise in style around the white tunic. Catwalk without clothes. Modelled in calico. Shadow garments.
It was really exciting to be sat in the Raphael Gallery along side some very fashion looking people, journalist and dear I say, hipsters. I love this sort of thing and I want to be more a part of it!

I will be teaching beginner’s crochet classes at Julies Handmade World, in Crystal Palace. Working from initial stitches, onto following a basic pattern of a traditional granny square, or to make your own hat! Please look through the other workshop pages to see the sort of things you could learn to make! Places are limited, so please contact me to book your place now!

So this hat nearly took me a whole year to complete although it only took a week to knit! I started it in January 2011, but it was too small for even my pea sized head, it has since taken me the rest of the year to get around to unraveling it, and re-knitting, but I finished it today just in time before this year is out! Happy New Year all!

Most of the time Facebook is a time waster, but sometimes it shows its worth, I discovered this exhibition posted up through two different unrelated friends that I hadn’t seen in ages, Ed Kluz and Anita Bruce who were both exhibiting in it. I could have easily missed Ghosts Of Gone Birds, but managed to see the show the day before it ended in Shoreditch, when I was on my way to the Hoxton Knitting group. The show was overwhelming, I wish I had more time to see everything, a whole room of Ralph Steadman drawings, and recently I had discovered the work of Felt Mistress through twitter, who has worked in collaboration with Jon Burgerman to make illustrations into stuffed felt creatures! By chance I managed to catch up with Anita, invigilating the show, whilst knitting her hummingbirds in wire. Her knitting patterns and sketchbooks as complex and amazing as her finished pieces.

Felt Mistress


Ed Kluz


Anita Bruce