rockpool candy

Inner London Gem

Up until recently, Inner London has been a wasteland for individual yarn shops. Sure, you can browse John Lewis or even Liberties, but I always yearned for a more intimate yarn experience without having to catch a train out of town and without the styfling heat of department stores.

But all that's changed! There's now a haven of cute yarns and delicious knitting and crochet finds nestled bang in the middle of the city.

All The Fun Of The Fair, on the 3rd floor of Kingley Court, is the sort of shop that you just want to sit in - all day.
Roz, who works Wednesdays and Fridays, and has the fastest crochet hook I've ever seen, was looking after the shop when I visited and her enthusiasm for the yarns and patterns on sale was infectious.
The knitted goodies on the table looked scrumptious. I wanted to knit all of them right there and then.

So if you find yourself on Regent Street, with your head ready to explode due to homogenous high street shops, dive down the side street to Kingley Court and enjoy All The Fun Of The Fair .
It'll put a smile on your face and a good few balls of yarn in your stash.

Kaffee mit Frau Fibre

Who is Frau Fiber?
A talented textile manipulator whose work encourages you to re-address your opinions about the cheap imports available on our high streets; to re-think the value we place on these clothes in relation to the time and labour spent by others, in often un-bearable conditions, constructing them; and to take up our sewing, knitting and crochet needles and construct our own clothes.

So what does she do about it?
She takes action.
The 'Re-Dressing New Orleans Project' was Frau Fiber's way of both interacting with the community she loves so much in New Orleans and of taking direct action when they needed it most, post-Katrina.
Pedalling her Heath Robinson-esque bike-powered sewing machine through the Gentilly neighbourhood, she offered a free textile service to anyone who needed repairs or a sewing service. (Google and flickr are full of images of her working.)

She's also the force behind The Sewing Rebellion, at the Mess Hall in Chicago.

So why am I telling you all this?
Well, Frau Fiber was kind enough to fit me in on a flying visit to Belfast on Monday. I bought her a rough cup of coffee and a dodgy scone in the bus station and she gave me my own private lecture on what she's been up to. (One of us got a raw deal, and it wasn't me!)
She let me pick her brains about a project I have in mind, and chatted easily about everything and nothing. Her charm, grace and warmth are completely disarming. She has a sparkle about her that puts you at ease instantly and, she inspires you to have the courage of your convictions and actually DO SOMETHING.
Our meeting left me geared up and full of strength to go for it.

What did I learn?
That we can make a difference. It might only be a little difference, but to each and every person to whom we show generosity of time and share our skills and knowledge, life gets a bit better.

Good on you, Frau Fiber! Here's to next time (and I promise better coffee.)

Click here for Frau Fiber's website.

Rossnowlagh beach (say Ross-ny-luh)

Whilst the rest of the UK and Ireland was basking in the 30 degree heatwave last weekend, Norn Iron and the North of Ireland were being lashed by a violent downpour carying severe weather warnings. It was so bad that small creatures could be seen lining up, two by two, looking for beardy blokes with arks.

So what do normal people do in this weather? Well, chose to take a weekend beach holiday with friends, that's what! Fur-lined hoods in August? Grand!

Togged up in my duvet-warm jacket and walking boots, we hit the beach, battling through loads of keen surfers. They obviously have goose grease coursing through their veins here, as they eagerly dived into the sea, trying to tame the icy-looking Atlantic waves, whilst we shivered on the shore.

The beachcombing for rubbish was great due to the weather churning everything up. (Bitter sweetness, as I would much prefer never to find any rubbish washed up.) I brought home loads of frayed rope and fishing debris that's now hanging in my garden being washed by further copious bouts of rain.

And beautiful jellyfish, too. I always want to scoop them up and put them back in the water. Sadly, most of them have normally been diced by passing ships etc. But this one was intact.

If you want to find out more about Rossnowlagh and its kooky surfing history, then visit the gallery at
www.irelandsurfari.com/galleryevent.html I've never seen such long beards on a board.

Even the seaweed pays its homage to the grandaddys of Irish surfing.

The wonderful work of Mai Takahashi

We had the amazing opportunity to take part in a workshop yesterday with visiting Japanese artist, Mai Takahashi, at the Catalyst Arts Gallery, where we are members. [www.catalystarts.org.uk/exhibitions/2007/takmai/takmai.html] Boy, were we not worthy!

Mai Takahashi is a textile artist specialising in Bingata, a traditional Japanese technique. After her degree completion in Japan, she relocated south, to Okinawa, to learn the technique in a local workshop.

And now we are lucky enough to have her exhibiting and demonstrating here in Belfast.

[pic: Mai Takahashi (on the left) at the workshop, with delicate cranes on the wall behind.]

If you want to see a true craftswoman at work, then you could do no better than to see Mai Takahashi using her rice glues and inks to create the most beautiful of textile pieces. They are sublimely intricate, wonderfully vibrant and marry a traditional technique beautifully with contemporary fabrics.

She took the time to let us all experiment with her painting and rubbing brushes, on previously-prepared textiles. When we first saw her work we were amazed by her skill; by the time we'd tried out the technique ourselves, we were in total awe.

She truly is making the world more beautiful piece by piece, including our house. We cannot wait to hang her beautiful fungi and will be painting a wall especially in readiness for its arrival.

Thank yous go to Tai Makahashi, her translator and to Catalyst Arts for featuring such a wonderful artist.

I will post pics of our own Bingata attempts from the workshop when we've fixed and washed them. Prepare to view something that looks like a primary schoool child has been let loose in an ink shop.

And then the Boxing Day tears.....

Just as we all remember the disappointment of our new Sindy ballerina's leg falling off only a day after we liberated her from her pink packaging, so the Boxing Day downers visited my rockpool several days after I shipped my Christmas piece last week.

The Christmas tree I worked night and day making, and on which I spent a fortune to guarantee its next day delivery, spent its press launch appearance languishing in some sorting office somewhere between Norn Iron and London FOR DAYS.

No longer do I view our postal service as a white charger valiantly galloping through rain and hail to get my precious items to their destinations. More as a beligerent old tramp demanding money. The kind that would liberate your wallet and then knock over your picnic with a begrudging grunt.
From now on, I'm picking my delivery service VERY carefully!

So here's a pic of the finished tree. It was happy before it left. Who knows what scars it will bear.......