Yesterday was the annual Knit & Stitch Show in Grannies favourite Harrogate. The 3-Day long event was absolutely brimming with Students to Blue Rinse’s dawdling around exhibitions and stalls.
The day trip was organised by the “Knottingham NTU Knit & Stitch Society” who took a coach full of hungover students on the two-hour drive day trip to a cold and blustery Harrogate.
Set over 4 exhibition halls the show was overwhelmingly big and equally busy. There were live demonstrations (the Sonic Sweeper was mesmerising), hard sellers and Rumpelstiltskin’s spinning.
My favourite exhibition was by a local lady called Kerry Mosley. Her work was a fusion of Art meeting Textiles. Her portraits were large delicate wall hangings of well-worn faces. What was nice was a chance to speak to the artist herself and have a look in her sketchbook where she sketches the faces of her subjects using Biro and accompanies them with a narrative from the subject.
The Biro is harsh and captures every wrinkle that tells a different story of the person’s life. Some of the stories were heart-wrenching but made a personal background to the accompanying portrait.
The Portraits themselves looked so delicate on the wall but Kerry assured me they were actually quite strong. They are created through two techniques: Hand Knitting of pliable wire and then stitching and embellishment with beads over the top. The use of wire captures the lines of her Biro drawings, which I thought were equally as impressive. Each one taking her 6 months worth of evenings to complete.
Checkout her website for more information and a gallery of her other works: www.kerrymosley.co.uk
Tiny Tea Drinker 