Craft fairs

It is the time of a year when the weather turns cold, days turn to night too soon and wherever you turn you are exposed to the commercial side of Christmas. Yes, the 'C' word. I must say though, the older I get, the less patience I have to participate in this madness. Which is why this year I decided not to bother with any high street 'temptations' and visit craft fairs instead. I started with 'Wizardry in Wood' few weeks back, visited 'Made London' two weeks ago and conquered 'Selvedge Winter Fair' today.

This colourful facade smiled at me on my way to the 'Selvedge Winter Fair'. I am not sure what this building is all about, people were coming in and out all the time, I just had to stop for a little while and take this picture. The colours brought me closer to the spirit of the festive season.

Returning to the spirit of fairs, I have to say, I am impressed with the sheer variety of produce. So many designer-makers under one roof offering textile pieces, jewellery, wooden or woven pieces, all being ideas for gifts. I love going to these events. They are all filled with good natured individuals who are presenting their skill and that I have to admire. These are places that I find so inspiring. Inspiring enough that I have not purchased anything yet (even though I would like to support all the lovely people who exhibit at fairs). Instead, I remembered the three projects I have put on hold. I wonder if there is a gift idea hidden somewhere there... K-)

Fun Fur

What you are looking at is my latest project; rather time consuming but definitely fun to produce, hence the title. As the name also suggests, this blanket is rather furry, therefore soft and cuddly. All of a sudden, a title is born.

'Soft' and 'joyful' is exactly what I wanted to achieve here. The size and colour has it also written all over. This blanket is suitable for children; from babies onwards. Till it is too short to cover.

The front already says "Touch me. Run your fingers down my colourful face and enjoy me. I will keep you warm." And I have to admit, I have done so on many occasions. It was too hard to resist...

The back has also its charm. Suddenly, you can see clearly each shape. Such sharp distinction of each colour section adds it a form and reveals the structure of the design. Many times, I found myself placing a new colour based on the shapes already in place, relying on the reverse side. From a design point of view, this was the key to the process.

Just to give you a taster of the process itself, below are few pictures.

Starting with the base, I knotted two strings of yarn (in a given colour) to each chain.

Honestly, there was quite a few chains in each row and a considerate number of rows.


Below is the continuous progress. What you can see on the left is the original size (the middle coloured section that is). This to me looked rather small and so purposely, I made the base bigger. By doing so, I ended up filling the margins; slowly but gradually. This is when the reverse side became helpful.

 

And finally, here we have one little baby named Aisling in her smart pyjamas, the winner who will enjoy this blanket till the end...

Laying on top or being covered, Aisling can enjoy its softness and warmth. Wouldn't you be tempted? ;-)