My Makes

This is the last blog post of 2011, my blog has been a bit quiet since I've been taking some time off from the madness of December which included writing a journal paper, covering lessons and marking, but 2012 expects to be a bigger and busier year for me as I'm hoping to finish my thesis when my funding ends at the end of July. I already have lots of excellent things planned but thought I would finish the year with a post of some of the things I knitted as Christmas presents for people.

These are hot water bottle covers that I made using a simple garter stitch and basic pattern which I made up myself, the colours were chosen by the recipients and the buttons have snowflake details to be give a wintery feel. They were pretty easy so I am in the middle of making one for myself too.  
 

The next item is a tea cosy which was requested by the recipient, I decided to use green as I know that many items in her kitchen are lime green,  The tea pot is from Whittards and has the same star detail which can be seen on the mugs, the stars inspired me to think of a circus theme so the tea cosy design is loosely based on the stripes of a big-top tent (attaching the bobble on top made me particularly angry). I placed a miniature bottle of gin within the tea pot as a secret surprise.   

 
I hope that everyone had a excellent Christmas and has a happy new year. Although I am enjoying the rest I am looking forward to diving back into my work.

Charles Leadbeater Talk

On Thursday I went to the Cornerhouse Cinema to hear Charles Leadbeater do a talk called 'Improvers, Entertainers, Shockers and Makers: A Guide to Modern Culture'. Charles Leadbeater has been extremely influential to my thesis and I found his book 'We Think: Mass Innovation not Mass Production' extremely inspiring when I was trying to work out what I wanted to write about.

The talk was fantastic, it took a little while to warm up but when it did I remembered everything that I liked about Leadbeater's philosophies and how it applies to my own work. I found his opinions particularly interesting during the Q and A session afterward. 

I managed to have a quick word with Charles Leadbeater at the end of the session to tell him how influential his book has been on my work and he seemed pleased, I also managed to get my booked signed, my copy of this book is actually battered as I've made so many notes in the margins.

I highly recommend Leadbeater's work for ideas and information about the benefits of sharing ideas and collaboration. 

Interview with Kate Day

Of course all of my interviewees have been wonderful but I consider it to be a great privilege that I was given the opportunity to speak with Kate Day - Director of Manchester Craft and Design Centre.

The Manchester Craft and Design Center is one of those rare places that makes Manchester special, completely unique to the city it houses a community of makers and provides a welcoming space for them to sell their products.

The director Kate Day is an extremely intelligent woman, her grasp on craft, technology and their place within culture is unsurpassed. Kate possesses a deep authority on these subjects which is built on authenticity and professionalism.

The Manchester Craft and Design Centre is very lucky to have someone like Kate Day looking out for their best interests and I was just as lucky to be able to speak to her for my research, the insights and information she has provided me have been invaluable and I thank her for her time.

Ordsall Ball

Today me and Sophie cycled down to Ordsall Hall in Salford to attend the knitting event 'Ordsall Ball (of wool)'. Inside there was a craft fair and loads of demonstrations of people teaching others how to knit and crochet, overall it was a really nice event and even better that it was just down the road. I forgot to take pictures when inside because I got distracted by all the cool things but me and Sophie learned how to finger knit, which neither of us had tried before.

One of the coolest things about Oldsall Hall is that it is apparantly haunted, when Sophie suggested we go I thought that attending a haunted craft fair would totally make up for me missing Halloween (because I had a cold). I didn't hold any interviews with anyone there because I have collected the majority of my data now, today was just for fun and to do some networking for our knitting group and we had a great time doing it.

Knitted Kittens Craft Club

New flyer advertising Knitted Kittens Craft Club in December, designed by the wonderful Sophie Daniels who co-organises the group with me. Going to ask to interview the group at some point very soon (probably January) as part of a focus group study, by getting first hand experience of running a DIY community of Practice it allows me to have a real insight of the communities I am studying. 

Pink and Purple Afghan

In between writing up my research (which can be very stressful and is getting more so) I often craft in the evenings to unwind, plus I like to think it keep me connected to the makers and communities in which I am exploring. As I've amassed quite a collection of yarn I decided to try and bust my stash by using some of the cheap acrylic yarn on a crochet afghan. Also my cat loves blankets so much, I thought if I made it from cheap yarn I wouldn't mind so much when she tries to sleep on it. 

The center worked up really quickly but slowed down the bigger it got. It's huge, so big that I couldn't fit it in the photo.

What is knitting really?

Innovation through Cultural Heritage Seminar

Today I visited Salford University to attend the 'Innovation through Enterprise Cultural Heritage' Seminar, this event was recommended to me by Dr. Gill Green who made the suggestion that my research could be linked to the renewal of cultural heritage. This seminar had some wonderful speakers who helped me to recognize some of the missing links within my literature review of how traditional knowledge meets new technologies, so attending this seminar was really beneficial to me.

This artwork was brought in from one of the speakers as an example of the posters that their organization used to print, it was brought in to talk about how they have evolved their business but managed to preserve some of their traditional values.

Interview with Ken Eardley

I was drawn to the beautiful and brightly coloured ceramics by Ken Eardley straight away, his classic designs exude quality and Ken has enjoyed success through traditional ways of promotion through good contacts and free press. We discussed some of the reasons why a maker may not necessarily need to embrace new technologies and this interview gave me a welcome new perspective.

Interview with Kylie Coles

I decided to take a break and collect my thoughts on a quiet stairwell inside the fair and as I was sitting there going through all my documents and business cards I had collected of interviewees I was joined by Kylie Coles, a stall holder who was looking for a quiet place to eat her lunch, we got chatting and Kylie very kindly agreed to be interviewed.

Kylie Coles is primarily a wood turner who creates contemporary decorative pieces from a number of materials including ceramics, wood and recycled paper and was arguably one of my favourite interviewees of the day. Kylie gave me a brilliant interview and gave me a real insight into some of her skills and experiences of trying to develop herself as a brand online. Her work is very interesting and shows real promise as she was selected by the GNCCF for their graduate support scheme last year and was returning to the fair for a second year.

I strongly recommend that you visit Kylie's website in order to find out more about her work and where you can purchase her pieces from: www.kyliecoles.co.uk

Interview with Wolfram Lohr

Wolfram Lohr is a talented designer, shoe maker and leather worker. As we waited to interview him we were treated into hearing his sales pitch to some eager customers, we got to hear him explain the skillfull process of how he designs and makes the shoes and bags that he sells. It was really interesting to get his perspective on making and selling a product which clearly takes a long time to create, and gave us an insight into some of the problems that some makers may face within the creative industries.

If you would like to purchase some quality leather accessories or would like to find out more about his work then be sure to visit his website at: www.wolframlohr.com
   

Interview with Grace Du Prez

 It was difficult to walk past Grace's booth and be able to ignore it, filled with bright neon colours and geometric shapes, it definitely stood out from the crowd. Grace works with an embroidery machine to produce unique jewellery and accessories from her own design.

To see more of Grace's work then you should visit her website: http://www.graceduprez.co.uk/#
She has some amazing skulls for sale on there, which can be used to hang jewellery from and if I had the funds then I would definitely buying one for myself. It was a pleasure chatting to Grace about her work and her business and I wish her all the best for her future projects.

Interview with Alix Swan

With a taste for the eclectic we moved on and was drawn to our next interviewee Alix Swan. Alix's work is probably the trickiest to define as she manages with great dexterity to blend fine art, paper, carpentry and fiction to create her representations of a fairy tale world. I was particularly impressed with how Alix crafted the boxes herself from wood, demonstrating her skills to work with a number of materials.  

Rachel pointed out this fabulous piece as her favourite based on Alice in Wonderland.

If you are interested in taking a closer look at some of Alix's work then you can have a look through her facebook page or you can buy some of her pieces through her Folksy store.

Interview with Katie Almond

Katie Almonds designs are beautiful and eclectic, she works in ceramics and paper to create fantastic one off pieces inspired by "nostalgia, old paper ephemera and vintage textiles".  I tried to take better pictures but was really difficult as she had so much interest from customers, be sure to snap up her work before everyone else does.

Katie welcomes commissions so if you wanted something specific then you can contact her through her website: www.katiealmond.co.uk I personally have my eye on a few of her creations.

Interview with Sue Lowday

Our next interview at the GNCCF was with the lovely Sue Lowday, who is a metal and leather worker.

As Sue is multi-talented and can work expertly with both metal and leather, she can design and make a variety of creations from stylish and unique handbags to quality belts in a rainbow of colours.

If you would like to have a further look at some of her work or would like to buy something then you can visit her website: www.suelowday.co.uk and follow the links to her shop

Knitted Kittens Poster November

Here is the new poster for Knitted Kittens Craft Club (artwork by Sophie Daniels). This group will used in order for me to get a deeper understanding and be involved in DIY creative communities of practice.

Interview with Anna Wales

The best way to describe Anna Wales' work in is her own words: "It features a combination of felt and silver, or of oxidized silver with polished precious metals which are arranged to form stark contrasts or subtle transformations throughout a singular piece". Anna spoke with great depth and passion about her craft which was only reflected in her skillful work.

More details about Anna and her work can be found through her website: http://www.annawales.com/

Interview with Sarah Allen

Our second interview of the day was with the very talented Sarah Allen, who not only weaves her own textiles but then goes on to create beautiful accessories from her specially made materials. Just look at the wonderful purses that she had for sale, I personally love her use of colour.

You can find out where to buy Sarah's pieces from her website: www.sarahallenweaving.com

Interview with Charlotte Verity

Today Dr. Rachel McLean and I went to the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in order to conduct interviews for my research and collect data for a paper that we are in the process of writing together. I have had such an excellent and rewarding day, we met loads of talented and interesting people and got some real quality data to work with.

The first interviewee of the day was with Charlotte Verity who is a "designer-maker of contemporary art jewellery, specialising in silver and small scale hot glass techniques", although we caught her off guard as we hadn't quite worked out our spiel yet, we found Charlotte to be very friendly and professional, a great first interview of the day.

 
As the photos which I have taken really didn't do her pieces any justice, I have taken a picture from her website to represent her work (as seen below), be sure to visit her website to find out where to buy her jewellery or contact her directly: www.charlotteverity.com

GNCCF 2011

Just got back from my trip to New York and although I had a fantastic time it was purely for a holiday so nothing research related to report, but although I have only been back a few days I have hit the ground running and will be conducting interviews at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair over the next few days.
Although initially I was going to visit and try my luck with interviews without permission, I was lucky enough to bump into one of the organisers of the fair at an event a few weeks back and she has very kindly given me her permission to chat to the stall holders (plus has agreed to be interviewed herself after all the madness of organising the fair has calmed down, which I'm really excited about). If you are around Manchester over this weekend and want a unique shopping experience to find high quality hand made goods for yourself or Christmas presents then you must visit the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. I will hopefully get a few interesting interviewees to blog about over the next couple of days (fingers crossed) plus it will be great to get out and about for my studies.

Voltaire

Apple

"Follow your heart & intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Stay hungry, stay foolish" Steve Jobs 1955 -2011

Red Mittens

These are a pair of red mittens I made for our lovely friend Stacy who lets us use the pub that she runs (The Ape and Apple) for our knitting group. For any knitting geeks out there they were made with Debbie Bliss Fez, which is 85% merino wool and 15% camel, it's beautiful yarn which is very soft.

In regards to my research - I've started my methodology section, which I'm actually really enjoying. I was looking forward to writing this section for a long time as I teach Research skills with Dr. Gill Green and couldn't wait to start applying what I've been doing to my research. Obviously I've been contributing to this section throughout my study but now I'm getting the opportunity to really focus on everything and it's coming together slowly but surely, everyday is a learning curve. I've also got lots of cool things planned for the future which will really benefit everything that I'm doing so lots to look forward to.

Knitted Kittens Craft Group

Once again here is another fantastic poster by Sophie Daniel for our monthly knitting and craft group. I love this poster, it's probably one of my favourites that she's ever done. I have recently started having a think about some of the ways I will be interviewing the group to collect data for my research. The group is also an attempt to build and participate with some of the communities that I am studying.

Trip to Knit and Knatter, Walney Island

This week I was lucky enough to be invited to The Queens Arms Pub, Biggar Village on Walney Island to present my research and interview members of their local 'Knit and Knatter' group.
The pub is owned by Mary Rudkin (along with her friend Julie) who is a lecturer at my University. We met when I was presenting at the university's annual research conference, she asked if I could come and talk to her monthly knitting group and I thought it would be a good opportunity to do some interviews and get some practice. I had such an amazing time while I was there, they kept me very well fed with the lovely pub food and let me try some of the specialist real ales they served. They are still renovating some areas of the pub but they managed to make me feel very much at home, here is a picture of the pub from the outside.

I wanted to chat to her group and ask questions about how new technologies may have assisted them when being in a fairly remote location; but instead the majority of the data that I ended up getting heavily focused on the concept and benefits of community, which is also primary focus of my research. Mary wanted me to introduce the concept of guerilla knitting/yarn bombing into her group, as a suggestion of an activity they could participate in together and brighten up some parts of the Island and the neighbouring town of Barrow in Furness. I really didn't expect the suggestion that I made to be so well received but all of the ladies in the group seemed really excited and all suggested places and ways to yarn bomb.
I added these two slides to my original presentation, there isn't a lot of information on them as I merely wanted to introduce the some of the ideas and inspire them to do their own thing. I actually really enjoyed adding these slides as I got to look at some of the fabulous different ways people choose to yarn bomb.

They were all so friendly that I urge you to try and visit them at some point. Mary very kindly gave me a present for my knitting group as a thanks for coming down. These amazing knitting needles, which are size 35! I can't wait to try different types and sizes of yarn on these and experiment with all the interesting textures they might produce.

Mary also painted this card of neighbouring island of Piel and got all the group to sign it with lovely messages about how they enjoyed my talk.

Here is a picture of Mary spinning some fleece she had from some of the local alpacas that also live on the island. Thanks again so much for having me and introducing me to your fantastic group, I can't wait to hear how you all get on with your future projects and guerilla knitting, good luck! x

Connected Communities Conference

I have just come back from the Connected Communities Conference at Newcastle University, it was such a great conference as it really focused on my area of research. I was a bit too shy to speak to people there at the time but I have been contacted by a few people via twitter and will definitely email them back for a chat:

Here are a few photos that I took of some of my favourite presenters but they didn't come out too great because they were taken on my phone:

 OrsayCommons, Building a Micro-Community of Museum Hackers,

Julien Dorra.

 Seeds to Soil,

Lien Tran.

The Community Stack: Design Principles for a Community Centered Solution Stack,

Adam Hasler, Kawandeep Virdee and Benjamin Sugar.

I was driven to Newcastle by the lovely Dr. Gill Green, who is far too good to me, we stayed at one of her houses and she was my guide around the city. She took me to Durham University which was really inspiring and the Angel of the North, which was amazing:

On the way back we drove back through the Lake District and stopped off at a farm shop where we met this handsome chap:

I had such a great time, saw loads of new things and learned lots, of course it takes a few days for everything to sink in and I'm still very tired. I'm hoping to apply to present at this conference myself next year so fingers crossed.