A Little Piece of Mind

square above by Stella McCartney, bottom edge by Giles Deacon

'a little piece of mind' pulls together the minds of 86 creatives in the form of 6" squares of fabric, each one individually designed or chosen by the contributor.

Artist julie floersch who put together the quilt talks about the process of the quilt's formation -

"incorporating all the different colours and images into one piece was like solving a puzzle. I began by organising colour combinations surrounding certains squares that could not be interrupted. The unending repetition that I create in my patterns allows each little world to interact with another creating all sorts of different colour combinations and experiences. The denim and the Liberty fabrics run throughout the entire quilt, acting as a mediator where the worlds intersect."
Mark Noe of Marque Creative:

"Craft
For a few years now, we have been tracking the infiltration - often very positive - of modern techniques into craft forms. Quiltmaking is one area that has been at the forefront of this with young designers such as julie floersch exploring, pushing and redefining the language of the medium. While these designers are forward thinking, a traditional and historic aspect still remains through the use of natural materials and an insistence on age-old hand craft.

Collaboration
Although this exciting tendency is widely acknowledged, no one it seems has been prepared to champion this within the creative industries or on a worldwide, collaborative level. So this idea became an important challenge for us; to take, and then piece together, seemingly disparate influences and inputs to make a coherent, influential output. As an aesthetic philosophy, this has engaged both us and our creative collaborators.

square above - elvis robertson, left edge - Rachel Speed, top edge - Hussein Chalayan, right edge - Jo Wood

The premis was simple.
Leading creatives were asked to supply 'a little piece of mind' in the form of a 6 inch square of fabric. From a diverse array of such contributions by iconos and innovators, floersch has composed a quilt that reinforces the fact that all it takes to make a big difference is a little personal time.

Cause
We then decided to channel both of these two start points towards a more provocative or powerful cause.

Over the past 10 years, the crisis in homelessness has been worsening - almost unrecognised - despite the amazing efforts of organisations such as Shelter across the UK and the Bowery Mission in NYC.
This is a global issue - by 2010, one half of the world's population will be living in urban areas. A lot of the people unable to cope with this process will be dislocated and displaced. The problem will also be exacerbated, in the more developed countries, because two of the most chronic consequences of the curent economic crisis will be savagely deteriorating housing and employment markets.

top square above - fred butler

Generally, all of us should accept that we, our friends and our colleagues, live a relatively privileged life. A 'little piece of mind' implies only making a small creative contribution. This can be effectively converted into funds and then into action. However, 'a little piece of mind?' provokes a question about whether we could do more."

- Mark Noe, marque creative

Hussein Chalayan:
"I contributed a selection of printed fabric. My reason for participating in the project was based on the feeling that all of us working in the creative industries live charmed lives. ALPOM gave me the opportunity to offer support to a worthy project attracting attention to a problem that is not glamorous or sexy. I was especially shocked to read recently that the number of homeless women and children in the UK has risen 80% in the last five years, in a developed society in the 21st century this is totaly unacceptable."

Rupert Sanderson:
"I contributed an interesting swatch of leather from the archive in my factory. It combines photography and leather-making - two of my passions. With regards to the whole 'a little piece of mind' project, I think quilting is a highly emotive way of bringing attention to the plight of disadvantaged and marginalised people."

square above - Temperley, bottom edge - Kate Moss, top edge - Richard Nicoll

Temperley:
"A patchwork of emerald green chiffon with saphire blue and silver flower detail bead work, adding texture and 3D interest to the patch with vibrant uplifting colours."

My own square (detail above) was a simple image of a moth, embroidered using hair. I chose this image because of the irritation a moth causes me as a quilter.. the fear it strikes in me when I find them in the summer near my precious collection of fabrics. They make their homes in cupboards and eat into my treasured cloths. I'm lucky to have the luxury of this trivial problem. I make expensive bedding for beautiful environments. Beautiful, safe, cosy homes. Those without homes might encounter the same irritating moths, eating through their not-so exquisite bedding. Piles of old bedding that we see in doorways from one day to the next. Moths don't eat hair, so I chose to represent them with that.

It's a small connection, literally the first thing that went through my mind, so it was 'a little piece of (my) mind'.

links below for charities, organisers, press coverage and julie floersch
shelter
the bowery mission
marque creative
topshop
vogue online
liberty
julie floersch - work
julie floersch - blog

joana vasconcelos

el matador, 2007

Joana Vasconcelos caught the attention of the international art world in 2005 at the Venice Biennale. Her sculptural work is that which often marries highly intelligent concepts with playful execution.

el matador, 2007

Her work will be immediately recognisable to some of you for the volume and dexterity of crochet work. However she makes important sculptural pieces which pull upon a great range of influences, materials and disciplines. Her output is prolific, having it's roots in sculpture it has grown in scale and detail, range and focus. From outdoor installations to video, ceramic, fabric, and hair, from feminism, identity, globalisation to alcoholism, themes of intellect and kitsch.

victoria, 2008

Vasconcelos' work repeatedly plays upon the tension between the large scale of peices and the small initmate details of their technical execution. The materials and techniques used are employed to cleverly communicate subversion and strength, having great impact from afar then pulling you in closer.

gorette, 2006

For example the monumentally scaled chandelier pictured below, A Noiva (the bride) is made from around 25,000 tampons. This is not just a simple ironic nod to that which is feminine, but also a global bookmark. This was shown at the 2005 Venice Biennale and understandably drew international attention and much admiration.

a noiva (the bride), 2005

Chandeliers have been widely seen as great statements of status and glamour - the larger they are the more expensive and covetable. However this one has the impact from afar but none of the crystalline sparkle. The tampon would appear to represent a tedious chore in most western women's life, however Vasconcelos has remarked that a man she met in Turkey made it quite clear that it has further significance. In this man's culture, the tampon is frowned upon, seen as something that causes infection and destroys a woman's virginity.

the island of love, 2006

Artists often use images of porn, brutality or drudgery to convey feminist sentiments. I feel that too frequently women's sexuality is seen as the dominating force in their identity (and increasingly used by women themselves as a tool for progress). Of course there are so many other complex components and persona's which create the whole person.

happy family, 2006

The 'community of women' is frequently conveyed by images of domesticity, of repression or sexual subversion. In Vasconcelos' work I feel there is a more broadly feminine and more universal way of prompting thought about what it is to be a woman, not simply from whichever is specific to our own culture. My feeling is that her work is huge on first appearance, but it begs you to come and study the detail, learn more about it's complexity, contradictions, surprises or mundanity and draw your own conclusions. Perhaps that's an appropriate analogy for womanhood?

happy family, 2006

Using crochet, a method of craft which has obviously been used throughout the history of most cultures, enables her to connect with women of any nationality. However the skill obviously has different implications to each nation, as with the tampons.

happy family, 2006

It is interesting that women are fascinated with the doily, the beautiful intricate art of crochet and lace-making have undying appeal. Vasconcelos highlights our feminine instincts to clothe, covet, smother and suffocate by using them on an almost gargantuan scale. However these images are so frequently perceived merely as 'beautiful' and 'pretty' as the skill of the hand work is of course something so rarely seen on such a scale in a public arena. But it is refreshing to see the craft moving into the arena of 'art' in a revered way, gathering mass appreciation.

contaminacao, 2008

Her large scale piece 'Contaminacao' (Contamination), shown in Sao Paolo in 2008 is by contrast a huge, sprawling, colourful piece which dribbles and spreads through the public space.

contaminacao, 2008

It is viewed from different heights and angles, inviting people to interact with it. Made from garish fabrics and knitting, it seems playful and toy-like. Yet it creeps and spreads with parts that look like bacterial cells. It is almost like a strange sci-fi organism which could be terrifying were it not for the soft, colourful appearance.

contaminacao, 2008

In opposition to the cloaked, paralysed sculptures of before, this enormous piece is warm and human, bringing people together both in the gallery and in the making of it. As men and women we all connect with fabric on many different levels. Therefore the piece here can be experienced as you physically journey along it and as you mentally and emotionally travel back through your catalogue of textile experiences and connections.

joujoux, 2007

Seeing a celebrated artist using her work in such a number of deeply human and emotive ways, encouraging people to interact with it, becoming a part of the community alongside the makers, is incredibly refreshing.

joujoux, 2007

It will be interesting to see if the recession and our move towards craft, recycling and a renewed humility will engender more such inclusive art.

joujoux, 2007

Vasconcelos work is too wide-ranging and thought-provoking for me to do it justice here. I highly recommend that you follow this link to her website and research her incredible work for yourself.

contaminacao, 2008

I am obviously concerned on this blog with the textile-based work, but her ceramic and other sculptures are equally inspiring and significant.

I discovered her work via someone who sent me an email last year but unfortunately I no longer have their contact details.. sorry.

With thanks to Joana Vasconcelos for kindly allowing me to use her images.

Anna Torma - embroidery

Material Memory with Jane Adeney - 1999

Anna Torma is a fibre artist whose work has stayed with me for years. I feel a deep connection to it and often re-visit it.

The work I am so enamoured with is of course, her quilts. In this instance it's their embroidery/illustration and content that fascinates me rather than any technicalities of the craft. Their thinness, with warped sides remind me of early quilts that were perhaps made for hospital patients from newspaper or old shirt fabrics.

The works are huge in scale, intricate, complex, intimate, meaningful, playful, contradictory. Some of the images evoke for me the dynamism and movement of Cy Twombly. Each one is a place to visit, spend time, be lost, find things, learn and always be inspired. So many things happening in each piece, so many strands, stories and interpretations.. with a level of skill, care and detail that belies their playful appearance.

Playground III - 2002

A number of years ago I wanted to find out more about Anna Torma, so I contacted her and asked where I might find information. Her response was to very kindly post me an exhibition catalogue in return for copies of Selvedge. I was thrilled and impressed by her earthy nature and open manner. It felt like a favourite pop star had written to me - so exciting.

detail of Herbary - 2001

This warmth is blatant in her work. Her maternal experience is there for all to see but she is a weighty artist, an important influence on many fibre artists. Her originality, questioning of materials, technical expertise, wisdom and cultural heritage are cleverly and delicately woven into the complicated patterns and subtexts.

Playground I - 2002

Torma repeatedly uses the drawings and stories of her children. As I am primarily concerned with the use of textiles to communicate and perpetuate memory, I find this element of her work particularly powerful and moving. A simple rainy day stuck indoors, but the details of that are not just on film or in photos, instead expressed by the children and Anna through their markings and her stitch. The work involved feels like a natural representation of the patience and repetition of motherhood and the unconditional love therein.

Are the images we see portrayed here of stories she has shared with her children again and again, reminding them all of the nights she comforted them and rocked them to sleep? Do I see monstery teeth - so significant in early childhood - so painful yet such a bonding shared experience. The monsters and the landscapes.. I see an image of numerous breasts - is that of significance to Torma? Before I knew about Torma's work I used this image myself in a diary drawing many years ago when I was making a joking nod to feeling able to nurture the world (or something like that). Perhaps the many-breasted woman is one with love enough for all..? Was this Torma that was full of love or something significant to her children? The whole piece is a big, beautiful private code within which we can all find significant parts, beautiful hints and project our own hypotheses. All of it about emotion, about feeling and reacting, making us think and feel, to me it is what makes work powerful.

Rainy Day II, Tales - 2001

Torma completed her studies in Hungary in 1979, having witnessed the textile revolution of the 1970's. Textiles was at that time moving away from it's incarnation as folk art, or genteel past time. It slipped under the harsh spotlight of the authorities that shone intently over the shoulder of fine arts. Pieces were then being woven or stitched into abtract forms, installations, conceptual work in ways that had not previously been considered.

detail from Rainy Day II

Torma retained a feminine sensitivity about her work and was concerned with the motifs from her craft's heritage, with the stitches used and their significance and retaining the folk art references that other fibre artists were then rejecting.

detail from Playground I - 2002

Her work today seems to me to be entirely universal in it's communication of shared experiences, instincts and references. I'd really love to see it in person - to experience the scale, the texture, the little details, the motion of the stitch and the emotion of the piece. If any of you have experienced her work in person then please tell me - I'd love to hear about it.

Just My Imagination - 2006

anna torma

Julie Arkell (knit to embroidery)

The magical Julie Arkell is my bridge between knitting and embroidery (next area of interest). I recently had the privilege of attending one of her workshops at Loop in Islington. I had an absolute ball.

Arriving at Loop I had a quick chat with lovely Susan and a couple of the beautiful girls that work there. It's a trinket box of treasures... walking in the colour of the yarns, products and aroma from the scented candles immediately put you in a spell and make you want to stay. Everyone there is passionate, friendly, interesting and welcoming. Susan is a really special woman who clearly attracts other similarly spirited people.
Downstairs, the stock room was turned into a cosy little den for learning. Candles, flowers, baskets of wool and jugs of needles on the table, yarns lining the walls around us, the exotic and talented Julie Arkell humbly and warmly made us all tea and coffee. How lovely is that?!

Julie enthusiastically talked to us about her work and showed us a selection of her creatures. Everything about her is gentle, gracious and warm. Her energy and fascination for what she does and the world around her are a joy to encounter.
The creatures we saw were bigger and heavier than I expected and as textiles so often do, they acted like catalysts to conversation. The group was so mixed and the many different spins on the creatures, different points of view, different interpretations was wonderful.
As we began working, people talked about their experiences and craft lives in their respective countries. Each person was passionate about textiles, each in a totally different way, but the community of the group was wonderful. Shuffling through a vintage case of Julie's fabrics, through baskets of wool, it was a small group of disparate women in a sweet-scented fabric heaven.
Julie collects words and phrases, something I also happen to have done for many years. For me it was wonderful to meet someone so different to myself, but with so much commonality to talk about. Chatting about various textile artists, techniques, our fascination with lives lived and records and remnants of those, collecting 'bits' that are imbued with memory... it was a rare treat for me... I was so over-excited I was giddy.
Julie's work is fascinating. My favourite piece being that with a press-stud as a face - which closes in on itself and is called 'shy'. It's small and charming, it has a playfulness but I feel that the concept is really strong and powerful, simple and concise, it never ceases to impress me.
Her creatures were beautiful and full of character. To hear her speaking about why they are who/what they are, how they evolve, how they grow out of the paper, how she chooses the papers, works with it and then chooses what comes from it, is intimate and magical.

Today in our day to day lives we're surrounded by progress and changes which scare and delight us. Julie is a person so gentle and genuine, in brightly coloured, intricately detailed clothes, with a kind manner, without a computer, she chooses to hand write instead.. she could be a beautiful creature herself, simply not of our time. But her lively interest in everything means she is totally of this time. It is just that her insight and accurate perception cuts straight through to what people can relate to, what it is people are looking for - in tiny details, threads and remnants, these little pieces of detail that we find comforting or evocative, connecting us to some unknown artisan, housewife or child from the past.
People dropped in throughout the day. A beautiful Japanese artist, a girl and her mum, a lovely girl who clearly drops in from time to time to get help with her knitting. They do sit and spend time teaching there. It's wonderful. Anyone can drop in, sit in a lovely chair (cushioned to perfection) and ask for help. There's no hesitation, just enthusiasm from the incredibly talented girls who work there. (see what I mean here)
The course finished with a photo shoot of our little ladies all lined up outside the shop. It was like a Spice Girls reunion tour except... tasteful! Each creature was imbued with our own thoughts and ideas, full of the conversations from the day, each of them a totally different little character.
My creature/lady didn't get finished. I'll do that another time. For now she sits in a tea cup, reminding me of the chats. What I really got from the day was personal. As I'm currently a mum who has been at home with a poorly baby for the last 15 months, it was a reminder of all that makes me tick when I am very occasionally able to be 'me'. I considered my new work, my nervous new direction and thought that yes, it is valid... I'm thinking and working in a positive direction. I wonder what the others got from the day...
Meeting the other women was a real tonic, demonstrating how unifying this craft stuff is. Meeting Julie Arkell was marvellous. Her energy, gracious nature, her interest in everything, her quietly powerful work was really inspiring. And Susan and the girls at Loop - with all their knowledge and energy... impressive and benign, made for a really great day. I feel I went away with so much more than a creature. With a feeling of community, of similarity to such different people, with inspiration and energy for my personal work and my passion for textiles soaring higher than ever.
Julie Arkell will be teaching a residential workshop at Katie Armitage's wonderful home studio in the South of France this Autumn. You can find out more about it over here.
You can buy Julie's book online from Loop here.

mark newport (knit)

bobbleman - 2006

Much of the knitting I have blogged about has been created by women so some of it has inevitably focused on issues of comfort, home, domesticity and nurturing. Mark Newport makes knitted art that considers these same themes whilst additionally mulling over generally perceived and his own notions of what it is to be a man.

argyleman - 2007

Here we see the comforting, soft material of wool crafted into a protective super-hero costume ready to be worn by a big muscular macho man. But isn't it generally the stereo-typical wimp that wears knitted tank-tops and cosy jumpers..? And isn't it normally the woman (who does the knitting) that is providing the comfort, protection and love for the child the knitting will clothe..? Or are these out-dated notions of gender which are continuously evolving?

self made - 2004

The contrast between the costumes when worn and the limp, empty garments that hang on the wall is marked. Once the muscle and the energy have gone they become strange looking pelts - the masks lend an eerie mystery but essentially whilst in that state they are skillfully crafted, limpid knitwear. Maybe fetishistic in appearance, as they hang in galleries they have more of the deflated morning after than the night before, more middle-aged spread than Clark Kent or Reed Richards.

patriot - 2004

These pieces are of course a product of age and context. Newport was a comic book consumer as a boy. Having been born in the 1960's, the heroes he would have read about and the stories he would have hungrily consumed were stereotypical and omnipresent. Television at that time churned out such series as Batman & Robin, Superman and Spiderman where again and again big strong men saved helpless women and children.

patriot - 2004

As a boy, super-heroes are statuesque, strong and powerful, honest and good. Is this how young boys perceive manhood? How they imagine the ideal father? As an adult male, that role of super-hero changes enormously and many men must question every day what is it that is required of them and what is it to be male. What makes a man incredible. What is it that enables a man to protect and save.

fantastic four - 2003

As a father the super-hero themes are there in any normal life (as he slips his imaginary superman pants over his trousers) - to teach children to be honest and good and be a hero in their eyes. Here I see a parallel with the empty costumes on the wall - like seeing one's super-hero father in a dressing gown or pyjama's when you awaken him to help you with a nightmare. Of course it is precisely then, at a groggy 4am that he most inhabits his super-hero role and is a brilliant Dad.

sweaterman 2005

There is irony in the consideration of how much protection a knitted super-hero costume could actually offer. Would it shrink in the rain, or stretch...? Would it shrink in the washer or dryer? Or snag on bushes...? Questions I am sure Newport must have pondered whilst painstakingly knitting the pieces. Of course in undertaking the knitting himself, Newport has taken on the traditional role of the woman as he sees it. He is raising his own personal questions around gender which are specific to his background and generation.

sweaterman 2005

Today however, the majority of women don't knit items for their families. This can be seen as a luxury since time is a valuable commodity. It is not strange now to see men at fashionable knitting groups. Comic books have increasing numbers of super-women and normal women go out to work, protect and provide for their families. So it will be interesting to see if this crossover of skills, roles and deeply personal questions will continue to change and homogenise or if artists like Newport will continue to push it further.

sweaterman faces - 2005

dell stewart (knit)

dell stewart at we are sleep club

I love this rainbow
I love that it's knitted
I love that it's like an upside down smile
I love the colours
I love the smile I had when I first saw it
I love that it's a great graphic image
...and that it's succinct

Here's a statement from Dell which gives more background to the piece and may encourage you to do a hop, skip and a jump over to her site and find out more.

"Recently I have been knitting. Partly a long Berlin winter, partly a need to be always making something. The process of knitting everyday objects is awkward, like a landscape rendered in extra large pixels, the resolution is pretty low. A clumsy representation, appealing in its naive simplicity. Despite graceless appearances it's sophisticated to envision and create in three-dimensions from a piece of string... So these ungainly creations have an innate wisdom passed from generation to generation, a tangible link to early human innovation.

I have an ongoing interest in the connections made with people and things through the processes of making and presenting art. Actively engaging and interacting with people and surroundings and keeping an interested eye on everyone in the art of living.

So the knitted rainbow is appealing in an iconic bright childish way. It has the sad imperfect qualities of a handmade item, started with such perfect hope, yet realized in a pleasingly limp way."

written afterwards (knit)

The written afterwards website shows an exciting and challenging body of work created by yoshikazu yamagata and kentaro tamai using fashion as a versatile tool for communication.
The well-known 'my town in my home' knitted houses were created in collaboration with textile artist mafuyu. This stimulating collaboration confronts what we expect from craft and fashion. Here we see the house as an item of clothing - that which defines us, a huge building softened and reduced, becoming something to play with or within, as we might have done as children....
Of course, they are intended to be used as fashion or as toys and were featured in the children's book elaelaopa. This is a considered approach to fashion as identity... but also as play, escape, warmth and comfort.Working in collaboration with other artists prompts the creation of work that is refreshingly wide-ranging.
In contrast to the knitted houses, here we see a deceptively complex piece of craftsmanship in an ethereal and delicate, intricately worked lace panel.
Using the panel in the forms of art, installation and fashion is testament to the imagination and adaptability of the item. Crossover is of course what so many artists do, be it illustration, film, photography, craft and so on - why not allow the pieces themselves to be multi-faceted.
Their brave approach to collaboration leads to an impressive adaptability across their many ideas and applications.
The clothing items they have produced are equally well constructed, challenging and considered.
'the everyone's new clothes' (pictured below) was a piece of work based on Hans Christian Andersen's the Emperor's New Clothes. Here they work ever-playfully with notions of fashion and beauty, turning the gaze back on the viewer by using industry players as the models.
Showing first in London in 2005, yoshikazu yamagata, took prominent fashion personalities and imagined what they might wear under their clothes. Then he presented them with their alter-egos on the catwalk.
The piece was later shown (above) to the Hinohara kindergarten in a Tokyo village, performed by dance troupe the bambiest.

I first came across 'my town in my home' via selvedge. It was also recently featured on bloesem.

janet morton (knit)

early frost - 2004

Artist Janet Morton's knitted work can be seen indoors and frequently out in the community, covering trees and buildings. Who could ever have thought that anyone could make trees more beautiful than nature has already? But these stunning web-like crochet coverings comfortably creep across their trunks.. hugging, decorating, warming and accentuating the contours of the towering stately creatures.

linden in lace - 2003

Her work is a wide-ranging exploration of architecture, texture, comfort, values, our use of exterior or interior spaces, of feminism, domesticity, craft, language, isolation and community. Quite a lot..

four season tree - 2004

To add 10,000 cloth leaves to the branches of trees (see above) is indeed beautiful, industrious and thought-provoking. Here all the seasons are present at once, showing the myriad of beautiful colours the tree presents us with throughout a year. The whole cycle in one place, although artificially created. Presenting her works continuously in such public arenas shows a desire to communicate with a wide audience and to ensure that nobody be excluded from the participatory experience or to engage with the subject, or piece.

casting off - 2000

The above artwork is a piece involving participants who each knitted and submitted squares. Each square commemorated an event of personal or historical significance, with a date and a ball of wool hanging from it. There were around 400 of these squares.

felled - 1997

The installation above is a translation of a poem. The leaves were made from work socks, as you can see below. The notion of work is another recurrent theme in her work. I interpret this making of beautiful delicate items, from work-worn, day-to-day socks as a mark of respect for the labour they participated in.

felled (detail) - 1997

You may have seen Janet Morton's knitted installation at the Crafts Council's Knit 2 Together exhibition a couple of years ago. It is an entirely knitted interior furnished with items typical of a 1950's suburban living room.
A hoover provides us with a nod to the work or chores of the house, but the woollen cup with a frothy top to it provides us with a nod to the famous feminist piece by Meret Oppenheim. Perhaps she is paying respect to the work of the woman who would have carried out the chores and the knitting in the home at that time? Perhaps the cup is a hint of rebellion or a simple dash of irony.

It is exciting that another distinguished artist is using wool and knitting in such thought-provoking ways giving it the potential to be seen as a serious medium in it's own right. I hope we hear a lot more about her in the future. Please follow this link for a visual archive of her work.

cast off / knitted wedding

Weddings ain't what they used to be. Nowadays the bride and groom may think nothing of parachuting onto a Borneo beach at dawn and quickly slipping into a little Valentino number for a dream ceremony on the shoreline...
Beautiful cakes costing thousands of pounds are intricately iced and hand painted. Each layer a different type of exotic cake, with extraordinary flavours only just invented.
Well-behaved doves are released into the air at just the right moment. Weddings cost a huge amount of money. Endless wedding magazines help people ensure that they look as they should and all dreams will come true on that one incredible fairytale day.
The wedding of Freddie Robins and Ben Coode-Adams was different, it was an entirely knitted, hand made creation by the knitting community. The Cast Off Knitting Group for Boys & Girls placed an ad with download-able knitting patterns for anyone to submit and be part of the visual feast.

The food was knitted...

the paparazzi cameras were knitted..

knitted bubbly...

even the disco ball was knitted...

and of course.. I spy a corker of a knitted wedding ring to go with a fantastically knitted wedding dress....

the bride and groom walked under an arch of giant knitting needles and were showered in knitted confetti...

What a wedding to remember. A great coming together of so many people's generosity, time, energy and spirit. It must have been such a magical day. You can view more of it here.
The wedding was held at Wandsworth's Pump House Gallery.

Congratulations to the bride & groom. What a glorious wedding.

Susan Cropper - Loop (knit)

susan cropper photographed at loop by simon brown

In my opinion Loop are an essential part of the knitting community, having helped shape the current climate of handcraft in the UK. Loop's founder, Susan Cropper is a gracious, generous, open person and I am lucky to have spent time talking and communicating with her. The interview that follows is something I really enjoyed. Susan has given me so much insight into the person behind the brand and I can say that in person she is equally as warm and welcoming - I admire her greatly for her kind spirit as well as her enormous skills, knowledge and achievement.

What are your first significant memories of fabric, yarn or knitting?
Oooh, that’s an easy one. My beautiful mom, Joan, did weaving when I was a child. We had this small NYC apartment but somehow, in the living room, she had this great big loom. She dabbled with dyeing her own yarn and she’d do it the bathroom. So for a time there were skeins always hanging over the shower rail drying out in these crazy colours. That the dyes were made from things like beetles, beetroot, onions always fascinated me.
My mom was also an interior designer and since I was very small she would drag me around the D&D building in NYC (Decorative and Design Building), which is where all the furniture and textile companies had their showrooms. We’d go around and gather swatches of fabric, paint chips, small photos of design classics which would wind up on ‘mood boards’ in progress that would be lying around the apartment. On weekends we’d go with my brother to the art museums too. So I was introduced to design and textiles from a very early age and I expect the passion for it seeped into me by osmosis.

tait and style at loop

Do you come from a knitting or craft background?
I studied Textile Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC before switching to Graphic Design at the School of Visual Arts. My work before opening Loop was working as a designer and art director mostly on lifestyle and home magazines in London while raising my three children. I used to do a lot of art when I was younger and have always been drawn to textiles and design. I love to go to design fairs as well as vintage fairs and flea markets wherever I am. It is colour and texture that has always inspired me.

Do you feel comfort when you knit, is it meditative, does it make you travel back in time or switch off?
I feel total comfort from it. I feel my blood get going when I am looking at yarns and ranges of colours and textures but the actual process of knitting (and I am a pretty slow knitter compared to most people I know!) is so soothing to me. Just today, it is a rainy Sunday afternoon and I am watching a DVD of ‘La Vie En Rose’ that Sonia, my daughter, lent to me and knitting a series of flowers. I’m in heaven.

yarns at loop

Do you have a personal collection of yarns, knitted items and fabrics?
I have balls of yarn that I arrange in clusters around my apartment just because they make me happy see them. Little bundles of Habu Japanese yarn and wound up skeins in gorgeous hues. I also have an awful lot of vintage buttons and velvet flowers and haberdashery scattered about. There are jugs of knitting needles on hand too.
On my bed and in the living room are a lot of knit blankets and pillows and quirky toys.

donna wilson's knitted creatures at loop

What are your favourite personal textile treasures and why?
I have a few textile treasures. I love my little wire bird that is so simple and charming. It is shaped wire with threads strung through it.

wire bird treasure and vintage buttons

Sophie Digard’s scarves and necklaces are exquisite. The workmanship of the crochet using this incredibly thin merino wool combined with her colour palette makes them hard to resist. We have a small selection of them at Loop and it takes all my will power not to scoop them all up and take them home. I have treated myself to a small scarf and one of her crochet necklaces.

Sohie Digard necklace

Also, my ‘second mom’, Joy, bought me a beautiful throw when we had a girls’ trip in NYC for a few days that is knit and lightly felted and is in the most beautiful colours. Warm mauve, browns and mustard yellow. It’s on my bed and covers me each night. Another treasure is a handbag that I got years ago as a birthday present. It’s what inspires me in textiles- layering. It has a fabric that reminds me of old tapestries. On top of that are randomly stitched blossoms and leaves.

some of Susan's textile treasures

The last thing isn’t really mine - it’s a doll I made for Sonia in one of Julie Arkell’s workshops and I just love it. I made it for her when she was traveling around South America for a year and I stitched ‘happy travels’ onto the pinny. I held onto it until she returned and a lot of love was put into each stitch as I missed her so much. It’s up with her in Manchester now.
Just holding or looking at these things fills me with pleasure. Somehow colours and textures evoke an emotional response in me.

What do you (emotionally) get from Loop? Is it what you expected?
Creating Loop and building it up and seeing it grow has been enormously important to me in a very emotional way. I put my heart and soul into it and the joy I get from sourcing new yarn and meeting talented people who make incredible things from knit and crochet has been a blessing. I feel so proud that we can offer a space for independent designer-makers to have their work seen by many people as well as bringing so many new yarns into the UK so people can see, touch and use them.

One of my favourite things is to go to the big trade yarn fairs in the States and see the new yarns as well as spending time with the lovely people who make them. I spend most of the year speaking to them on the phone or by email so it is really special to be with them and talk about what inspired them to create their new things. I get such a kick out of it.
I’ve been really blessed with the people who work at the shop. They’re great knitters and wonderful people and they’ve stayed! They’re a huge part of Loop.

donna wilson at loop

What I didn’t expect at the time of dreaming about it and then opening Loop was the enormous response it would have. That it somehow resonated with people and got so much press that it had a very real knock-on effect. I think it helped raise the whole profile of knitting again in the UK which was completely unexpected. I think that’s been great for everyone involved in the knitting community.
That we have taught hundreds and hundreds of people how to knit and crochet and seen their excitement when they can do it as well as the oohhs and ahhs that come from some people when they walk in the shop is amazing. It’s incredibly hard work, with very little profit, but it truly is a labour of love.

learn to knit at loop

Do you feel there’s a connection between knitting and community? If so, why do you think there is that link?
Absolutely. One thing to take into account when discussing the resurgence of knitting is the sense of community that it can offer. Life can feel quite scary at times these days with random acts of violence, global warming, the economy etc and something like knitting is a way of slowing down and feeling comfort. It is the cocooning effect. It’s a great way to hang out with other people that share an interest and to feel connected with your wider community. It’s a great way to engage with other people and learn new skills in one of the knitting groups or from your LYS (local knitting shop).

loop exterior

Also, people pop by with their children a lot and get help and supplies for projects they are doing together. It’s so satisfying to have people form the neighborhood come in as well as local school sometimes and feel inspired. We also have a free sos clinic once a month where people can sit and have cake and tea and get any help they need.
Some people on knitting websites give me flack for not ‘creating more of a local knitting community’ (I must imagine they mean a loop knitting group) but there are plenty of lovely other places that do that in London. I just can’t do more than I am between the shop and my children and feel it’s unfair to criticize as they have no idea what my temperament is (fairly shy) or how much work goes into one shop. I’m happy with what we have achieved and feel we’ve offered a lot to both the local and knitting community.

bee@home at loop

Do you have plans for any more books?
I would love to do just one more book one day. It would be a home book of knitted and crochet textiles filled with throws, blankets, big and tiny cushions and wraps. I suppose it would be in the style of Vintage Crochet as that is very close to my heart and very much ‘me’. There is nothing in the pipeline though (yet!).

Do you still have time to knit for fun?
Yes. It’s often late at night or early in the morning when everyone else is sleeping but right now, I have three ongoing things in the works. A great cabled wrap, a big beautiful ribbed cable blanket I’m knitting in ggh’s ‘Savanna’ for my younger son and this big series of flowers that I’m making over time to hang from ribbons in the shop and when we go to fairs.

the beginning of the flower project by Susan..

What do you think is the reason for the current resurgence in knitting and craft?
There are a few reasons for this.
Knitting has usually been seen as a domestic craft and thus connected with women, home, thrift etc. In the past ten years that has really been blown out the window with an explosion in gorgeous yarns and incredibly stylish patterns. I think women of my mom’s generation rejected these crafts as they were busy becoming more economically independent through work and higher education and the general lifestyle shift of the 60’s and 70’s. I know many women around my age were taught to knit by their grandmothers rather than their moms. Now, women are so much more financially independent and confident in themselves. They feel secure enough in the rest of their lives to reclaim these crafts, not feel self conscious about it in the least and make it their own.

wall of wool at loop

Mirroring this at the same time we have the dominance of the high street and places like Primark which is the opposite of the hand knit. Neighborhoods don’t feel so unique anymore as independent shops find it harder to make it. So, in part, the handmade is a reaction against this. When you see the same clothes and homeware all over the place from gap, next, oasis or wherever you might want to have a bit of your own style thrown in at some point. Something of ‘you’ in what you choose to clothe yourself or surround yourself with. Making things yourself instead of always buying things that are spit out by a machine and to smile even at the charming imperfections in the knitting.

Almost everything in our homes is made by machines and the tactile satisfaction of touching nubby mohair or silk or alpaca or chunky wools- fibres of any kind- satisfies some part of the human that needs to remember the hands that made them. I think craft, with all its’ inefficiency and imperfection is yearned for in some way.

annette bugansky at loop

Where do you feel knitting can go next..?
Oohh. Not sure. Just that knitters feel more and more confident to make a pattern their own either through changing the yarn specified, embellishing with buttons, trim, pom poms or whatever takes their fancy. There are some incredible things being made with knit and crochet on the high end of fashion and as people gain more skills they can take what they want from this and incorporate some of this into their own work. Just to have fun with it and not be scared of making mistakes.

With enormous thanks to Susan for her time and patience. You can visit the Loop website for yarns, books workshops and designers here.

I had techno bugs recently and lost the original post so had to cut and paste the comments below, but feel free to leave comments as normal.

Heidi said...

WOW~ your blog is fantastic!
must come back and read more later!
;o)

24 May 2008 22:00

KiTTYPiNKSTaRS said...

OOOh this is such a lovely and inspirational blog! Though I have never been, I love the look of Loop! It's just the most magical looking place and my dream shop! I love Donna Wilsons knitted creatures and hope one day my creatures could live in a place just as fabulous!!

And Susan looks so so lovely, I wanna give her a big wooly hug!!

Keep up the great work
KiTTY XXX

25 May 2008 08:25

Christine said...

I saw your work in Embroidery magazine some time ago and loved it so was really pleased to find your blog. I love Loop, its such an inspiring and comforting place, and I was lucky enough to attend a Julie Arkell workshop there and meet the lovely Susan, so was really interested to read the interview, thanks. Christine x

28 May 2008 14:12

clarel said...

I must visit this place - thanks for interview x