Birds go West

Yes, that's right...more antics from our feathered friends! Those cheeky arctic terns have flocked over to the Lighthouse in Glasgow's Mitchell Lane.

One arctic tern perched on my windowsill
before he joined the flock!

The Bird Yarns project is nesting at the Lighthouse from now until Sunday 28th October - I even paid them a little visit myself in Glasgow at the weekend! You can currently find them up on the top floor, perching on the viewing platform by the café.

(Please click on the image to view it better!)
If you're interested in knitting your own Arctic Tern, the Lighthouse gallery shop now sells kits so you can do just that. (Would also make a fab pressie for a crafty friend or family member!)

Further Information

Bird Yarns: http://www.capefarewell.com/seachange/bird-yarns
Bird Yarns Tumblr: http://bird-yarns.tumblr.com
Bird Yarns Twitter: @Birdyarns
The Lighthouse: http://www.thelighthouse.co.uk
Luminate: http://www.luminatescotland.org
Cape Farewell: http://www.capefarewell.com/seachange/bird-yarns
Deirdre Nelson: http://dstitch.blogspot.co.uk

My knitted Arctic Tern bird-in-progress (June 2012)

(See also my previous post about the Bird Yarns project.)

The Birds are coming!

I'm so excited to announce that the Bird Yarns project is coming to Edinburgh!

The project is an interesting one, involving many crafters from all over the UK (and a few from further afield!), knitted Arctic Terns and Textile Artist Deirdre Nelson.

My knitted birdie!

Bird Yarns is organised by An Tobar's Artist-in-Residence Deirdre Nelson (An Tobar being the arts centre in Tobermory on the isle of Mull), supported by Cape Farewell and is intended to highlight the plight of these little birds. The exhibition is a response to the changing migration patterns of seabirds across Scotland’s islands.

A flock of Arctic Terns will descend upon the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh, 26th-27th September 2012 - I can't wait to see them all!

They're knitted with locally-sourced, beautiful natural undyed wool from Ardalanish (also on Mull) and recycled materials - my tern has a thick felt beak, legs which I French knitted and reinforced with coated red wire, also used to make its little webbed feet. I then stuffed my knitted bird body with recycled wool scraps from my other knitting projects to keep it eco-friendly.

A little birdy told me (pardon the pun, I couldn't help it...) that there are now kits available too if you want to have a go at knitting your own! [Ravelry link]

We want Wool!

This is the perfect time to get back into knitting, it really does feel wintery today. Mind you, it's not as if I actually have a time of year when I'm not knitting, if I'm being honest!

Anyway, some of you may remember that earlier in the year, I donated to the Red Cross for every Space Invader sale I made in March and April to the Japan Tsumami Appeal. Almost 8 months later, many people are still trying to piece their lives back together after the 8.9 magnitude quake and resulting tsunami.

One aid project which I think is particularly wonderful is run by Imperfect Planet, and they've been asking folks to donate yarn so that they could host a wool craft party for people in Japan who have been affected by the tsunami and ensuing aftermath. It's so great that someone has thought of helping by enabling a little bit of craft.

They are still hoping for more wool donations, ideally to arrive in Japan before 15th November 2011. Details of where to send yarn to in this post.

If you fancy "crafting for a cause," there are a couple of other noteworthy projects underway:

The annual call for little knitted hats to adorn Innocent smoothies is also known as the Big Knit. Money raised this year goes to Age UK. Get in volved and download/print your Big Knit Kit here.


Now for what is possibly the cutest charity knitting project I have ever heard of...! Handmade jumpers for little New Zealand penguins affected by the recent oil spill.

_{Image via Mother Nature Network}
They have apparently had such an overwhelming response that they now have a surplus of pingu tops! Check out the Skeinz blog here for more cuteness and updates.

Happy Wool Week!

Did you know it's Wool Week this week?

Frankly, anything involving celebrating the wondrous qualities of wool is fine by me!

One of the highlights of Wool Week is an exhibition called "Wool Modern" featuring work by the likes of Alexander McQueen, Christian Lacroix, Sonia Rykiel and Julien Macdonald. It is part of the Campaign for Wool and will be held from 8th - 29th September at La Galleria in London. The aim of the show is to challenge people's perceptions of wool, a fibre which in my opinion really is somewhat underrated.

Some things you might not know about wool:


• it's antibacterial
• when used as clothing or bedding, wool helps to regulate body temperature
• it can absorb moisture and sound
• it makes a good insulator
• it's completely biodegradable and is a sustainable, natural product.
• it is easy to dye (yay!)
• it's also a relatively elastic fibre, meaning woolly things keep their shape better and for longer.

Love Wool UK is the crafty side of the Wool Week shenanigans - find out how you can get your craft on right here. (I intend to do a little bit of pub knitting myself this week!)

Wool Week 2011 runs from 5th-11th September in the UK.

Documenting Knitted Graffiti

Yep, you read that right. Knitted graffiti, also known as yarn-bombing is (hopefully) getting its very own documentary! I wanted to share this because I think it's about time this most colourful and tactile form of urban art got a little bit of recognition :)


Find out more about the Yarn Graffiti Documentary project here.

Transformative Knits

Day Four: Where are they now? Whatever happened to your _____?

In last year's Knitting & Crochet Blog Week, I wrote about how my creations ended up in the UK DIY exhibition.

I also briefly mentioned Marianne Jorgensen's pink tank cosy which was featured as part of the Craftivism section in the exhibition.

I'm happy to say I contributed a knitted pink square which went into that very same tank cosy! I know it sounds small and insignificant, but together with others who contributed, I like to think the overall result was thought-provoking and memorable. I made a short film clip of the video installation at the exhibition (excuse the awful sound quality):



Over 4,000 knitted and crocheted 15 x 15 cm squares from crafty types all over the world went into making the cosy for a combat tank which was used in WWII. The basis for this installation was a form of protest against Denmark's (also the UK & USA's) involvement with the war in Iraq.

The tank, complete with pink cosy and a pom-pom (!) hanging off the end of the cannon, was situated outside the Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center in Copenhagen in April 2006. As Marianne says, "When [the tank] is covered in pink, it becomes completely unarmed and it loses it's authority. Pink becomes a contrast in both material and color when combined with the tank."

Click to find out more about: Craftivism (definition) | Marianne Jorgensen | The UK DIY movement!

Books from Boxes

Well, well. It's been a busy few weeks since my last post, and there's even been some lovely sunshine! :)

July was mostly a month of:

thinking about books
knitting
general crafting
drinking Sailor Jerry & coke
more knitting
reading Tank Girl comics

...and that's about it really.

Here are some of the books I thought about:



I'd heard of the Goddess Guide before, and this book is by the same author, and is in the same vein. It has such a beautiul cover! The interior is pretty good too :)

Another book I'd heard about (or rather ogled pictures on flickr of) for a while before giving in and actually getting my own copy of is 'Wreck this Journal' by Keri Smith, it's less of a book to read, more of a DIY sketchbook with mad instructions/antics encouraged.



It's been fun so far, and I reckon anyone having a creative block will feel the benefits too. I just wanted to try and be a little less 'precious' about my sketchbooks/artwork for a change, and this is the book to do it with!

One of my favourite books of the last five years was undoubtedly 'The Friday Night Knitting Club' by Kate Jacobs. I was thrilled to discover that she has now written a sequel (only just published this year in paperback!), featuring the familliar characters from the original, five years on.



One final book, just for the joy of it, is 'Put on your Pearls, Girls!' which is fun, witty and full of gorgeous illustrations by Martin Welch.



It even has some wonderful pop-ups! :D What more could you ask for from a book?

A Crafty Journey

This week has been pretty busy, but my busiest day had to be Wednesday. I got up at dawn to catch a train to Greater Manchester. The purpose of my trip was to visit the crafty "UK DIY" exhibition at the Turnpike Gallery in Leigh. Partly out of curiosity and partly because some of my work is actually in said exhibition!

I was not disappointed. Right from the start, when I saw some trees wearing pieces of knitting by ArtYarn outside the gallery (also known as yarn boming or graffiti with knitted/crocheted fabric!), I knew it was going to be good.



Then I went into the building and right at the top of the stairs was some lovely mixed media work by Kay Haskins, influenced by nostalgia, the loss of memory that Alzheimers patients suffer and the life experiences of different generations.



This was a nice lead into the UK DIY exhibition. The first thing that caught my eye was all the gigantic sculptural knit and crochet pieces! I was also amused by the 'mathematic' crochet:



Other sculptural offerings included this amazing piece made entirely out of ordinary drinks straws, rendering them decidedly extraordinary!



I thought these flowers made from recycled fizzy drink cans were great.



The Techno-crafting section of the exhibition included my very own work, so naturally I was more than a little excited to see it in situ!



Next to it are funky pixel-inspired jewellery creations by spugmeistress. She was also responsible for at least one of the fab 'zines on display:



One of the things I was most impressed by was the knitted pillar cosy which even incorporated a 'neck' for the thermostat. How awesome!



Then there was the incredibly detailed knitted landscape, which made me smile.



I thought the interactive elements of the exhibition were really quite good. There was a cosy knitting area:



...where you could even have a go at french knitting:



Then, finally, alongside a pom-pom tree, was the craftivism section, including the Oxfam quilt, which is a knitted petition. Each square represents one of the 1,400 women worldwide who die every day in childbirth or pregnancy because of a lack of healthcare and medicines.



I was especially delighted to see Marjanne Jorgensen's knitted pink M24 Chaffee tank cosy as I submitted my own 15 x 15 cm square as part of this project back in 2006!



All in all, an inspiring and fun exhibition which encouraged people to get involved and have a go too. Always a good thing, in my opinion! :)

For more about UK DIY happenings, please see www.ukdiycraft.com.

P.S. Please click any of the above images in my post to have a better look.