Knitting and Stitching Show

Alice Fox

Jane McKeating, MMU

Sarah Welsby from unFOLD

Alice Kettle, MMU

Debbie Lyddon

A very enjoyable day at Alexander Palace with some lovely pieces to enthuse over and one or two bits to purchase.  I particularly liked the work of Debbie Lyddon, she has a fresh approach in both her presentation and use of materials, notably salt which leaves a fabulous crystalline surface.  Alice Fox is also pushing the boundaries with her materials, stitching into found natural materials like acorns and limpet shells.  MMU students and tutors had used Gawthorpe Textile collection as their starting point, some of which were included in the exhibition. Jane and Alice's final outcomes were superb. Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn's extensive back catalogue of pieces created for their books made a very interesting time line showing how embroidery has changed, as you can imagine it was a huge display.   

The shopping side is a little dull, plenty for the patchwork enthusiasts and the basic stitcher with lots of things to 'make' but if you are looking for a bit of creative inspiration, something out of the ordinary, then this isn't the place to go.  Plenty for the knitters but sadly no creative gallery to show the potential of threads. A good day out but wear comfortable shoes and take some food!