Last weekend was an exhibition-fest.
On Saturday some knitting friends and I went to a couple of Northamptonshire open studios and hunted out some interesting stuff.
Firstly we went to see my friend Gizella and her lovely, rural (and very cold in winter) studio.

Then we went to find Michelle McKinney. Our paths have crossed several times but we’d not met before, so it was good to see her. Sarah was so taken with Michelle’s work that she bought some woven metal to play with. Looking forward to seeing the results of that!
Then we found Heather Wharam, Gizella’s studio-mate, exhibiting elsewhere. I loved her work, using stitch and print onto layers of dress patterns. The knitters I was with didn’t recognise the pattern tissue, whereas I know the stuff very well.

We finished up with tea and cake and even got some of Sarah’s homemade bread to take home for supper.

On Sunday I went to Compton Verney, mainly to see the Fabric of Myth (don’t get too excited, it was the last day – I do tend to cut things a bit close…). The exhibition was interesting and I liked some of the piece (mainly the historical ones) and found other stuff interesting. But on the whole I think the whole concept of the exhibition was poorly explained and if I hadn’t been with a classical scholar, then it might not have made so much sense. Still, it was good to see it.

British Military Patchwork (between 1854 and 1876)

Mostly, though, I LOVED the folk art collections and Marx-Lambert collection which I knew I would. I have wanted to see them for years. It was marvellous. Alas photography isn’t allowed and there is very little on their website. The only photo I took was of this nice bench in the grounds.

Also new book preview up on Sew It Up!