Children's Workshops - December

Children's Workshops With Jo

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I'll be running two children's workshops at St Ives Library during the Christmas holidays.

On Wednesday 22nd - Mini Christmas Stockings.

On Wednesday 29th - Recycled Weaving Craft.

Both run from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm and cost £2.00 per child.

Please book in advance as places are limited and these workshops are very popular !

Call in at the library or call them on 0300 1234 111.

Exhibition - 12 Artists - Café Art

Break Glass In Case Of Emergency - Jo McIntosh

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One of my pieces of textile art - Break Glass In Case Of Emergency - is featured in the new exhibition at Café Art on Royal Square St Ives.

As the title indicates - the exhibition features the work of 11 other artists in a variety of media.

To see more take a look at:
12 Artists - Gallery

The opening party is this Sunday (19th) from 4.00 to 6.00 - come along to meet the artists and enjoy the exhibition over a glass of wine.

After that its open daily from 9.30 to 5.30 until Saturday 15th January.

Craft Evening - Sequin Bauble

Sequin Bauble

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I'll be running another craft evening in December at:
Café Art, Royal Square, St. Ives.

It has a Christmas theme - you can learn to make a beautiful sequin bauble for your tree.

Have fun, learn something new and enjoy a sociable evening with other crafters.

As an added bonus the café will be serving their delicious range of teas, coffees, snacks and home-made cakes.

Monday 6th December -
starts at 7.00 pm and runs until 9.30 pm.

Cost is £10.00 per person, contact me to book in advance or just turn up on the night.

Workshops - Felt Jewellery and Feltmaking

Textile Art Workshop - Felt Jewellery

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I'm running another Textile Art Workshop in St Ives next week - Felt Jewellery.
Wednesday 3rd November from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.

During the day we will look at using feltmaking techniques to make jewellery including beads and bangles. Learn to make your own jewellery from this wonderful material.

Cost is £40.00 per person including materials.

The following Monday evening (8th November)  I will be holding the first of what I hope will be regular Craft Evenings in Cafe Art in the Drill Hall, Royal Square, St. Ives.  This one will be how to make felt and will be from 7 – 9.30 p.m.

Contact me for more information or to book:

01736 797 122
jo.mcintosh@knitweave.co.uk
http://www.knitweave.co.uk/stives-workshops.html

Workshop - Knitting With Wire

Workshop - Knitting With Wire

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This Saturday (23rd October) I will be running a workshop on knitting with wire, at the end of which everyone will go home with a unique bracelet made by knitting wire which has beads threaded on to it.   Great fun, especially for those who tell me “I am not a very neat knitter” as this is not very neat knitting!  For anyone who would like to attend please e-mail me for more details.
jo.mcintosh@onestives.co.uk

Whilst on the subject of knitting with materials that are not wool or yarn I was preparing for the next session of the textile course I am running, which happens to be “knitting with more than wool”.  At the knitting group last night someone suggested using something from nature so this morning I went out and gathered a handful of ivy and had a go knitting it on size 6mm needles and below you can see the results!  Maybe not a long lasting piece of knitting but certainly very “green”!

Knitting With Ivy

I would love to see examples of any knitting you have done with unusual materials.

St Ives Knitting Group

St Ives Knitting Group

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St Ives Knitting Group is back for the Autumn after a Summer break.

We meet every other Tuesday at St Ives Library from 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm.

All are welcome including beginners - help and tuition is freely available from members.

Dates up to Christmas 2010 are:

• 19th October
• 2nd November
• 16th November
• 30th November
• 14th December

Please do come along to join us for a knit and a chat - we are a friendly group and its free apart from a small contribution to the tea and biscuits fund.

Feltmaking Workshop - October 2010

Feltmaking Workshop - St Ives Cornwall

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I've put together a new programme of Textile Art Workshops in St Ives Cornwall for Autumn 2010.

The next is Feltmaking on Wednesday 20th October. Learn to make felt from first principles, then make a seamless felt bag to your own unique design.

All workshops run from 10.00 am - 4.00 pm and cost £40.00 per person including materials.

I'd love to see you so please do come along - learn something new and have fun !

To book or for more information get in touch:
01736 797 122
jo.mcintosh@knitweave.co.uk

The rest of the programme includes a great range of Textile Arts:

• Knitting With Wire - Saturday 23rd October
• Rag Rugwork - Saturday 30th October
• Felt Jewellery - Wednesday 3rd November
• Silk Paper - Wednesday 10th November
• Silk Velvet To Dye For - Wednesday 17th November
• Weaving Without A Loom - Saturday 20th November
• Christmas Baubles - Wednesday 8th December

You can visit my website for more details. I also run dedicated workshops for groups, schools and individuals:
www.knitweave.co.uk

St Ives September Festival - Tea and Textiles

Tea and Textiles - Sunday 12th September

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Next Sunday (12th September) I will be hosting a “Tea and Textiles” evening at 31 Bedford Road in St Ives.

This will consist of tea and cakes (made by daughter's friend Hannah), a Rag Rug “Taster” session, run by me and there will be a selection of handmade textile crafts produced by myself and a friend, Jayde Horrod.

Starts at 7.00 pm and hopefully will be fun!

Get in touch for more information:
01736 797 122
jo.mcintosh@knitweave.co.uk

Will let you know how it went in the next post.

Textile Art Workshops

Workshop - Weaving Without A Loom

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My next textile art workshop in St Ives is Weaving Without A Loom - this Saturday - 24th July from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.

I still have a couple of places left - so get in touch if you'd like to book a place and enjoy a day learning to weave and make a beautiful bag. Cost is £40.00 including materials.

After that I'm running a Silk Painting workshop on Wednesday 28th July.

I'll be running more workshops throughout the Summer including Silk Paper, Feltmaking, Tie-Dyeing and papermaking.

To book a place or for more information call or email me:
01736 797 122
jo.mcintosh@knitweave.co.uk

More details are on my website:
Knit One Weave One

Erosion Bundle

Erosion Bundle - St Ives Cornwall

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Well I finally unwrapped my erosion bundle! It has been sat on my garden through all sorts of weather including snow, rain and sun and risked being taken apart by my hens!

Everything I put in the bundle had a colour theme of purple and included handmade felt, calico, synthetic fabrics, beads and safety pins (which were also purple).

When I unwrapped it I discovered that fabrics such as the calico and cotton had become distressed and there were holes in parts of it, some of the purple dye from fabric in the bundle was transferred onto the calico wrapping and the safety pins had rusted.

By comparison the synthetic fabrics were pretty much untouched although one piece had lost its colour and my handmade felt was hardly changed at all. The beads I placed in the bundle had not changed but as they were plastic this was no great surprise.

One thing that pleased me was the way the silk fibres had adhered to the paper as if they had been carefully arranged and placed.

Hopefully my photos will give you a flavour of what I found when I opened my bundle and I now have to decide what to do with the contents – so watch this space!

Skirt Made From Recycled Curtains

Skirt Made From Recycled Curtains

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Recently I bought a pair of curtains from a charity shop (how exciting I hear you cry!) but as some people might expect from me I did not buy them to use as curtains, instead I bought them to make into a skirt.

The first thing I did was remove the rufflette tape from top, I did have one person suggest I leave this on and use it as a belt! Then, using a pattern I have for a panelled skirt I cut the required pieces out of the curtains. I also cut the pieces out of another fabric to create the skirt to go underneath.

All that remains for me to do now is to hem it and put the elastic in and hey presto I have a new skirt to wear! Photo of me modelling the skirt to follow!

Wingham WoolWork

Landscapes Originals - Dyes From Australia

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Just thought I would share some of the "treasures" I bought from Wingham Woolwork during their annual visit from Rotherham, South Yorkshire to Praa Sands in Cornwall, recently.

One thing I bought was a selection of wonderfully coloured merino fibres for feltmaking, this can also be used for spinning into wool. They also sell cashmere, soy, bamboo, camel and silk (to name but a few) fibres, as well as fleece made from recycled plastic bottles!

I also bought a starter pack of Landscape dyes from Australia which are used to dye wool and silk and it will come as no surprise to those of you who know me that I bought the Bright Primaries set! Having bought the dyes I also bought some undyed fleece and fibres to try them out on, I will let you see some of the results later.

One of the workshops I run is Feltmaking when I teach people how to make a flat piece of felt and then how to make a seamless felt bag but I have always wanted to have a go at making a pair of felt slippers and so I bought the polystyrene shoe moulds to have a go.

Wingham Wool Work may be in Rotherham but they do a very good mail order service and their website is well worth a look:
Wingham Wool Work Website

Acrostic Poem - Knitting

Knitting Work By St Ives Knitting Group

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I recently did some work using an acrostic poem, which, for those who may not have come across these is a poem where each line begins with a letter of the word and relates to the subject.

So I thought I would present you with a challenge - write an acrostic poem about any subject with a textile theme and I will put them into a hat and provide a give-away for the first three out of the hat. Deadline will be the 31st July 2010. Good luck!

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Knitting

Knitting with love
Necessary as breathing
I will get this stitch right
Tactile Textures
Tension lessening with every stitch
I love this colour
Needles flying in and out
Got to get more wool

Quilt Exhibition - Victoria & Albert Museum

At The End Of The Day (detail) - Natasha Kerr

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Whilst I was in London earlier this month I visited the quilt exhibition at the V & A Museum. This contains around 70 quilts covering 300 years of British quilting history, some of the quilts belong to the V & A collection and some key loans and special commissions.

You can see spectacular 18th century bed hangings, beautiful and intriguing 19th century Chapman coverlet and creative reinventions of the quilt by contemporary artists such as Grayson Perry, Tracey Emin, Jo Budd and Pauline Burbridge.

One interesting quilt was one made by men in Wandsworth Prison, showing in stitched pictures and words how they spend their time there and some comments about how they feel about being there. You can find more information about how this quilt came about by visiting:
Fine Cell Work - Needlework In Prisons

Another quilt with a story is the Rajah Quilt. In 1841 women prisoners were sent to Australia on a convict ship. Elizabeth Fry formed the Quaker Group the British Ladies Society for the Reformation of Female Prisoners who supplied the women with needlecraft supplies including fabric, needles etc and the quilt is the result of the prisoners' work. You can find more information at:
National Gallery Of Australia - Rajah Quilt

There are many more quilts that tell a story and well worth the £10 entrance fee.

The exhibition continues until the 4th July.

Whilst I was going around the exhibition I met up with Dodie Smith who had been, Programme Secretary for the Cornwall Embroiderers' Guild until her move to Winchester, just shows you never know who you might meet in London!

Jo's Page On FaceBook

Jo's Business Page On FaceBook

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I have a new Business Page on FaceBook for Knit One Weave One.

It features my latest news and textile workshops.

I'll be adding a lot more over the coming weeks.

My husband Steve set it up - as he has for several other businesses in St Ives - so if you want help setting up your own page get in touch.

Please take a look and click on the "Like" button to join.

Jo McIntosh - Knit One Weave One - FaceBook

Some of My Favourite Blogs and Sites

Friendships Are Sewn One Stitch At A Time

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Here is a review of some of my favourite blogs and websites by other artists in Cornwall.

My friend Carolyn Saxby has a wonderful blog - Love Stitching Red. It features textile art work that she likes, illustrated with beautiful photos and other things of interest.

Carolyn has a second blog Mixed Media Textile Art which focusses on her own work and textile techniques.

Sea Blue Sky Abstracts is by St Ives artist Lesley Ninnes. It features samples of her work and many other interesting posts.

Back in January 2010 I attended a workshop - Recycled Beach Finds Jewellery - run by Sarah Drew. Her website is a great showcase for her work. You can buy some unique pieces of handmade jewellery online, made mostly from recyled materials.

Hope you enjoy visiting these. Any suggestions for any other good websites or blogs are welcome - please post a comment.

Textile Art Workshops In St Ives - Summer 2010

Textile Workshops - St Ives Cornwall

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I've added more to my schedule of workshops in St Ives , running through to September 2010.

Dates are:

• Feltmaking - Wednesday 23rd June
• Simple BookMaking - Saturday 3rd July
• Weaving Without A Loom - Saturday 24th July
• Silk Painting - Wednesday 28th July
• Applique - Saturday 31st July
• Silk Paper - Saturday 7th August
• Feltmaking - Saturday 14th August
• Tie-Dyeing Fabric - Saturday 28th August
• Papermaking - Wednesday 1st September
• Handprinted Gift Wrap - Saturday 4th September

Each runs from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm costs £40.00 per person including materials.

Please get in touch if you're interested. Also remember that I can run workshops for individuals and groups by arrangement.

You can call me on 01736 797 122 or visit my website:
Knitweave

Isles Of Scilly - St Marys

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Recently I was fortunate enough to fly over to the Isles of Scilly to work for Arts for Health as part of their Older Persons project. In the morning I visited Park House, the Residential Home for the Elderly on St. Marys where I worked with some of the residents and staff creating shell boxes – some of the staff and the daughter of one of the residents had been beachcombing and we used their “treasures” to decorate boxes.

In the afternoon I visited the Wednesday Club which is run at the Golf Club by Jane Chiverton who organises a range of activities for the people who attend, these include dominoes, memory games, simple seated exercises and also provides tea and cake! On this occasion I showed everyone how to make bracelets using memory wire and beads, which they all seemed to enjoy. The benefit of this type of jewellery for the more mature wearer is that there are no clasps to be done up and so can be worn easily.

I always enjoy my trips over to the Scilly Isles and love meeting people who may be physically getting older but have certainly not given up on life altogether!

Textile Workshops In St Ives - Spring 2010

Bunting Workshop - Saturday 29th May

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I've put together a new programme of Textile Art Workshops in St Ives for Spring:

• Simple Bookmaking - Saturday 24th April
• Rag Rugwork - Saturday 1st May
• Simple Bookmaking - Wednesday 5th May
  
• Silk Papermaking - Saturday 22nd May
• Bunting - Saturday 29th May

Each runs from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm costs £40.00 per person including materials.

Please get in touch if you're interested. Also remember that I can run workshops for individuals and groups by arrangement.

More details are on my website:
Knitweave

Fabric Stash Sale

Fabric Stash Sale - St Ives Cornwall

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After the success of my last fabric stash sale - when I met some lovely people, downsized my stash and made some money - I have decided to hold another one

Saturday 3rd April (Easter Saturday).
10.00 a.m. To 5.00 p.m.
31 Bedford Road, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 1SP

Fill a carrier for £5 and drink tea, eat biscuits and cake. I have a range of fabrics including cottons, sheer, velvet and more. Please get in touch if you are interested
01736 797 122
jo.mcintosh@knitweave.co.uk

Tuesday Night Knitting Club

Tuesday Night Knitting Group - St Ives Library

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We are a friendly group of knitters (and crocheters) who meet in St. Ives Library every fortnight on a Tuesday evening from 7.00 to 9.00 p.m.

We welcome new members, whatever their level of expertise, all that you need is the desire to knit or crochet amongst likeminded people. There is plenty of help available for beginners.

The dates of the next meetings are as follows:

• 9th February
• 23rd February
• 9th March
• 23rd March
• 6th April
• 20th April

After that we'll continue to meet every second Tuesday throughout the year.

If you're visiting St Ives please feel free to come along - you'll be most welcome.

Dates throughout the year are on:

St Ives Cornwall - What's On

Knitting Workshop - Penryn

Knitting Workshop - Penryn - Wednesday 10th February 2010

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I'll be running a knitting workshop next week.

Its at The HideAway Cafe, Higher Market Street, Penryn.

Wednesday 10th February, 10.00 am to 3.00 pm, cost is £30.00.

I can provide wool and knitting needles if you need them.

Lunch is available from the cafe for £5.00

All levels of ability welcome especially beginners.

So - do come along, learn something new, have fun !

Call me on 01736 797 122 or send me an email to book a place.

Fabric Stash Sale

Fabric Stash Sale - 31 Bedford Road St Ives

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I've decided to sell some of my fabric stash - a huge selection of fabrics including cotton, velvet, sheer and much more.

You can fill a bag with whatever you want for £5.00.

Its at 31 Bedford Road in St Ives.
Sunday 7th February, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm.

If you want more information give me a call on 01736 797 122 or email me.

Look forward to seeing you here !

Sarah Drew -Recycled Beach Finds Jewellery Workshop

Jewellery Workshop With Sarah Drew

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On Saturday (30th January) I used one of my Christmas presents, a voucher to attend one of Sarah's workshops. So off I went to the Windswept Cafe on Fistral Beach, Newquay on a dry but cold day to meet Sarah and four other women who all wanted to learn techniques to turn their beachcombings into fabulous jewellery.

After tea and a delicious brownie we set off down to the beach to see what we could find and collect to be transformed later in the day. Not all of my finds were suitable for jewellery, but I just had to collect them anyway!

On returning to the cafe Sarah taught us some simple techniques for wrapping sea glass, flat pebbles and shells with wire as well as how to make loops to link beads together. She also showed us how to make your own rings with wire and beads. Just before lunch we learned how to use crochet to incorporate beads, shells etc., with wire to create very individual bracelets, necklaces etc.

Lunch was included in the price of the workshop and the choices were sandwiches or soup. Well, after the beachcombing I decided that Carrot and Ginger soup was just the thing to warm me up and this arrived with tasty crusty bread and butter.

The afternoon was spent exploring the techniques we had just learnt with Sarah on hand for help and guidance when necessary.

Sarah gave us all a very good handout to take away with us and lots of ideas for future pieces of jewellery to make at home.

I think the voucher for the workshop was one of my best Christmas presents I had the joy of receiving it on Christmas Day and the anticipation of using it in January.

Sarah is a very inspirational tutor who teaches you techniques but leaves you to decide how you want to use them. She also runs workshops on creating vintage jewellery and bridal jewellery. She also sells her own unique brand of jewellery which features recycled materials, vintage beads etc. and she has an excellent website at:

www.sarahdrew.com

Thank you Sarah for a brilliant day.

Silk Paper Workshop

Silk Paper Workshop - Embroiderers Guild Cornwall

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Last Saturday (16th January) I had a very enjoyable day teaching members of Cornwall Embroiderers Guild how to make silk paper.

During the day they learnt how to make flat silk paper and how to make a silk paper bowl.

Everbody seemed to enjoy the day and I was provided with a very tasty lunch !

Textile Art Workshops

Textile Art Workshops - St Ives Cornwall

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So, here we are January 2010 time to talk about workshops I will be running this year. So far the programme includes:

23rd January - Monoprinting on Fabric
6th February - Fabric Birds
27th February - Fabric Collage
6th March - Working with Water Soluble Fabric
17th April - Weaving Without a Loom

All the above workshops cost £40 inc materials and are run from my home at 31 Bedford Road, St. Ives from 10 a.m. To 4 p.m.

There is quite a gap between the water soluble fabric and weaving without a loom workshop because I will be running a Feltmaking Weekend on Saturday 20th March and Sunday 21st March.

This will include learning the basic flat feltmaking technique and then how to make a seamless felt bag on the Saturday and Sunday will be spent learning how to make felt beads and how to make felt using a technique similar to silk papermaking.

This is intended to be a residential weekend with people arriving on the Friday afternoon/evening and leaving on the Sunday afternoon. However, the workshop will also be available to people living locally who will only pay for the two day workshop.

The cost for the two days is £100 which will include materials.

As there is an extensive range of accommodation on offer in and around St. Ives I will supply information on accommodation when people book.

If any of the above is of interest to anyone out there please get in touch.

There is more information on my website:

Textile Art Workshops - St Ives Cornwall

Erosion Bundle Project

Erosion Bundle - St Ives Cornwall

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Having seen the erosion bundle on Carolyn's Love Stitching Red Blog I decided to do one of my own.

So last night I prepared a bundle and put it out in a snowy garden this morning.

Looking forward to seeing how it changes over time and possibly investigation by our hens!

More information here:
Erosion Bundle Project

Happy New Year From Jo

Page After Page by Frances Pickering

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Happy New Year!

Just wanted to share one of my Christmas presents with you. This wonderful book is by Frances Pickering who makes the most exquisite books.

This book shows you some of her techniques and tips as well as some of the things that inspire her. What I particularly like is the fact that it is all handwritten by her and full of wonderful photographs.

Frances came to the Cornwall Embroiderers' Guild and gave us a superb two day workshop, teaching us how to create our own books. I think it is the only workshop I have been to when I have arrived before the building was opened up!

You can see more on:
Frances Pickering Website