WOW...I have an ever growing reading list for uni thats now waaaay over two pages long....all the books sound amazing and will really help me in understanding the need for change in the fashion industry and how other designers and scientists interpret these needs...I think i'll need more hours in my day!!

This weekend I travelled to Newcastle (7 and a half hours on a bus=lots of time to ponder!!) and had a lovely, perfect, sunny weekend involving Fame, Sheep, Newcastle Uni's lovely architecture and being beaten viciously at Trivial Pursuit.

I'm just about to set up a new blog about moving down to London so I'll post a link on here soon!!

I'm pretty sure there's some sheep hiding in these pictures somewhere!!

 
 Huge hand-knotted nylon net by Janet Echelman, I love the enormity and space that this piece twists through showing the movement and drape created by such a big knotted gap!!



Phat Knits, designed by Bauke Knottnerus, I would love to just lie on one of these and laze the day away...they look like works of art but but also draw the visitor into their comforting 'homely' feeling that makes you want to touch them!!



Phat Knits, designed by Bauke Knottnerus again, I love the colours of these huge tubes like rainbow laces mmm...

 

Being around so many other creative and really talented people really does scare me...but it also inspires and challenges me to see what I can really do when I put my mind to it!!

I found a great funny clip about using knitting as a way to protest against certain aspects of society today... follow the link to watch it!!

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/212027/
 december-03-2008/nailed--em---radical-knitting

After a long summer break, with a nice long rest and then the stress of moving down to sunny London, I am now ready and raring to get back to creating!! I enroll for my Masters in Fashion and the Environment today at London College of Fashion, which i'm really excited about. My summers not actually been all that lazy...i've been working on a new collection of knitted pieces for an online boutique that launches soon called "frock around the clock" (so i'll keep you posted on how things develop!!), and have also been racking my brain for new project ideas...a couple seem promising so keep your eyes peeled!! I have also had the mammoth task of clearing out my uni house...transferring it all back to my parents house...tidying it all up...giving masses away to charity shops then repacking about a quarter of it to fit in the car down to my beautiful new place down in London Fields..phew!! 

So the Blog is back on, enjoy...

I'm here in London all week for Graduate Fashion Week this week!! Lots of standing on the stand and letting people browse through my portfolio, the judges came round yesterday to judge me, Lauren and Alex D as we were nominated for the Innovation Award, sadly I didn't get through but Lauren is in the top three so I really hope she wins, her work is amazing!! Here's a quick photo of our stand, hopefully i'll upload more photos when I get back home!!

Yesterday was hand in day for all our work... and its all finished (i'm kind of sad!!)!! Portfolios have been sent down to London, Exhibition is all up and running (bar a slight technical fault with one of my DVD's) and all my work is neatly layed out in front of it!!. Its all done...I don't quite know what to do with myself.... although I do have Graduate Fashion Week to occupy my time next week, and a mass of business cards to fold before I head down... so not as free as I thought I was!! All of us off the course had a lovely meal over at Trof with Alan (tutor) and it was nice to relax altogether. Handing it all in felt really surreal and i'm sure i've forgotten something important but I think thats just the grade nerves setting in!! I am quite proud of myself though and like my exhibition space (now i've stopped toying around with it!!) and can't wait for our graduate show opening night!! I have left my camera with exhibition shots back in Manchester so i'll update as soon as I'm back from the capital!! I do have one photo that sums up the elation of completing our course though...

 

Only a matter of hours to go eeee!! Think most of my work is done now... and I am absolutely shattered so don't think i'm capable of functioning for much longer without more than three hours sleep!! I am really looking forward to putting up everything in my exhibition space and finally seeing the result!! Although I am very scared and paranoid that i've forgotten something very important, but after numerous checklists I cant find anything drastically important i've left out, so I hope its just me and my oversensitive brain!! My pile of work is getting a little neater see...

AAAARRRGGGHHH!! One day to go!!..I love the pressure of a deadline but the lack of sleep is making me talk nonsense and I think i'm starting to scare my housemates!! I was in uni early this morning, re-burning my DVD's using Toast software so they loop continuously on the televisions in my exhibition. I then went over to my exhibition space, I think yesterday I overdid it and by the end of the day I had looked at my space too much to give it any critical judgement. So today with (very tired but) fresh eyes I mounted my mirror and instructions for playing with my knitting, Placed my business cards and giant chooser holder in its place and reset my DVD players...I think its now all done, just a few finishing touches tomorrow morning and organising all my work in the space and I should be done!! I knew if I stayed there all day I would just pick faults so I decided to make a clean break for it, stopped for a lovely lunch, and have been finishing off a couple of last minute changes at home, hopefully i'm on track for a slightly earlier sleep tonight but its only one more night...I can't believe this is what 3 years have been leading up to!! Anyway off to cut up some more photographs heres what my floor looks like...enjoy...

Well apart from being in university from 8 this morning and not stopping all day its been a fun day!! My tv's are up and running, my shelving is up and got knitting on my instructions are written.... its going well... ish!! Still have a lot to do before I feel my exhibition space is ready but with only one full day left i'm not sure i'll ever be completely satisfied!! Lots more to do including labelling allllllll my samples and making boxes so thats tonight's job!! Wish me luck...

 

MADNESS.... that sums up today, yesterday and probably the rest of the week!! I've been setting up the basics for my exhibition, televisions are not sounding so simple now we have to try and attach them to an inch thick piece of wood!! Alex and Alan (my tutors) have been great measuring up and screwing stuff into the walls for me... hopefully (touch wood - haha) its all going relatively smoothly at the moment and my aim is to have all three televisions up by the end of today!!... who says i'm not ambitious??!! Another late night i think as a trip to Ikea is desperately needed to make sure my shelf idea is on track (cubes may have to go on hold as they don't seem to actually do any anywhere.. ever!!) I have been back and forth between Manchester and Bolton, dropping in on parents and grandparents to steal small tv's and nuts and bolts (and a quick sandwich and cake from the best Nanna ever!!) and am now back in the studio until the sun goes down trying to keep on track... updates soon... or whenever I actually get enough sleep to function properly!!