Exciting move...I've moved into a new lovely, beautiful studio! Its with my amazingly talented friend Kellie - its so nice to be working with someone (we're very good girls and work hard!) and bounce ideas off each other! We're working on a few new workshop ideas too...updates coming soon!

P.S. We also have a very cute visitor for a few weeks...

Oops..its progressed...It may now be a serious split between crochet and knit vying for my time - as well as the blankets (still hopeful i'm getting both done!) I cajoled my mum into teaching me a basic collar pattern - I want to feature these in my new A/W 12 collection - PHEW - It's certainly different from squares - but i'm enjoying the challenge - definitely not growing as fast - but we'll see how it goes!!

So far...

I have a confession...I have fallen a little bit in love with crochet...maybe I just need to get it out of my system?!

I visited one of my lovely friends beautiful flat (yes Emma you!!) and her Grandma had made her the nicest crochet throws for her sofa and chair - this inspired me - I wanted my own!! I have to admit i've always been agains crochet - 2 needles feels a lot more natural in my hands than one little hook, but one amazing lesson from my mum has turned me into a crochet machine - i'm 6 squares in and still loving it (and have to admit with the chunky yarn i'm using it growing a lot faster than knitting!!)..i'll keep you posted on how far I get - at the moment I have about 10 different ones I want to make - I think one pastel shaded one and one brighter one might be more realistic!!

I have also only conquered the standard square stitch...flowers next yay!

FEBRUARY...how is it already February?

I will have to bullet point all the changes that have been happening over the last two months to fit it all in..here goes...

* I am north bound once again - with the exciting alpaca project getting closer to deadline it seemed silly not to move closer the the action (so to speak!) and dedicate more time to getting it as beautiful as it can possibly be, ready for our Summer launch (exciting!)

* So one beautiful London flat was packed up, and one amazing other half left behind (too many exciting things happening for him in London to justify him coming with me) - but don't worry the megabus/train is becoming very good friends of ours and we are snatching as much time as possible!

* I am 50% unpacked, whether that other 50% will every actually see the light of day again is another question!

* Exciting times concerning the spinning of alpaca yarn - its so close to being finished...yay!

* My time at People Tree has completely flown by, and I had an amazing 6/7 months designing their knitwear collections for A/W12 - can't wait to see them online!

* I will leave you with a picture of my dads christmas present...who says knitting can't be cool eh?!

So as most of you know, at the moment i'm juggling 3 jobs ...adding to this that I insist on making people's Christmas presents - I have been submerged (and nearly impaled myself numerous times on knitting needles!) in all things wooly and work-related! Thus this is a long overdue update...New Year's resolution - become an avid blogger again - in my defence due a lot of the work i'm doing now (People Tree and Alpacas) is private until the launch...which leaves me with only House of Fraser shop speak (my weekend work) and my fantasies of a cosy warm bed to entertain you with!

However...I have just been cleaning my desktop and found a titbit of illustration I can decorate this blog with...On every other Saturday for the past couple of weeks I have been running "make and do" workshops for some amazing children! It is fantastic to see them all so passionate about creating and making things - and each week they are constantly surprising me with their knowledge and enthusiasm...here's the flyer to give you a taster of what we do!

 

I have also been busy knitting our christmas tree....yep the TREE not the decorations...i'll post a picture in all its glory soon!

YAY!!

We have hand delivered (not personally me but the amazing alpaca owners!) all our lovely fleeces in the most beautiful, cream, fawn, camel and rust colours - so now comes the long wait whilst it is magically transformed (ok not quite by magic - with a LOT of hard work from Paul!!) into beautiful yarn, we have set the designs in motion and I am itching to get started on making some beautiful garments for our new womenswear label - launching in Summer 2012 - we already have 2 confirmed shows to showcase them - so let the hard work begin!!

YAY!! 

This is the amazing short film I was lucky enough to work on with The North Circular, Between Man and Beast and Lorna Love, as their knit technician, Between Man and Beast were amazing and the film is beautiful!

 

METAMORPHOSIS // THE NORTH CIRCULAR from Little Yellow Jacket Digital Pro on Vimeo.

So Many things to update about - I have been a rubbish blogger! But my excuse is that the sunshine has been to lovely to resist - and I have been darting around all over the place!

When I get a spare minute i'm going to blog about each amazing time individually (and add lots of lovely photos!) but for now you'll have to be satisfied with a list of my travels!!

1) I had an amazing time at the Textile Institutes "Design Means Business" Exhibition, held at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Whitehall - it is such a beautiful building, I had a great time talking to so many lovely people, and even managed to scoop the top Sustainability Award, meaning I get to go to Malaysia for the Textile Institutes World Conference next year - stunned was an understatement!

2) London Green Fair was an amazing success - running for the whole weekend this year - so lots and lots of pom pom's, finger knitted goodies and knitted patches were made across the weekend, ending with an amazing fashion show showcasing some fabulous designers (as well as a few pieces from my collection!!)

3) I had an amazing break back up north, surrounded by family and friends, for the last little bit of relax time before the hard work began - day trips, lots of yummy food and building a new super comfy bed made the trip perfect!

4) I started my knitwear placement at People Tree - it is such an amazing company, with such lovely people working there - I think 6 months is going to fly by!

5) Vintage at Southbank Festival was absolutely amazing - I have never felt so underdressed in my life - the amount of amazing floral dresses and beautiful hair made me feel very plain indeed - but I dusted off my 2 dresses and tried my hardest to look feminine haha! I was working with TRAID and we ran workshops across the weekend teaching people to make finger knitted necklaces which went down a storm (We had an amazing collection of vintage buttons that made them look even more amazing!)

6) GRADUATION - after a year and a half of very rewarding (but very tiring!) hard work during my Masters, I finally graduated with a DIstinction Masters yay! My mum, dad, sister, boyfriend and sister boyfriend all came to London for the day, we had a lovely (slightly loooong) ceremony followed by lots of pictures with the wonderful friends i've made, then we went to explore London and found lots of amazing food to eat, before having a wander around the National Portrait Gallery (and eating MORE cake mmm!)

7) I am in the middle of finalising my first accessories collection which will hopefully be showcased on here soon, as well as at a number of local markets and fairs later on this summer - I jut need to learn how to get by on no sleep and I will be fine!

8) The finale of Harry Potter (weep) - I know this shouldn't go on my work blog - but it is a momentous occasion - the last  ever film - I started reading them when I was 13 so am now feeling very old indeed as well as feeling that I am well and truly 'grown up'!! As well as turning a year older (I sent off the past year in great style, with an amazing meal on the Friday with lovely London friends and a sneaky Bolton surprise guest!)

9) Exciting steps with the new alpaca project - with toile's being made as I write (well not quite...but you know what I mean!) so watch this space for updates!

10) Sleep - I am quickly learning that sleep is priceless - I would give anything for 10 extra minutes in bed in the morning, so as I can't think of anything more exciting as my number 10 spot I am going to catch up on some much needed head rest!