Yarn in the Cathedral

Norwich Cathedral and Cathedral School is currently hosting an exhibition by the Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers.   I popped along a couple of weeks ago and found so much inspiration that I now want to try weaving!   To be fair, this is something I've fancied doing for ages, even to the point I have the schedule of weaving classes for this year from the Worstead Weavers' Guild.   I had no idea that this movement was so big - there are 120 guilds across the UK and eleven of them are in East Anglia.

The AGWSD puts on a show each year somewhere in the UK and this year we are lucky enough to have it in Norwich.   124 pieces were on display in the main exhibition space and these had all been entered in competition so that only the best of the best were on show.  

This jacket has inspired me so much that I have procured a pattern and thirteen (quite muted for me!) shades of yarn to produce a knitted version.  I've chosen a four ply pure wool for this - I wanted it quite close knitted to provide warmth in the winter.   It's taking all my self-control not to start it now, but I have a pile of things to finish before I start it.

This one is rather interesting, in that it uses mashed wood pulp along with the wool - ingenious!  

I love this one - it's a scarf that has been woven to produce a row of pastel coloured cottages.  I'm already trying to work out how to convert this into a knitting pattern.  

And these lamp shades were beautiful - really intricate but also highly engineered to get them into these fantastic shapes.  So much inspiration.

In the main part of the cathedral, I had a mini weaving lesson which I was very excited about.   This lady started weaving in her late forties/ early fifties, did a City and Guilds evening class in it and then chucked everything in to go to University to do a degree in textiles in her early sixties and she is now a professional weaver.  She was trying to tell me it's never too late - which is really exciting actually.  Even if I never get that far, just the thought that it's possible keeps me happy!   She'd fashioned herself a tiny little loom which she takes on train journeys as it's actually a much more portable craft than I'd imagined.  

Away from the main part of the exhibition, there is another display area in the crypt of the Cathedral School of bags.   Apparently, invitations were thrown out to ALL members of all 120 guilds to make a bag and there were so many shapes and sizes, it was amazing and breathtaking.  These two were my favourites - the top one had been made from french knitting and the maker had dyed her own yarn.  And the bottom one is woven - a beautiful little coastal scene.

These exhibitions are so dangerous to me - they don't exactly make me want to give up knitting forever, but they do inspire me to try other things.  I'm going to have to move to a significantly bigger house to find homes for all my projects!