Back in November last year, wonderful mum and I went to the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate. We spent 2 days there, staying at the hotel across the road so we didn't have to take our coats with us and could return excess shopping to the room during the day! We also took part in 4 classes. I have to say, I do not know the names of any of the tutors, very lax of me, I know.
One of the classes was wet felting a flower.
This is slightly different from the wet feting I've done in the past as we used short strands of wool rather than merino. The felting technique included picking it up and splatting it against the table repeatedly!
My finished flower came out too large for a brooch, though I would like to have another go with a smaller one. This class was brilliant, we all had such a good time.
Another excellent class was Broderie Anglais, where we used a stiletto to make the holes in the fabric. I hadn't realised it was such a simple (though time consuming) technique and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The tutor was great as was her assistant. I think she was from Peru.
The classes were only an hour which is why I didn't achieve very much.
We also did goldwork with Sarah from Golden Hinde. I remember her name as I have met her a few times, she's lovely and very helpful. We used pearl purl to make these simple but effective goldwork brooches.
The finished piece will fit in this brooch back. Of course, I haven't yet completed either of the pieces from the classes! They will show up in this year's WIP list.
The fourth class was absolutely appalling. The teacher was rude, confrontational, disorganised and useless as a teacher. We were supposed to be making ribbon flowers. Apparently there are 2 techniques. The one she showed us was different to the one on the hand out and she got very angry if we tried to follow the written instructions. I actually walked out of the class.
I'm going to be back later in the week with my list of WIPs to be tackled this year. Then I need to find some linkies to help keep myself accountable. If anyone knows of any, please let me know!
