Alpacas

hello, originally uploaded by Knitwit..

For my latest college project I am sourcing yarns from the UK. Today I visited a lady who breeds alpacas and spins their fleeces to make the most beautiful yarn. The yarn is so soft and silky .

Alpaca facts:

* Young alpacas are called 'Cria' and adult males are called 'Machos'.

* Alpacas like to hang out with other family members. Young alpacas can get stressed if separated from their mothers.

* They live for 15 to 20 years

* Alpaca dung is good for the garden.

* There are two different breeds 'Huacaya' and 'Suri'. Suri alpacas have long silky dreadlocks and Huacayas look a bit like teddy bears.

* There are 22 different colours of alpaca fleece.

* They are amazingly super cute and if you look into their beautiful big dreamy eyes you are bound to fall in love with them - I know I did.

Clay Play Sunday

, originally uploaded by iant °.

Today was a very creative day. I had a wonderful Sunday afternoon at my friends house messing about with clay. The idea was to make clay heads of each other. It's much more difficult than you first imagine. I was struggling with the eyes and lips. How are you supposed to keep it simple whist trying to keep a likeness of the persons head you are modelling? I enjoyed myself so much that I want to learn more.

I am now thinking about working in the style of another artist. I have decided on Picasso...watch this space.

I went to the Origin London Craft fair at Somerset House today. We had a lovely time and saw lots of exciting things.

Here are a few of my favourites:

Claire Cole Designs

Florrie

Louise Gardiner

Reny Van Der Kamp

Ruth Martin

Laura McCafferty

If I owned a magazine

If I owned a magazine, originally uploaded by Knitwit..

I made this today on Flickr. I messed about with it but can't seem to get the right size font and colour so it is a bit difficult to read...but you get the idea. My magazine would be like Heat but for knitters and feature articles such as:

All the leaves are brown....
....what to wear when the skies are grey

EXCLUSIVE How to Drop a Needle Size in 10 Days

SHOCK Maureen drops a stitch

Boys who knit FREE poster inside.

Any other ideas on what this mag could include would be gratefully received.

Preparation....

In November myself and members of my knitting group Outcast are taking part in a Craft Fair/Christmas market at South Hill Park in Bracknell on the 17th and 18th November. During my long Summer holiday I have been knitting madly on my knitting machine to get enough stock ready to sell at the Market.

The picture above shows a handwarmer in progress and my favourite book of the moment. I keep borrowing this book from the library. I love it so much. It has provided so much inspiration and keeps me entertained as I loving look at the wonderful pages and plan out future projects. Just not enough time in the day :(

Who am I as a designer and why do I choose the things I do...

I'm a student just about to go into my 3rd and final year - eek. During my studies my college has always asked us to reflect on what inspires us and why. I am still experimenting and trying out new ways of approaching my work but after looking at my flickr favourites there seems to be a theme running through the images I like such as bright colours, nostalgia, domesticity, pattern, traditional costume, Eastern European Folk, Fair Isle knitwear etc. So perhaps this is who I am as a designer?