The Woollen Woods: Talkin Tarn 2015

You've got to love a badger in a tree

The Woollen Woods is in it's third year now, it is an outdoor art installation comprising woodland themed woollen artworks in support of The Campaign for Wool. I took part with my Heathlands textile group in 2013 and this year with my Tullie Textiles group. There are several different locations this year, the nearest to me and my group being Talkin Tarn so we made our pieces for the woods there.

If only all slugs were this beautiful

Lovely ladybirds

Beautiful butterfly

I went for a visit to see the installed art works at Talkin Tarn and it really was a great experience, so much time, skill and enjoyment has clearly gone into creating the pieces and the team who have put the works up have done a great job. There's a real variety of pieces done by a range of groups and individuals, some of the pieces are very life-like whilst others are more unusual! What I particularly enjoyed about wandering around the woods was seeing so many visitors, of all ages, engaging with the art works. There was a real sense of fun and interest with people calling out to each other to come and look at this or that.

Owls by my Tullie Textile Group

Dragonflies by my Tullie Textiles group

One of my dragonflies

Enough words, enjoy the pictures and if you're near any of the Woollen Woods sites I highly recommend you take a look. If I've pictured your artwork and you'd like it credited, please drop me a line and I'll be more than happy to do so.

I loved all the huge dragonflies by Grange'o'Sands Primary School

A Giraffe in Stanhope

Sheep!

We had a lovely mini-break last week in Stanhope, County Durham. It's the fourth time we've visited and one of the things that I love about it is that although it is very remote there is so much to see and do and it's only an hour and a bit away from us. We were also very lucky with the weather this time and were treated to gorgeous sunshine and clear blue skies. We made the most of this by getting out and about and doing a bit of walking, which was both relaxing and inspiring. The landscape is awesome in the truest sense of the word and alive with wildlife and sheep (which I have become obsessed with trying to identify since buying a sheep poster at Woolfest a couple of weeks ago!)

More sheep

Blue skies

Wide open spaces

One of our trips was to Durham where we walked along the river and enjoyed mooching around the city, exploring the alleys and little paths. In the cafe where we had lunch we saw this wonderful embroidered map from 1796 which prompted lots of discussions about how county borders have changed, traditions of embroidery and samplers and the merits of various dyestuffs.

Embroidered map

Detail

Detail

No holiday would be complete without a few souvenirs and naturally mine are textile based! In Durham we visited the Fowler's Yard art studios and had a lovely chat with the proprietor of the Woolly Workshop, who has got me all excited about giving spinning a go. We also visited Allendale Forge Studios which also got me feeling all inspired and creative. I came away with some more threads to have a go at doing a bit of natural dyeing, having invested in a book and some dyestuffs (again at Woolfest.) 

Threads, silk, fabric and beads

Threads for experimenting with

Pretty beads

As well as some sketching and stitching I also made a giraffe whilst we were away. Before we left I was given a kit that the person had bought but got fed up with without finishing the giraffe. Although the pattern was simple it was a bit fiddly so not ideal for a beginner. However, I do think that the finished giraffe is rather sweet!

Crocheted giraffe

Crocheted giraffe

Crocheted giraffe

Crochet Pots and Baskets

Small sari silk and wool pot

I have mentioned (okay, gone on and on) about the health benefits of craft here many times. There have been several articles circulating recently on this topic and there is now an impressive body of research to support the proposition that craft can improve your health, in particular your mental health.

Sari silk and wool pot

The act of creating something with your hands from basic materials is inherently satisfying and the sense of achievement when a piece is finished can be a real boost. Crafting also often involves quiet, repetitive processes which can be very therapeutic and can help to calm and relax. Often, your chosen craft will require just enough brain power to keep other thoughts at bay whilst at the same time allowing you to relax and let your mind wander in a more positive, creative way. It can also provide social opportunities; craft groups offer a chance to meet people who you know you've got at least one thing in common with and as you have something to do it can be a much less intimidating way of meeting people.

Making the pot

Making the pot

In my own pursuit of creative well-being I have been crocheting a great deal recently and have been experimenting with making some baskets. I had some beautiful yarn made from strips of recycled saris and I have been playing around with this. I tried it on its own but it was a bit too floppy so for my next experiment I added a wool yarn and used a smaller hook which has given a much denser fabric and a much stronger pot.

Large sari silk basket

Detail

In progress

The little blue basket started out as a hat but I decided it was too basket like! Like the large sari silk basket it is not as structurally strong as I would like but once it has things in it it stands up pretty well.

Small blue basket

Blue basket

Detail

Detail

The Woollen Woods

My loom knitted owl

A while ago my textiles group at The Heathlands Project and I took part in one of Eden Arts's Projects called FLOCK. They're now running another project in support of the Campaign for Wool project which we're also getting involved in. It's called Canopy and one element of it is the Woollen Woods; an installation that anyone can get involved with by making creatures from woolen materials to be displayed in the trees.

Loom knitting

So, we've been busy knitting, loom knitting, felting and pom-pom making to create a veritable menagerie of creatures to send to the Woollen Woods.

Loom knitted snake/slow-worm

Knitted and felted bugs and butterflies

Pom-pom chick

Spider web

One of the owls made by my textiles group