A Stitch In Time

Yep, I’m back already! Promised, didn’t I?

So I went to put on my Combers Tunic this morning and...ruh-roh...

There was a hole in the front near the hem. It’s not even a year old yet! No idea what happened though it was definitely not a wear spot and I haven’t seen any signs of evil m*ths recently. Especially since I tossed around all my sweaters only a couple of months ago and washed a number of them. It affected at least 2 rows of knitting and was more like a snip or cut and not a snag. Luckily I still have quite a lot of that Cloudborn Fibers Highland Fingering wool left so I was able to duplicate stitch over the ouchie:

You can’t see it now but only feel it. And who’s going to be feeling up my skirt anyway? <snicker!> I love this tunic so much and it was such a lot of work to design and knit and some of the yarns dyed by me too. I want to be able to wear it for years to come. Apologies to Tom of Holland but I went for not-so-visible mending.

Slipping back to Monday at Granville Island, we wanted to see at least some of the textile exhibits that are still scattered amongst the shops after the Textile Society of America’s 16th Biannual Symposium that wrapped up last weekend in Vancouver. This gave us a great excuse to wander through some of the shops that we normally pass by. I didn’t take many photos but the highlights for me were in the Silk Weaving Studio, these pieces by Amy Putansu:

Rayon and barbed wire! And unless you’re a weaver you might not notice that the threads aren’t straight vertically. They were woven on a specially adapted loom with a shaped reed creating a wavy pattern called ondulé. Also indigo dyed. I’d love to know if the barbed wire eventually causes interesting rust stains on the cloth over time.

In Circle Craft I fell in lust with this fabulous coat by Angelika Werth:

I apologise if it’s somewhat hard to see but its location right by the window made it hard to photograph a dark garment. The fabrics are all recycled wools including tweeds and there are lots and lots of vintage mother-of-pearl buttons and zippers.

In the Cloth Shop we found a number of pieces by quilter/surface design artist Catherine Nicholls:

A through-the-window shot mostly because I was a little uncomfortable taking inside photos in this small shop. These pieces are rust-dyed and machine-stitched and I love the patterning that happens with the rust. It’s not something I’ve explored much but you can tell I’m fascinated with the results, huh?

We also saw beadwork and felting and tapestry and there’s lots more in odd spots like the broom shop, the luthier and a boat charter! We played a game of “Where’s Waldo” with the lovely little quilt by Bonnie Adie that served as a map for the exhibits:

We finally located it in the Silk Weaving Studio high on the wall behind one of the looms! Who knew? Glad we were able to visit before the end of the month. Last but not least, there’s another textile exhibit at the Italian Cultural Centre that my Spectrum Study Group plans to visit on a field trip. That show is on until the end of the year though so there’s lots of time.