I had a wonderful time at the exhibition, it was lovely talking to everyone and I am glad that people liked my work and I was able to bring smiles to so many people.
Please feel free to contact me if anyone has any questions and I will try and get back to you as quickly as I can.
Last week we had our Design Seminars. I did a powerpoint presentation followed by showing all of my current work to my lectures and peers. we discussed what I had done and where I was going next with my project.
The main discussion during the design seminar was the type of edging I would be putting on my scarfs, and I believe we concluded that the felted fringing was the best, therefore I am currently experimenting with different colour weightings and striping for the edgings.
As part of the Guild of Machine Knitters, I helped out on the stand at the NEC Hobbycrafts exhibition in March, My work from last semester was displayed as examples of what could be done on a knitting machine alongside others work from the Guild.
Using WGSN as a resource I have a found a couple of trends that may influence my designs slightly.
I have also done some market research and found a couple of companies that are selling high end products, such as knitted homeware accessories. This research has influenced my project development as it has enabled me to come to a conclusion as to what my fabrics could be used for. the two companies that I found were Seven Gauge and Chadwick and Quinton.
I knitted a couple of ribs on the 2.5 gauge
Dubied and laying in bobbly yarn to create different textures. I will then
transfer the ribs to the chunky gauge Domestic machine to create a couple of
samples. I am working on a standard gauge domestic for the majority of my knit
samples, I will do some samples on the Dubieds’ and will do a couple on the
Shima Seiki.
This week I decided on my colour palette, allowing me to
gather yarns to use in the right colours. I have chosen to work primarily in
Lambswool as it is a natural fibre, washes well and is soft to handle. I have
also got some acrylic mixes to use on the chunky gauge to allow me to
experiment with different weights to gain different textures. I will also be
using a wool loop, and a mohair nylon mix to create different textures.
As part of the course we went on a trip to Paris to visit
the trend exhibition, Premiere Vision. The exhibition was a good incite into
the trends and the business although a little overwhelming on first entry into
one of the massive Halls. The colours and fabrics that we saw were amazing!