Hazy shades of Autumn!

A Distant Shore - Tina Francis

So the Autumn shows are upon us, not sure where this year has gone but tapestry waits for no one!

I will be at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace from 8th until 12th October - that's right 5 whole days this year! As well as being on my stand I will also be running two workshops at 1pm on Wednesday and Friday so if you come by my stand and it is not me there then I will be back within the hour!  There are some fantastic exhibitors on the same aisle as me this year, I am a relative new comer to this aisle with this only being my second time many of the exhibitors have been stalwarts of this row for many a year!

My stand is TGC5 (TG stands for Textile Gallery) and to my left is the blaze of colour that is The Thread Studio, what an amazing mix of colour and texture.  All the way from Australia each year they bring so many silks and yarns that it is hard to know where to start.  My favourite are their hand dyed threads which are based around different themes currently I love "Cottage Garden".  

To my right are the fabulous Thermofax Screens, printing is a real love of mine that I continue to be part of with my printed canvas designs.  Thermofax have hundreds of designs for printing on to fabric but can also make you your own screen from your own design!! Think of the possibilities! Along with the screen the range of inks is just delicious.

So so far on our row you have drooled over the fantastic threads and silks, said hi to me and ordered your bespoke screen what you need now is some fabric to put them on!  Committed to Cloth have been running courses and educating people for a long time in the art of fabric manipulation and design.  They run some fantastic courses and alwys have interesting books to inspire and delight you.  Make sure you spend a while there.

As you turn away from the Committed to Cloth stand look behind you and see the fantastic knits of Sophies Wild Woollens a real trail blazer of the woollen world, what I particuarly like about Sophies business is that she uses local people to create and finish the clothes.  It's the finishing for me that makes these garments stand apart, just look at the buttons!

The warmth of wool turns to the warmth of the sun as next to Sophies Wild Woollens is The African Fabric Shop but it's not just fabric that makes a colourful explosion their range of baskets  is a joy to see.  There's no manufacture here, handmade and hand picked they really have a place in every home and oh yes they are fairly traded too! Really knowledgeable about their products its great to learn from this stand.

There's more knowledge to be had on the next stand belonging to Kate Haxell who has no less than 14 books under her belt! I am hoping that there will be some lavender hearts on her stand to make us all feel happy and relaxed! With a wide range of yarn ideas from Kate where better to stop next than her next door neighbour Habu Textiles who stock Japanese yarns and textiles.  At the start of the fair it is amazing to see just how many people make a bee line for this stand having waited for their chance to re-stock from this supplier who resides in New York!

So phew!  There you have it the people I will be sharing the days with at Ally Pally, I hope that you will be amongst them too!

Happy Stitching!

Tina