GILL BOWER'S BITS AND PIECES.

Thank you to Gill Bower of Ambleside, Cumbria who sent us, this rather lovely Licorice All Sorts packet with little bits of dark red wool in it. 

She must have been making a rug, because all the pieces are cut to the same size. 

Gill also sent us lots of other yarn which we used in the crochet coral reef,  but we especially like this packet, which is on display out front, and has been much admired.

CUSTOMER OF THE MONTH MAY 2008!

Congratulations to Abhayasuri, for knitting her way into the Customer of the Month May 2008 position before the month is even over. 

Abhayasuri is un- stoppable. In less than a week, she finished a big orange roving blanket for a baby, and has started a white and blue blanket for the cot. 

This masterpiece however, also knitted this month, in re-cycled sari yarn,  is the back ground for a Stupa.

A Stupa is a mound like structure containing Buddhist relics - typically the remains of the Buddha or a saint. When the Buddha died, he left behind, earth, water, fire, air, and space, as seen in the diagram opposite. Abhayasuri, wants to hang her Stupa on the wall, and she is now working out ways to make shapes to represent the elements. 

Good luck Abhayasuri, we can't wait to see what you do next!

BOO HOO THE MOON BEARS!

Moon bears need YOU! Well I'm not exactly sure how true that is, because we don't know how many knitters they have already but it's a great story.

Jill Robinson, an American, is rescuing bears from Hong Kong, who sadly, are farmed for bile for use in medicine. The bears lead a sad life with tubes and pumps stuck in their bellies. 

Rescued Moon Bears need you to knit! They can't go straight from cages to sanctuary, because they need operations to remove the pumps first. The bears need to be totally anaesthetized for this care and their paws get cold, so they need you to knit these enormous mittens, 7" wide, with a 12" foot and 6"cuff. You need to post them to Oakland Zoo, Oregon, USA and all the information you need  is at  www.kqed.org/quest/blog/tag/moon-bear/

PSYCHOSTITCHGEOGRAPHY 1

Psychostichgeography is a new concept by our Louise Harries.

For every finished masterpiece that comes out of Prick Your Finger there lies hidden, marks that makers make in note books or on odd scraps of paper. We call this Psychostitchgeography. 

They are trains of thought, plans, rememberings, sums, trials, errors and ultimately, a journey to getting what you want.

We want to show them because they are usually private, and to others they are a mysterious abstract pattern of clues. They are not made to be seen. Psychostitchgeography doesn't always lead to a finished product, but is proof that ideas never die. 

We will show Psychostitchgeography every week. If you have any to share, please e-mail rachael@prickyourfinger.com

Psychostitchgeography 1 = "Design for front panel of jumper, for man born on the cusp of Virgo and Libre with Cancer rising, never knitted" RM

SHEEP OF THE WEEK!

Let me introduce you to Shirley.  Shirley is a Dorset Horn sheep, from Dorset, but she lives in Hackney, at the city farm. Last week Shirley donated her winter coat to PYF, and we are going to spin it for her. 

Dorset Horn's are chiefly distinguished by their big curly horns, worn by ewes as well as rams. Dorset Horns are confident sheep and are in fact, horny.  It is not unusual for ewes to breed twice to three times a year, be exceptionally good mothers, and tend to many lambs with abundant milk. 

Well done.

HOW TO COVER UNFRIENDLY FURNITURE.

A year ago this week, I sat on a sofa with it's own voice. 

I was invited by Ella Gibbs, to work with the residents of Look Ahead Housing in Bow, East London. I held weekly workshops called "Freestyle Haberdashery," in the Common Room of the hostel at 64, Campbell Rd. 

We opened to suggestions from the residents, and the pressing issue seemed to be the 'toxic' sofa. How anyone managed to design such a thing is an interesting question.  It was possible to sit on the sofa, but it didn't particularly invite you. The itchy fabric covering, a dull blue with some token red swirls, was designed to be hoovered, rather like the office floor tiles at our feet. Placed to the side of the television, it was impossible to collapse, relax, put your feet up, or think.

What should we do? Dismantle it and see what it's made of? Freecycle it? Write to the designer and ask for an explanation? We decided to make use of it and cover it. 

While Ella fitted a J-cloth over the CCTV camera,  and Cameron and Ayo tried to watch television, I set to work making a paper pattern of the sofa, covered it in calico, (cotton canvas) and invited the residents to make their mark on it and take full ownership. 

Rabena looked on and said " It can't be clinical." She explained how none of the furniture in the building fitted the people living there. As I finished making the cover, we thought that even if we didn't feel comfortable sitting down, the sofa could be used as a canvas, to draw and write day dreams, moments, beliefs, observations, patterns, doodles and tags. The sofa had a possibility of taking on a personality at last. Lids came off pens!

The first pen marks were a combination of beautiful paisley designs, phallic cartoons, bloodshot eyes, spliffs and smoke. It was a good start, but the staff at Look Ahead Housing didn't think so. We decided to keep going, fill the sofa with everything the residents wanted to say when they wanted to relax. We knew it would be honest. If the staff found phallic images disturbing, then some transfer prints from 'Grey's Anatomy' would make it serious. With an iron, on they went. Some residents found the scientific drawings disturbing, but at that point the flood gates opened and the drawing really started. Ella had given everyone disposable cameras, and I started transfer printing some of the photos on the sofa. Each resident had something very special to give and in one month, every inch oozed with stories, fables, humour and love.

We loved our sofa. 

And then the cover got confiscated.

They said it was "Pornographic."

Apparently they locked it in a cupboard. 

Ella spent about a year trying to get it back.

The toxic sofa just stood there, waiting.

Last week, one year on, Ella delivered the good news. The sofa cover is back! Many of the residents I knew have moved on, but their work is there to welcome new residents and the sofa holds all the evidence that 'they were there'.

I feel very priviledged to have worked on this piece. 

For videos of the sofa action, and more stories from Ella Gibb's 'Common Room productions' at 64 Campbell Rd, I urge you to visit  www.commonroomproductions.org

The website is offered as a resource for creative living, and Ella hopes it will be of use to others beyond the scope of the origional project. 

WRITE YOU ARE THEN.

When Rosemary felt the need to crochet a pencil, she did it. 

Here is her HB in carpet yarn.

Scribble what you like with PYF Carpet Yarn,

It's a bargin at 50p /10g,  100% pure British wool.

Reds, pinks, blues, greens, greys, and woody colours, avaliable while stocks last..