Today I went on a little tour of the south coast by public transport - a trip down memory lane. The Shoreham Knitting and Needlecraft store were having an open day with Martin Storey and ... well I couldn't resist could I? Apparently they were the first independent yarn store in the UK to stock Rowan yarns, and I first went there in the 1980s.

I spent a few happy hours there, gushing over Martin and purchasing the latest Rowan book (and, inevitably, some wool!), before nipping along the coast to Chichester to meet my sister for lunch, after which it was off home by train and bus. A thoroughly satisfying day's outing.

I was very pleased to find that the Rowan magazine (76) has a big feature on the Textile Garden of whom I have long been a fan with their beautiful buttons.

Martin getting down to the serious business of book signing! [Note him sporting "Shoal" from the Union Collection - currently on sale from English Yarns.]

Posted by Christina at 6:19 pm | Category: Crafts, Knitting and Crochet | Permalink

Today was knitting and crochet at Box Hill but there's a lot of "craft creep" in our groups, and to prove it, here we have Jan, working away as a highly skilled beader. She had a lot of astonishingly lovely pieces of 3-D work with her - but the chess set was just amazing.
[The mis-placement of the pieces is entirely down to me!]

Posted by Christina at 6:07 pm | Category: Crafts, Knitting and Crochet | Permalink

Another splendid Open Day at Box Hill - where we were pleased to see a lot more local people dropping in to visit. I thought the standard of work was particularly high this year - we have a lot of talented folk in our midst!

The 6-inch square competition on the theme of "Out of the Blue" was won by Rachel!

Posted by Christina at 6:05 pm | Category: Crafts, Spinning, Dying, Weaving | Permalink

When I booked this show, I was under the impression I was familiar with the story from old B&W films of the era, and that, rather like Sweeney Todd etc, it had its origins in Victorian melodrama. However having read up about it, it seems I was entirely incorrect. I did not know the story, and it seems to have begun life in the 1920s as a play - which may have been a melodrama - but the most famous adaptation (and why I'm familiar with the title) must be the 1930s film comedy starring Bob Hope.

However... back to this production: it's a tongue in cheek comedy, very much in the vein of the production I saw recently of the 39 Steps, and, likewise, very entertaining. And although it cannot boast 4 actors playing 139 roles, the cast played a number of characters very effectively with amusing "on stage" transformations within single scenes - quite a challenge in the intimate environment of the Minerva Theatre (my first experience there I realise).

Posted by Christina at 5:57 pm | Category: Art and Culture, Days Out | Permalink