Net Making

Since I was small I’ve always been fascinated by traditional ways of creating something useful from nothing. Watching fishermen repair lobster pots and nets. Hours of watching the ebb and flow of the ocean, the bubbles and patterns of the spray, the gentle undulating movement of the high tide in the harbour, catching the moonlight. I bought some netting needles and a very old book, sat on the sand and taught myself the basics of making nets. A beautifully repetitive, brilliantly logical process- I’ve posted some videos on my instagram showing how. Eventually I’ll create a YouTube channel where all my films will live.

The hardest thing to work out was starting the long chain that kicks off the net. Once I’d got that sorted, the rest followed quite smoothly. I’ve made three nets, each a metre wide and nearly 2.4m long. One in slub cotton, one in silk and one in stainless/silk yarn.  These elements will be incorporated into my wall hangings to create the soft movement of the seafoam as they catch the air currents as as you walk by.

New Techniques

I’ve long wanted to create wall hangings and rugs, with the gradients and block weaves synonymous with my work One of the traditional rugmaking techniques uses a structure related to summer and winter- a block weave. Crisp and precise, albeit weft-faced. My gradients would have to move to the weft, as the warp is purely structural. I love the yorkshire-spun yarns of Z Hinchliffe, beautiful shades of lambswool, perfectly balanced and super soft. All my yarn is mill-end, a deliberate choice for my practice since the beginning. I wanted my work to be sustainable, with minimal environmental impact.  Using yarn that is surplus to commercial textile production, using what I have, limiting waste and recycling the waste I do have was the perfect answer. So every so often I visit my yarn supplier or email Hinchliffe’s to send me a huge random box of surplus yarn. So I’ve built up a massive array of shades of blue. My favourite!

Window on the Sea

One piece I wanted to create was my own permanent window on the sea. With the help of a weaving friend (the very best kind to have) and Peter Collingwood’s bible of rugmaking I worked out the draft and created ‘Wave’. This one has an additional element before mounting- hopefully in time for my next show in my hometown of Sheffield, Selected Space, 12-14 July at Yorkshire Artspace. It’s a great selection of the finest contemporary craftspeople- and the Goldsmith’s North is at the Cutlers’ Hall so there’s plenty to see. Be lovely to see you there.