A Woad well travelled...
Posted by Zoe Fletcher on Sunday, June 20, 2010
That was too good a title to pass up on!
This week has been full of mammoth library sessions followed by fun trips out and lots of learning, so I haven't been very close to a computer for a while!
So updates at the ready...
I'm going to do it in a slightly backwards order as my memory works in funny ways!
On Friday I travelled to Beetley in Norwich/Norfolk to visit an amazing company called Woad Inc, set up by Ian and Bernadette Howard - they are now cultivating the first commercially viable crop of Woad in Britain for over 70 years!
They have opened a visitors centre with a really interesting and detailed exhibition space showing the history and tradition of woad and also showing how it is being used in a more contemporary and modern society.
Ian let me shadow him in the workshop and showed me the best ways to get the most vibrant colours - it was an amazing experience and I learnt so much in such a short space of time (although the highly detailed sheets of instructions beat my messy hand written memory scrawl anyday!)
He also let me dye my own silk scarf - which was not a patch on his own designs but i'm pretty proud of its dottyness and uniqueness none the less!
I learnt so many interesting things about Woad and Weld and the importance of the White stage!!
So hopefully when I come to do a little experimenting of my own in the near future i'll have some good results...watch this space!!
This week has been full of mammoth library sessions followed by fun trips out and lots of learning, so I haven't been very close to a computer for a while!
So updates at the ready...
I'm going to do it in a slightly backwards order as my memory works in funny ways!
On Friday I travelled to Beetley in Norwich/Norfolk to visit an amazing company called Woad Inc, set up by Ian and Bernadette Howard - they are now cultivating the first commercially viable crop of Woad in Britain for over 70 years!
They have opened a visitors centre with a really interesting and detailed exhibition space showing the history and tradition of woad and also showing how it is being used in a more contemporary and modern society.
Ian let me shadow him in the workshop and showed me the best ways to get the most vibrant colours - it was an amazing experience and I learnt so much in such a short space of time (although the highly detailed sheets of instructions beat my messy hand written memory scrawl anyday!)
He also let me dye my own silk scarf - which was not a patch on his own designs but i'm pretty proud of its dottyness and uniqueness none the less!
I learnt so many interesting things about Woad and Weld and the importance of the White stage!!
So hopefully when I come to do a little experimenting of my own in the near future i'll have some good results...watch this space!!
Currently undertaking a PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University within the MIRIAD post-graduate department, I am beginning a practice based academic journey into British wool fibres and new technologies within knitwear design.
Graduating with Distinction from a Masters in Fashion and the Environment at London College of Fashion, specialising in hand-knitting and the British Wool Industry,
I have worked on a number of knitwear collections (personal and external companies), whilst freelancing and researching for a number of exciting projects.
My work revolves around the idea of sustainable fashion from a knitted perspective and the different ways to achieve this incorporating the ideas of slow fashion into mainstream society.
I love knitting.
And wool.
And double sided sticky tape.
