The Stitchery of Catherine Hill, a Lancashire Lass
At The Knitting and Stitching Show 2018 at Alexandra Palace, I had a chat with Cas Holmes about her work, the Tea Flora Tales Exhibition and the contents of her travelling drawing kit.
More YouTube to follow, including Caren Garfen, Dionne Swift, Dawn Hemming, and Jean LittleJohn.
The best bits from The Knitting and Stitching Show 2018 at Alexandra Palace.
At the show, I caught up with lots of textile artists and interviewed them for YouTube. We chatted about their creative journey and the thought processes involved in making their work. These are the first of many videos from the show. More to follow, including Caren Garfen, Cas Holmes, Dionne Swift, Dawn Hemming, and Jean LittleJohn.
A trip to Rossendale in Lancashire means many things to me. It’s a place where I feel at ‘Home’. I catch up with my family and now and again I revisit aspects of the industrial heritage and it’s textiles stories that had sparked my love of textiles, many years ago. I remember family tales from the Cotton Mills – of clogs sparking on cobbles, the Mee Mawing Language of Weavers and my great-aunt explaining how she used to thread a shuttle. Helmshore Cotton Mill is one of the last remaining Mills in the Rossendale Valley where you can truly experience the full glory of original machinery in working order.
This video is from a recent visit and shows some beautiful working Carding, Roving & Spinning machines. It’s noisier than you might think!
A little bonus for you are the fabulous Fulling Machines showing how Military Wool Cloth was made.
If you have memories or family stories from the Mills, I’d love to hear them. Please share them below.
Continue reading “Helmshore Cotton Mill – Video Diary”