A view from the bridge...opposite the Opticians.
The view ON the bridge - good woman!
Into town this morning for a mundane eye check, a much nicer coffee break with my son, and then on to our local Museum, where I was looking forward to seeing - and sharing here - the much advertised 'Knitted Newbury' project. I walked up to the desk to declare my interest and ask the way, only to be told 'oh, sorry - that exhibition is over, but there's another one on now…'.
Picking my smile up off the floor, where it had fallen, I asked what the new exhibition was about? They did not know…so I plodded upwards to the exhibition gallery - only to make the happiest of discoveries. The new exhibition displays the accomplished work of many members of the Kennet Valley Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers* - an organisation whose lectures I attended more (a lot more!) than a couple of decades ago.
Spinning the raw material
Some lovely examples of tie-dyeing
It was a total delight to look at all the examples of crafts which utilise materials and techniques which were foundational in the growth of Newbury as a market town - this town was built on Wool, and here were the textile crafts which would always have played an important part in the processing of that product. Yet another connection with the long thread of the past into which my own story is woven.
Woven pictures from multi-source inspirations
Some fine examples of beautiful knits
I was also able to acquire the programme for the next year of talks and events with the Guild - it is exciting to read, and even more exciting to contemplate re-visiting. The women demonstrating their craft were so very willing to talk about their enthusiasm and were most inviting and encouraging to me to partake again. My hands have been craftily idle for too long…now serendipity has presented me with a pathway to getting them occupied once more!
(*contact via kennetvalleyguildsecretary@gmail.com )
Journal Prompt (s) - Write about a coincidence, a serendipity or a synchronicity which has happened to you in the past…causing you to perhaps take another - unexpected - path to the one that you thought you were on.
Do you engage with a craft that you enjoy? What is it, do you think, that makes it such a pleasure for you?
How did your village, town or city grow? Go to the local museum and discover more about its foundation; consider it now - Improvement or decline?
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