Knitting Nancy Dives In

After the success of "Knitting Nancy", Adelaide Fringe 2010, "Nancy" is ready to "Dive In" with some old buddies and lots of new friends to create a crafty underwater world. Needles will click clack and crochet hooks will loop de loop to transform Irving Baby!'s shop window into an aquatic wonderland. What will appear in the woolen depths? ... Fish, shells, monsters of the deep...maybe a submarine?

"Nancy's" friends include: Qudsia Yemisi Ahmed, Bec Staker Bjornhage, Laura Braithwaite, Amy Broad, Donna Burgmann, Melina Butler, Karen De Nardi, Cathy Dodson, Belinda Emanuelle, Alice Every, Nett Faggotter, Jan Fehlmann, Lianne Gould, Cherry Greenslade, Brooke Haba, Mandy Hoeymakers, Kitty Came Home, Lisa Jarrett, Gaye Lancaster, April Lewis, Minnette Michael, Helen Nieuwendijk, Trenna Oelsnik, Suzanne Redman, Marlene Ritchie, Gemma Sneddon, Melissa Williams, Rebecca Wu, Bonnie Yates and Connie Yeung.

If anyone is interested in finding out more about "Knitting Nancy Dives In" please email: irving-baby@hotmail.com

Stay tuned to this blog for behind the scenes peaks into the making of this exhibition and pop the dates into your diary now.

"Knitting Nancy Dives In" ,Adelaide Fringe Festival 18 Feb - 13 March 2011 Irving Baby! 33 Twin Street Adelaide

("shells" by Rebecca Wu, illustration by Trenna Oelsnik)

Adelaide Fringe Award Nomination

"Knitting Nancy" surprised us all with her nomination for the Adelaide Fringe Award for 'Best Exhibition by a Collective 2010'... maybe it shouldn't have been such a shock as I have witnessed the noses pressed against Irving Baby!'s shop windows and the smiles of all those that visited the exhibition.
Cathy, Tracey, Alice and myself represented the Knitting Nancy team (with support from Briar (IB!) and Cathy's husband) at the Fringe Awards Night.
It was the closest I was going to get to the Oscars so I frocked-up in my favourite 50's dress and enjoyed a bird's eye view of all the Fringe dwellers, along with a glass of complimentary bubbly.
We all let out a cheer when "Knitting Nancy" was read out as a nominee and even though we didn't win I was super thrilled by it all...tho not thrilled enough to stay and kick up my heels to the dj...(Sunday night...time to unwind)

Anyhoo, Briar and I still think all the "Knitting Nancy" crew are No. 1

Congratulations to you all!

The Gift That Inspired An Exhibition

This cute fella arrived in the post unexpectedly...he had traveled from Perth to Adelaide as a surprise gift from my long-time friend, Rachel.
Rachel has recently revived her interest in crochet and shares her latest wool plans with me over the phone. Like a lot of friendships, life and distance can get in the way but I love to share in her enthusiasm, whatever her current obsession.
Thus began the idea for the "Knitting Nancy" exhibition.
Thanks to the 11 wonderful crafters who joined me in celebrating the wonderful world of wool and to all the visitors who make their way onto this blog and Irving Baby! 83 Hindley Street Adelaide to see the exhibition.
You never know where an act of kindness can lead... and I believe some socks are heading my way soon x

Illustrations for the Knitting Nancy Exhibition

Some quick snaps of my work for "Knitting Nancy"
Make sure you check out Tracey's photos of all the fantastic crochet and knitted works by the rest of the KN Crew.



"I Heart Wool"


"Lucy"

Whenever Lucy travels
across the wild seas
she takes her knitting with her


"Anonymous"

Guerilla knitter
- or Yarn Bomber as she prefers to be known -
needles always at the ready


"Pearl"

Pearl's kitten is very mischievous, his name is Knit


"Juliet"

Juliet's alpacas have excellent eyesight and hearing
and will alert her to danger
with a staccato alarm call.



"Mary"

Mary had a little lamb
his fleece was not white as snow
as he liked to gambol
in the wet, green grass


"Marguerite"

Marguerite grooms her angora rabbit Pierre,
plucking his maulting fur.
Then she spins his fur into beautiful angora wool.
Sometimes she will cut pieces off for the birds to line their nests.




"Cemile"

Cemile found an orphan angora kid goat and kept him warm
by cutting holes in sock and making a little coat.
Now her goat provides her with plenty of wool to make her own turkish socks.



"Bridget"





"Judy"

Bridget and Judy loved to knit stripes.
Their horizontal designs caught the eye of the editor of
legendary craft magazine "Golden Hands" who featured the pair
on the cover of issue 5 in 1972.
There was some controversy during the photo shoot
when Bridget accused Judy of using a knitting machine.

Ready to Go!

"Knitting Nancy" is all set up and ready to go for tonights Opening.
Everyones work is fantastic, you can see all the hours of work by the amount of stitches...I wonder how many there would be in total?
For those not able to attend the exhibition during it's 2 week season, there will be some photos appearing on the blog soon.
Hooray...I have my favourite 50's vintage frock all ready to go...complete with missing button and a few holes...just the way I like it...already worn and loved.
See you TONIGHT!

Exhibition photos!

Finally - it is here!!!

(above) Cathy Dodson

(above) Lianne Gould

(above) Toula Kantalis

(above) Cherry Greenslade

(above) Alice Every

(above) Marlene Ritchie

(above) Bec Wu

(above) Lianne Gould

(above) Melissa Williams

(above) Tracey Burman

(above) Toula Kantalis & Kate McMurray

(above) Lianne Gould

Valentine's Day

Hope everyone is having a great day with loved ones! These are some hearts I've knitted up to hang around Irving Baby! for the exhibition. Hopefully everyone has finished/almost finished their projects!!

"Marguerite and her Angora Rabbit"

"Marguerite and her Angora Rabbit"

Marguerite grooms her angora rabbit Pierre, plucking his maulting fur. Then she spins his fur into beautiful angora wool. Sometimes she will cut pieces off for the birds to line their nests.

Cupcakes!

Hello Knitting Nancys, I thought I'd post an update about my knitting progress. I think I've finished all my cupcakes and fruit, just dealing with my cake slices that aren't co-operating on their cake stand... Hope everyone's crafting is coming along nicely!!
-Bec

Sardines!

Here's my most recent crochet food addition - a tin of sardines.

It needs some 'Stiffy' [fabric stiffener lol] and its shape should improve.

I still need to use silver embroidery floss to give it some shiny scales, an eye and a little mouth.

It could do with a label too on the side on the tin, too.

I hope this finds each of you edging towards a final-ish product.

I Heart Wool

Finished this illustration today...

Adelaide Fringe Guide out NOW

Hooray! The Adelaide Fringe Guide has hit the streets and "Knitting Nancy" is on page 78. We are also on the Adelaide Fringe website: http://tix.adelaidefringe.com.au/ticketing/EventDetails.aspx?EventGuid=509d3f1d-7511-4ab6-bc95-0ca228d5cb4e
Wow...now it feels real.

Piece of cake!

Every time I try to post I forget where the button is to do a new post and it takes me about 10 minutes of clicking before I see its tiny little face up the top. But I'm here now and with a new picture of the cake that I'm knitting! Excuse my terrible photo-taking skills, which usually involves terrible backgrounds (laptop), less than ideal lighting and just generally cutting off of bits (which are usually heads in photos of people).

I'd really like to crochet a doilie for it to sit on, but I don't know how to crochet. I did buy a hook but I'll really have to get on with it if it's going to happen. I'm looking at doing some other bits and pieces like biscuits, cupcakes and finger sandwiches. Hope everyone else's things are coming along well, by the sounds of it they are!!

Getting down to detail

With only 5 more days of holidays I thought I should probably get a move on with the piece I'm working on for the exhibition. I'm struggling a little as I tend to loose interest in projects if I've been working on them for too long. The plan is to make one more mattress - a green one and then add detailed stitching on each mattress and a frill for the bed skirt. Oh and of course the pea!

How are all you other Nancy's going? Are you like me struggling on the last few steps or perhaps working on a tight deadline suits you?

A few of us were talking recently about a Knitting Nancy catch up in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for details - sounds like a great idea!

New Year = New Inspiration

Happy New Year!
Now the hoopla of the festive season is drawing to a close my mind is awash with ideas for the Knitting Nancy Exhibition.
In my travels I discovered a haul of 1970's "Golden Hands" craft magazines. Such great ideas and cover designs... I particularly like the curly wig and retro colour combo of brown and green. I am not sure how I will include them in my work for Knitting Nancy but my pencils are sharpened and ready to go...(Trenna)