I shared over the weekend that I will be having a trunk show at Quirk Gallery on October 1st.
I wanted to share a little more about what this trunk show represents for me.
I've been working intentionally over the past year or so on my education in regards to my knitwear designing and being more involved in the process and construction of a garment.
I've been going on various visits and tours of farms (which you can read more about in Farm Days posts More coming soon!) and learning about shearing, processing, and spinning wool into the end product (yarn) that I'm used to working with.
It's been such en enlightening and gratifying experience.
To know that I'm able to take a natural and God given resource and within my own abilities and resources, turn it into something that's able to be enjoyed and used by others for (hopefully) generations to come is really satisfying.
The idea for this new venture into this kind of knitwear came from my pursuits and interest in recent years into the art of slow, mindful and intentional living.
What was I consuming? What was I allowing into my life? What was I saying, unknowingly or otherwise, with the things that I used and wore and bought on a daily basis?
I not only wanted to practice more mindfulness in these areas in my every day life, but also find a way to embody that in my art.
I’ve been knitting for about 17 years, and designing collections for a living for four of those years. However it wasn’t until I started pursuing a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle as well as educating myself on fast fashion, that I thought about how my knitwear played into that. I realized I had no idea how the yarn I used for my collections was made, where it came from, what effect it had on the environment or even whose pocket my dollar was going into when I bought it.
That, along with attending a local fiber festival and learning how to spin yarn, set into motion my pursuit of being involved in every phase possible of the construction of a piece of my knitwear.
If I don’t personally source the wool from a farm I’ve visited during my travels or built a relationship with, take it to the mill to be processed, process it in my own home or spin it into yarn myself, I take great lengths to make sure the yarn is sourced and made by a similar minded fiber artist.
While it’s my dream to one day learn how to shear sheep myself and maybe even own a few, I am content with being as much involved in the process of the “sheep to shawl” idea of my knitwear as I can be in this current season of my life as I live in the city.
I’ve also been experimenting and learning about the incredible art of natural dying and will occasionally add that as an element to a special piece. Collecting flowers, lichen, moss, plants, and other found materials to form dyes that only add to the beauty that can be created when using natural resources.
As a result of this process, each piece is one-of-a-kind and a work of art in and of itself.
Each carries with it a story that has many chapters, each of which is very much apart of me and my journey as not only a knitwear designer but a traveler, photographer, and an artist.
I'm excited to share this next phase with you guys. So many of you, my dear family and friends, have been such a huge part of this becoming and evolution in these pursuits and passions of mine.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I couldn't do it without you.
xo
P.s. I've been working on a video to showcase the story of processing a fleece start to finish at the fiber mill so keep an eye out for that coming soon!
