Monday 15 June 2009

A Knitted Boat and Brussel Sprouts!



Ahoy there!!!
I would totally LOVE to be a Pirate....I would have a pet parrot called Sebastian....
This weekend whilst up in the old hometown, I decided to get nautical and go and visit a mystical woollen ship that I heard about on the regional n
ewzzz....
I do LOVE a nice bit of knitwear as you all know...so when I heard about this corker of a knitted boat, I just had to hot foot it over to South Shields to have a cheeky peek!

AND...OH MY GOD.....IT IS ACTUALLY AMAZING!
Textile designer Ingrid Wagner hopped onboard as lead artist and this big, fat amazing community project unleashed itself! The project "Casting Off...A Coat for a Boat!" was created with the help of contributors hailing from the region as well as internationally and the support of The North East Maritime Trust. The delight was developed through a string of social knitting sessions (a bit like the ones we saw in whipping up my food dress-with a can of cider in hand!) and recycled bedsheets donated from Northgate Hospital Laundry.
I think the concept is AWESOME....and I was so im
pressed when I visited it! I wish I could have whipped up a starfish or two!!! :(
So anyway....have a gander at some pictures that I took....

Yes I want to be a mermaid and set sail on the woolly boat. Please.

If you are up in the North East, I would say you should DEFINITELY go and pay the ship of dreams a visit...super impressive! You can get yourself along to the Customs House www.customshouse.com or if you are down south, you can wait until October and see the boat at Alexandra Palace as part of The Knitting and Stitching Show... www.twistedthread.com
Ohh yah....and the experience was topped off with lunch on the seafront in which they served me the veggie option-Lasagna with brussel sprouts.....errm nice.
Check out Ingrid's work....it's amazing.mucho respecto!
www.ingridwagner.com
Love and a Golden Octopus!
Emma xxx

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

gotta love a bit of quirky knitting

Emma Bell said...

Oohh Yes!! I know!!! I was sooo impressed with this...especially the bottle of vinegar!!!!xxx

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I was involved in the 'Coat for a Boat' project and have spotted some of my work on your site. I'm especially pleased that you mentioned the vinegar...thats one of mine! I also made the plate of fish and chips, salt container, knife and fork, one of my nets is on a pic you have taken and I also made various fish and stones. I was then asked to make some fishermen's pipes which prompted me to climb a fence and roam into a field of sheep to obtain some wool lying around which looked remarkably like smoke! To top it all I knitted a bottle of champagne for the launch, unfortunately it contained wadding and not the real stuff!
This was a really interesting and worthwile project which has attracted a lot of attention!
Thanks for mentioning us.
Wendy Shepherd, South Shields.
(Interior Designer)