In the Loop Conference - Winchester School of Art

Last week I attended a conference at my art school called 'In the Loop'. They had amazing guest speakers covering a variety of knitty topics from the past, present and future. The conference touched on historical knitted collections from author Jane Waller and the late Montse Stanley and how hand knitters of the 16th to the 19th century (such as the 'Terrible Knitters of Dent' - see previous post for more info)earned a wage from their knitting skills.The Terrible Knitters of Dent
and I discovered what a 'polka' jacket looked like...'The School Girls Hymn' by William Holman Hunt 1858-9. A young girl wears a knitted tight fitted jacket known as the 'Polka'.

Also boundary pushing and avant-garde knitters brought the conference up to date with talks on new technology such as Designaknit and guest speakers such as Sabrina Gschwandnter founder of Knit Knit,
Rachel Beth Egenhoefer - textile artist combining traditional knitting techniques with new technology
Rachel Beth Egenhoefer - image from www.rachelbeth.net, Liz Collins, Lacey Jane Roberts Image from www.laceyjaneroberts.com/images/tink-red1.jpg and Freddie Robbins shared with us the inspiration and motivation behind their work.

There is so much more to say as the conference was jammed with interesting knitty facts and inspirational stories. I nearly blubbed when one of the event co-ordinators said her thank yous and said 'this is the end [of the conference]'. Not only did those words mean the end of a lovely 3 days but to me it also symbolised the end of my three years at Winchester and what a wonderful way to end.