Home's

I took my leave of HH last week for a week away in our motorhome. A visit to the New Forest, planned some months ago, was upon us! And what a beautiful area it is! Ponies of course, rule the roost, and roam freely along with the cows and the donkeys. They have the right of way over traffic and caused their own special brand of roadblock!

Apparently, as decreed by William the Conqueror, the animals are owned by those who live in the forest confines, "commoners" as they are called! Each person still has the right, upon payment of a certain levy, to graze animals, collect wood and, if they wish, dig for clay!
We were very close to Lymington and so the lure of a short ferry trip across to the Isle of Wight was too much to resist! Beautiful weather and beautiful views!


I always have to take along a crafting project when I go away and this trip was no exception. I'd carried on the weaving started when we were at Waterstones last month and had the idea that I would make a little cushion, similar to that featured in our book.


However, by the time it came off the frame, I decided that a textural 'vessel' was more the order of the day!!

Finally, this weekend, I got to Thornham Walks to see Jane's work, Rural Collusions!

It was a great opportunity as the photographic gallery, Beyond the Image were hosting a photographic walk with the chance to take loads of pictures! We met at the Gallery before setting out, past the little antique shop with loads of vintage bikes outside....

And out into the sunshine where Jane's work greeted us as we strolled around Thornham Walks.
Mushrooms galore! The last time I saw these was at Halfpenny Home and now they've found their way onto a tree!


Beautiful roses adorned the Walls of the walled garden

Samantha Hayes, a Tudor re-enactor who every Summer becomes Peg the Dyer at Kentwell Hall missed all the excitement at the Launch of Rural Collusions at Thornham Walks on Easter Saturday. Sam (along with Jane and myself) dyed a lot of the textiles used in the work so it was about time she saw the fantastic creations of Jane Southgate finally displayed in their beautiful surroundings.
We popped over there for a walk and straightaway spotted something fantastically fungal that is exactly the sort of thing that gets Mushroom Jane so excited and inspired...

I loved seeing the weaving again - the yarns are such beautiful colours and some are dyed with plants that grow nearby. The moss round the base of a tree is particularly beautiful to look at with so many different yarns used and all knitted in moss stitch - it looked a quite different in the woods to when Sam last saw it all being sewn together at Wednesday knitting!

The second part of Rural Collusions is at Lackford Lakes, near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk and again we spotted some inspirational fungi shortly after arriving!

Surely the inspiration for these incredible bracket fungi that we've all become so fond of at HH HQ...

Woad-dyed cotton for the 'gills' and felted Gedgrave Flock fleece which has been dyed with madder for the tops of the fungi.

Not forgetting the rather pretty puffballs in a variety of colours...

My favourites though have to be the Reeds - made in a combination of Colinette Point Five yarns and cotton dyed with reed heads (one of our favourite seasonal dyes) giving a lovely green colour despite being so very, very purple!

Hope you enjoy seeing the photographs but to get the full effect you really ought to pay a visit, I may even bump into you there as I shall be returning to see them fairly frequently throughout the year!
Nic x

You may well wonder why such an amazing piece of fabric knitted and hooked to resemble moss is doing at the base of a tree in Thornham Walks, Thornham Magna, Suffolk and why it is being left to degrade, have real moss to grow on it and hopefully have insects living on it and in it! Read on...

The most fantastic part of Halfpenny Home is how it attracts such a great bunch of talented people through it's magical blue doors! We never know who is going to turn up but we can almost guarantee that they will have something interesting to say and hopefully something to show us!
I first met textile artist Jane Southgate last Spring, she came in and with a cup of coffee in one hand and a copy of Selvedge magazine in the other started to tell me all about her work...

Jane has been working with Ruth Richmond to create Rural Collusions - we've all enjoyed seeing (and in some cases helping to create!) some of the work taking shape before our eyes! The mushrooms were particularly popular and has led to Jane sometimes being referred to as Mushroom Jane...

We've had a fantastic time helping Jane to scource natural yarns and fabrics and dyeing fibres with plant dyes with the help of Samantha Hayes, who is a Tudor Re-enactor at Kentwell Hall every Summer.

Just love the colours on this piece of weaving! This is the first of Jane's pieces that you will encounter on the walk through the woods and it is breathtaking!

Can't possibly have a blogpost without a break for cake...Lady Galula's newest creations - raspberry cupcakes with glitter icing in exactly the same shade of pink as the sunhat I'm knitting for my niece!

Another artist who is a frequent visitor to Halfpenny Home HQ is Amy Louise Nettleton. Amy currently has some work on show at the Waterfront Gallery in Ipswich.

I went along to the Private View and loved the selection of work on show and it's all by local artists.

Although these photos are great you should really go along and see the work yourself - it's a fabulous space in such a beautiful setting! It will be there for all to see until 11th May, Nic x