Welcome Anna!
Anna joined the AYS team in February and here's your chance to get to know her a bit better.
A weaver and recent graduate of Bath Spa's renowned Textile Design for Fashion and Interiors program, I'm thrilled to have Anna in the shop. With an amazing eye for color and a sleek modern design aesthetic she's a perfect fit. You can usually find Anna in the shop a couple days a week, so if you get a chance stop by and say hi, in the meantime she shares a bit of her Yarn Story below.
Q: What is currently on your needles?
A: I am just about to start the final section of Brenna from The Fibre Company’s Fell Garth Collection. I also have a moss stitch draped jacket which I started literally years ago but I am determined to finish it soon!
Q: When did you start knitting/crocheting? Who taught you?
A: I think I was about 14 when my Mum taught me to knit as a way to switch off my brain in the evenings. This pig from Laura Long’s book Knitted Toy Tales and was the first thing I knitted that wasn’t a flat rectangle! I taught myself to crochet a few years later but it’s never stuck in the same way as knitting.
Q: You recently graduated with a degree in textiles and have specialised in weaving - what drew you to weaving in particular?
A: I was torn between specialising in print or weave at university and chose weaving partly as it was the less popular option! But the main reason was that I like the balance between the technical skill and creativity. There is also nothing quite as satisfying as taking a length of cloth off the loom which started as (often quite a tangled) collection of yarn.
Q: What is your favorite fibre to work with?
A: I love working with merino and alpaca as a base and then adding in different textures such as a silk mohair- the softer the better.
Q: What do you enjoy most about the textile crafts?
A: I love colour- choosing the colour palette for a new project is always my favourite stage which may seem odd as I am nearly always wearing black or grey!
Q: What is the last project you completed?
A: I have just completed my first big weaving project since graduating which was for a National Trust Competition. It was quite daunting but it felt good to be designing and making again.
Q: What has you most excited about joining the AYS team?
A: I feel very lucky to have a job which I look forward to going to in the mornings! I have particularly enjoyed learning more about all the different yarns (which has proved a good test for my self restraint) and getting to know the customers.
Q: Anything else you would like to share about yourself?
A: I have a worryingly large collection of nail varnish, I enjoy taking a book down to the Crescent on sunny evenings and I have a tendency to name inanimate objects; I have a new houseplant called Fergus, my car is called Mildred and my sewing machine is called Sybil.