Making is connecting

I've recently been reading a book called 'Making is Connecting' by David Gauntlet. It's a fascinating piece of research as the title aptly says about how making things with your hands connects you to yourself, other people and ultimately the world and opens up positive transformative possibilities! It's right up my street...

Meet the inspirational Lina and Linda. Lina lent me 'Making is Connecting' to read, she thought I'd appreciate the research behind it. She subsequently brought Linda round to meet me as Linda is a very interesting lady and an experienced knitter, she has been knitting most of her life. Recently her expertise has been sought and features in a number of knitting books including Susan Crawford's 'A stitch in time'  and Laren O'Farrell's 'Knit the City'.

Meet the talented film maker Adeline Royal, who brought Lina round to Fabrications so we could meet each other. I first met Adeline while she was making a film about knitting. She wanted to interview me about about running Fabrications and my thoughts on knitting, hand made, the British wool industry and my observations of the benefits that knitting can have on people that take up the craft.

The film took Adeline on quite a journey, she met and interviewed a number of notable people from the knitting / current UK craft industry including Katy Bevan from the Crafts Council, Professor and writer Sandy Black, a representative from the British wool marketing board, Lauren O'Farrell, initiator of London largest knitting group 'Stitch London' and Lina and Linda who you've already been introduced to and who run a community knitting group at the Barbican library every Monday 11am - 4pm

Anyway the aim of this post wasn't to produce a long line of name dropping but to show how Adeline's journey in making her film and beyond really demonstrates how the power of making can really activate and connect people! See her film about Knitting, connecting and sustainability on her Vimeo page HERE

This is another film that Adeline has created, a short promotional film all about the different strands that make up Fabrications, including how much we value making and believe in the 'transformative powers' it can bring, so we are a hive of industry in passing on textile skills and our beliefs values to others. I hope you enjoy it!