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LadyFest Band Night. Photo: Anna Haswell

Female creativity has been celebrated in New Cross during the past week, as Goldsmiths hosted its annual ‘Ladyfest’.

The event, described by co-organiser Francesca Bancarino, 22, as ‘a pop-up feminist festival’, aims to exhibit women’s talents in artistic endeavours of all kinds. Contributors from the worlds of art, activism and music come together each year to show off their skills.

Originally held in Olympia, Washington, in 2000, the Ladyfest formula has been successfully adapted around the world, with versions taking place in locations as disparate as Dresden and Singapore, each attempting to spread the word about local female creativity.

As fellow coordinator Evy Samuelsson, 26, explained, this year’s event at Goldsmiths featured a variety of different attractions. “We’ve had different workshops and talks and film screenings, and also a big band night,” she said. “The talks have been on everything: we’ve had the NUS women’s officer, and a fat activist come and talk – which was really great. We had cabaret performers as well, so we’re trying to cater for lots of different kinds of people.”

However, as Samuelsson is keen to highlight, Ladyfest is not just about having fun. It is also intended to raise awareness of the difficulties that can face women working in the worlds of art and music.

“It’s about showing that there are women in the creative industries, but also problematising it, and politicising it. It’s about saying: “Yes, but why is it that we need to have a Ladyfest? Why is it that we need to celebrate female creativity?” It’s very difficult for women to be in the music industry and the art world.”

It is this political angle that the festival’s coordinators want to emphasise to those who come to their events. Goldsmiths Ladyfest is largely organised by the university’s Feminist Society, and Samuelsson hopes that some of those who attended will feel motivated to learn more about the women’s movement.

She also believes that Ladyfest is also a great way to fight old stereotypes about feminist activism. “Feminism is a way of looking at life, and it isn’t about sitting in a room and hating men,” she said. Instead, Samuelsson and her friends believe that feelings of political frustration need not be merely negative.

“It can really be something positive. Say, for example, the issue with women in the creative industries – what do we do about this? We don’t sit around and moan about it, we do something! We have a festival at Goldsmiths! We do something fun, we promote female artists, but we also talk about the issue, and I hope that people are going to be inspired by this.”

Louise Harries proudly shows off Sun Ra yarn. Photo: Youmee Hwang.

What do Kurt Cobain, Sun Ra, and David Hasselhof have in common? They are all names of handspun yarns piled into the pigeonholed walls of Prick Your Finger, a wool shop for the new generation of trendy young knitters.

This haberdashery and gallery in Bethnal Green is brimming with balls of beautiful yarns: a soft, downy, dove grey named after the late singer; a mixture of sunshine orange and lipstick red inspired by the jazz musician; and dark chocolate encrusted with sparkling yarns dedicated to the hero of Knight Rider.

“Are these made of plastic bags?” asks a pleasantly surprised customer who dropped in on her way home, picking up a batch named Rubbish. It’s strange and lovely; spun from the fleece of Welsh mountain sheep, felt wool scraps, and a supermarket carrier.

“This would make an amazing jumper, wouldn’t it?” suggests the owner Louise Harries to the customer, who nods her agreement before coming up with her own ideas to share.

“The lovely thing about learning to knit is that you can create exactly what you want,” grins Rachel Matthews, the other half of the duo that started Prick Your Finger.

“You learn to become a designer by learning to knit, which I think is very exciting,” adds Harries, who is quite often amazed by how many people come up with a very good idea of what they would like to create once they realize they can knit.

And they are more than happy to help realize their customers’ dreams. Harries left her career in the fashion industry (Hoxton Boutique, Gucci and Gap), to share her love for knitting, two years ago.  Matthews, her Central St Martins schoolmate, had already written books about knitting and co-founded a knitting club in east London, so was a perfect partner.

They wanted to encourage people to make their own clothes, and “knitting is all about making and designing your own stuff,” said Matthews.

They also had common interest: concerns about yarn production in Britain going down and the British wool industry falling apart at the seams.

A growing number of yarn shops have begun to stock locally or ethically sourced yarns, though, and all those at Prick Your Finger are from UK-based brands.

“We make lots of it ourselves here (in the back of the shop or outside if weather permits) or at a mill, which is one of the last remaining British mills,” she added. They are even planning to build a bicycle powered generator for their wool mill for March. So instead of  guilt-ridden shopping at fast fashion chains, customers can design whatever they want, and knit it up with their eco-consciousness intact.

All you have to do to pick up the knitting bug is find a ball of yarn which you can really bond with (as it can be frustrating), and a pair of needles, then you can just ask friends, your grandmother or anyone who knits to show you how. You could also  invest in a book or go online where you can find countless tutorials or demonstrations; type in “knit” and the search results on Youtube are more than 42,000.

There is “a sense of community in the knitting circle,” notes Matthews. It lets people share and bond - even those who met for the first time at her knitting lessons have become a close-knit group.

Barley Massey, the owner of Fabrications on Broadway Market in Hackney, who also runs regular classes, agrees: “As well as learning a new skill, the classes are very sociable and fun. Once everyone is comfortable with the techniques, the tea, biscuits and gossiping come out!”

Fancy a proper way of learning? Then book one of the knitting classes (£30 for 2 hours at Prick Your Finger; £20 for 2 and a half hours at Fabrications, both including materials), have a cup of tea with fellow beginners and learn the basics.

To book a knitting class or for more information, visit www.prickyourfinger.com or www.fabrications1.co.uk.

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