Glasgow Gals

I enjoyed a wonderful few days in Glasgow for the show. The trip started off well when I got to my accommodation and discovered that my apartment actually had two bedrooms and two bathrooms just for me! There was more space there than I have at home! It was in a very handy location and I've kept the details as I'll want to stay there again and not in a faceless hotel

It is always the volunteers who make the show for me and the trip to Glasgow gives me the real chance to spend time with friends. There are far too many to mention but they came from far (Grenoble) and near (Govan); they were all ages - the youngest was 9 weeks (Hi Duncan) and the eldest 80+. I laughed so much my sides hurt, I knitted two projects and gave them away without taking pictures! I took no pictures of the PicKnit or the Gingerbread house either - in fact I only took two photos in the entire time I was away. I had 5-7 Ravellers on the stand; got to meet up with Rowanettes; played with members of the KCG and got lured into the dark side by a couple of spinners!

One of the things I love about the shows is teaching beginners to knit and crochet but what gives me the most rush is when I see some exciting knit / crochet or get asked technical questions that are a challenge - so I'd like you to meet my biggest challenge yet!

This lovely lady came to ask for advice, before she could voice her question I wanted to know more about her collar - yes she did crochet it herself and she has quite a collection of them.

She then said her question was about knitting so I breathed a sigh of relief and then she produced this

knitted on 1.5mm needles with linen sewing thread - she wanted a knitted collar and had started at the neck edge. The first challenge was that she wanted to use a traditional shetland pattern but realised she was knitting it from the top down so had to reverse all the increases and decreases to get the pattern she wanted (no sweat there then) - the dilema was how to finish off the edge and after much discussion we all agreed that it needed a lace edging so she was off home to pore over the patterns again.

This lady was fascinating to talk to, her work was impecable and I told her I want to be like her when I grow up - she gave me some sound advice - don't get sidetracked into starting Sudoku puzzles they interrupt your knitting time!

Posted by Yvonne at March 13, 2008 10:48 PM