Setting up a stall for a show is not for the fainthearted. It's backbreaking, hard and dirty work, usually in a freezing hall. Last Wednesday was no exception! Having had to go to work at the day job I was dressed for an overheated office, the set up got so cold that I found myself adding layers and curtesy of Jane here's the only photo in existence of me wearing what looks like a poncho!
Except that it is not a poncho it is a Lace Pellerine that I knitted from a copy of InKnitters a few years ago. The yarn was a tweed ganseyweight knitted double and I enjoyed knitting it. The Pellerine was meant to be part of the exhibition but in the end did not go on public display until now!
We enjoyed the show and had some fascinating discussions with the public on the rise and fall of interest in the crafts of knitting and crochet. Many supported the Guild's aim to develop a library of patterns and books and there were some interesting social history discussions around some of the vintage patterns and period knitted garments that we had on display. I'd really like to have captured some of those on record.
Every item that was on display was commented on by the public. The tea/egg cosy village generated a lot of discussion and may result in a small guild publication soon as demands for patterns were high.
The lacework caused people to stop and stare and the vintage garments knitted in Fair Isle had people wanting to buy them and making some serious financial offers!
I did venture back to the Knitwitches stand and made a few more small purchases but they will be secret for a while. My visit with Silkwood involved angora, hand dyed mohair and a giant pair of knitting needles which caused mayhem on the ride home via DLR - you could just see all those city types looking at them and dying to make comment. Only one gentleman did and I enjoyed a great conversation with him about the difference between knitting and crochet, spinning your own yarn and weaving with particular reference to the patterns used in his homeland of Ghana.
Taking the stand down was one of the best orchestrated manouvers i've ever been involved with thanks to the help of Jane and Linde and we already started talking about next year!
For Your Eyes Only......
Laceweight silk 650 yds / 100gms in Iris
Cashmere DK 480 yds / 100gms Deeply Violet
Gossamer Dreans kid mohair 866yds / 50 gms Dianthus Pink
80% welsh mohair / 20% silk, laceweight, 90 gms Heather Sea - sold in aid of a charity which helps retired angora goats live out the rest of their lives on a Welsh Farm.
How am I going to keep away from that stand today?
The show at ExCel is going well. The first day was long and busy but I met some delightful people. I also had one of my biggest challenges to date......
I spent most of the evening with Luda - she wanted to learn to knit a sock so we started with a baby sized one in the yarn and needles we had to hand. It soon became apparant that she knitted in a Continental crossed way so trying to work out the knits and purls were fun. As she progressed down the leg of the sock I raced over to borrow a book with a pattern that might work.
I am not a knitter of socks and have only turned a heel once in my life so book help was needed. I then learnt that she had never tried to follow a pattern in English or in Russian. Luda did not speak much English so there was a lot of "show" and not a lot of "tell". What followed next was fun - I had to drag up the memories of school Russian lessons from 40 years ago to remember how to count and between us we managed to count for the heel shaping. The toes were a doddle and I even managed a respectable attempt at kitchener stitch.
Luda plans to come to Liberty's soon to finish the second sock - I've told her there will be sock experts on hand to help!
I came home at the end of the first day with 2 packs of DB Alpaca Silk DK in a lilac shade - a totally unplanned purchase but at that price it would have been rude to leave it there!
Today I succoumbed to the temptation of Knitwitches and angora and then another stall holder allowed me to look at (and then buy) a few of their personal collection of vintage crochet hooks. Heaven help me on Saturday!
another show!
This time I'm over at the Excel Centre with the Knitting and Crochet Guild. This is a new show so we have no idea of what to expect and today is a long day - open until 9pm. The show runs until Saturday at 5pm
A quick look around last night after set-up reveals that there will be stalls to tempt me including 2 I've never seen before, Knitwitches and Moral Fibres. My friends Tess and Les are there with the rabbits so there may be some angora buying in my future.
On the knitting front, I didn't finish the Hap shawl so it will now be "performance art", I'm hoping to reach the final edging today and then work on that over the next few days. I'm not sure of the wisdom in working these edgings in the round - it makes for very long rounds and I don't seem to be getting anywhere. Perhaps I'll knit the next one in the traditional manner. I'll hope to have photos as soon as it comes off the needles.
SP9 has now ended and I can reveal that the person I was sending to was Doreen
Doreen has written to say she received her final package and will blog about it soon. I have to say it was a challenge to come up with ideas suitable for the Malaysian climate especially during a British Winter!
I was totally and utterly spoilt by Sarah. I really meant to take a photo of all the beautifully wrapped packages in their blue and turquoise tissue paper and silver ribbon but just like a child at xmas I dived straight in and started ripping!
Sarah - my family say I'm difficult to buy for - I'm going to suggest they contact you next time as everything in this box is exactly what I would have chosen for myself!!!
First - the exploding box
Then came the post-its; the sweeties; the body butters and fantastic candle
closely followed by buttons and Kool Aid
A tree to be planted (love this idea)
a local postcard and a recipe for a local delicacy
Knit Picks needles in the right sizes for the new kit that I bought last weekend!
lace patterns to play with
Yarn - I love the shades in the brown yarn and will enjoy playing with Kool Aid dye
Finally came the disclosure - Sarah had sent me a copy of a blog entry she made at the start of SP9 - I really enjoyed reading it
Sarah this was a totally awesome box! Words are not enough to say how much pleasure your gifts have given me. Wish I was close enough to give you a hug!
I've just enjoyed a wonderful weekend in Brighton marred by only two things. One was the hail on sunday morning which was so heavy I needed a complete change of clothes after a 5 minute walk. The second was the dreadful toothache that plagued me all weekend - I apologise to all my volunteers and clients for being more than usually grumpy!
The show appeared quieter than previous years and we had a lot of kits left over. There was a good reason for this though - people who we taught to finger knit over the last 4 / 5 years returned to show off their finished items, to ask to learn new techniques and new crafts. There was an upsurgence in Crochet and we had a Sunday afternoon male knitting group for the second year running!
Today was back to work with a vengeance but there was a glorious , happy ending - my final SP9 package arrived and it was so special you'll have to wait until the camera is charged for the photos!
Yes it's the start of the final part of the Knitted Garden tour. Friday we start in Brighton for 3 days.I'm running the Knit and Natter stand again and we look as if we will be busy - the Garden always generates a lot of interest and there are fewer volunteers this time due to ill health of volunteers and their families. I hope everyone gets well soon. Anyone in the area available to lend a hand just turn up and ask the organisers to let you in to help me!
I also hope that it doesn't snow as I have a very early start in the morning. Today was no fun, 4 inches of snow and London stops! There were no trains and the bus journey was slower due to the idiots who went home for their cars. There were 2 accidents before I left my street!
I've been ruthless with the packing and left most of my usual stuff behind and will not be taking the laptop and there are only a few knitting projects to keep me occupied namely the Hap shawl which I want to see finished so I can knit something more challenging.
Yesterday was a lovely day to be out and about, clear blue sky and warm enough to do without a coat! The morning started with the postman bringing me a package from The Yarn Yard , my first sock club package. Now don't get excited , I'm not knitting socks, it just seemed a nice way to extend an xmas cash gift from a friend and bring me a surprise parcel each month.
I then went to join Sue S. , Beth, Sue P., and Jan for a belated xmas / birthday lunch and a spot of knitting. Presents were exchanged much to the amusement of the other customers.
Here's a picture of me wearing the finished Sienna. The pattern is from IK fall 2006. I used 18 balls of Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky and I loved knitting it.
Here's a photo of the day's swag. The flame coloured yarn is from the Yarn Yard. The other is Suri Alpaca/Blue Faced Leicester and a superwash Blue Faced Leicester hand dyed by Beth and Sue S.
I got nagged for being too quiet on the blog!
Life here has been quiet - Matt managed to go for a short walk yesterday and that's the most exciting event he's had for the last 2 weeks.
I've been back for more dental work and 3 days later it still hurts to move my jaw and eating is painful.
The Sienna cardigan is finished and I hope someone will take a photo of me wearing it to show you as I'm happy with it. A quick knit for me as I bought the yarn in Liberty's sale after xmas and it was finished on 30 January.
The Hap shawl is growing more interesting to knit as I'm now on row 32 of the first border but there's no point in taking a photo of a scrunched up ball. The other shawl is waiting for me to cast off so another quick knit.
It's been a good week so far for knitting - Tuesday night I popped into IKnit London and ended up staying for a few hours. Last night I went to Liberty's and love the new yarn department as there is more light and space. Sadly, they were still waiting for some of the new yarns and books to come in. Saturday morning I'm off to the 3rd meeting of a new local group!
Next weekend sees the first show of the year for the Knit and Natter crew - we'll be at Brighton with the Knitted Garden.