After entering the building I went to listen to Jane Sowerby who had a presentation called "Victorian Knitters vs Today’s Knitters". It seemed very interesting, but I couldn't hear a word. After about 20 minutes I could not guess by her lips what she was talking about anymore and I left. They really should have given her a mic. Such a shame as it seemed very interesting and I'm working on my first lace shawl. I then walked around the market a bit and payed for the first edition of a new sewing magazine to be send home later this month. After inspecting the market (which was extremely busy) I sat down on the stairs and enjoyed my duck wrap I had bought earlier at M&S (yum!). Then I knitted a bit on the shawl and watched a very good fashion show. It was old fashion knits (from the early war era). I took several pics with my mobile but for really good quality shots go to the Iknit Flickr page! I think I fell in love with at least half a dozen of the models (not the girls, the patterns!!)
After the fashion show I spotted this girl spinning. She was part of a booth that sold handspun and fibre. I fell for one of the beautifull fibres and although I had promised myself not to get involved in spinning (don't need another hobby) I couldn't help it I was hooked. The girl was Moonspinning and the fibre was made by her booth partner Rockpool Candy (Inga). Both their fibre was for sale but the one I choose was made by Inga. Anyway Moonspinning was showing this girl how to spin and I was hooked. She didn't sell any spindles so off I went to look for one. In the end I bought a very beautifull spindle at the iKnit booth. They had quite a number and all where made out of different types of wood. I felt a bit like Harry Potter choosing his wand. The spindles where all much lighter than the one Moonspinning was using. This made it a bit harder to learn (I went back to her and she taught me! Yay!), but it was fab. So in the end I bought 200g of merino and 200g of alpaca fibre (undyed) and I am now practising.
I also bought fantastic yarn called Manos del Uruguay, Manos Silk Blend. It was £18 ($32) for two skeins and I hope to make a small Clapotis after I finish my shawl. And a Clover yo-yo maker. This funny little gadget is for leftover bits of fabric. You can sew them into decorative disks which you can use for decorative projects. I also watch a catwalk presentation by Maggie Jackson from Maggiknits. And although her work is very high standard and funky it was not my cup of tea. A bit too much going on in her creations. I like more classic knits I guess.
There was so much more: Yarn Harlot gave a talk (I missed out as the tickets had sold out), I had a chat with the Dutch Knitters over from Holland and it was great to speak to my fellow Dutchies. I made new friends, saw enormous knitting needles and saw gorgeous knitted projects. Can't wait till next year!
Links:
Shaped yo-yo Clover projects
Normal yo-yo Clover projects
Ravelry links:
Manos Silk Blend yarn
Adamas Shawl I'm working on...
2 comments:
Of course you need another hobby!!! How's the spinning going? Give me a shout if you need any advice, and don't forget to find your local Spinning, Weaving and Dyeing guild to help you out (and maybe make a few spinning pals...)their website is www.wsd.org.uk
x
See people I told you she is great! Hehe.
Thanks Mrs. Moon for all your help and advice. I did practise and its going much better. I tried top spinning which works better for my spindle. I'm on a info hunt to improve. Still have trouble getting the correct amount of fibre so it's a bit uneaven but practise makes prefect. Thanks for all your help!
Post a Comment