Sunday 1 August 2010

Knit Nation and Byrne Bonanza

So, Knit Nation then. I'd said on my podcast that having looked at the floorplan I was a bit doubtful about having paid to go to the marketplace because it looked a bit small - I take that back. It was manageable and perfectly formed. There were an excellent array of stands and old and new suppliers and of course there was Wollmeise.
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Not that it was very easy to get close. The talk was rife with tales of people spending £200 and even £600 just at that one stall. There were no signs of them running out anytime soon though. Having only seen an occasional skein before, it was the saturation of the colours that amazed me.
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These photos are in natural light with no editing or changing of tone and so on. It was pretty overwhelming all together.
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I just stood on the sidelines and watched others as they got into it. I talked to a few people who felt it was over-rated and just happens to be the yarn of the moment, and at £15 a pop it is on the upper end of things. But then it is very nice and feels and looks lovely. The colours are undeniably lovely...and yet... Personally the only thing that spoke to me was the artists palette smootherino which is truly lovely. 
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I did come back with just one skein of that - and that was it yarn-wise! Other than that it was just my freebie door bag and some Denise tips. 
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Actually getting the denise tips was pretty cool because two women from the company itself were there and were very interesting to chat to. 

It has been a pretty action-packed weekend really with my ickle sister coming to stay for the weekend. We went out shopping on saturday to Shoreditch and Brick lane - so handy with the East London line operational again. I scored. 
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Isn't that an amazing tin? It's quite big too - about 7" tall. I also got these three gorgoeus scarfs which will shortly be morphing into knitting bags.
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As a child-ahead-of-my-time I was one of few of my friends whose parents were divorced so every other sunday often saw me and my other sister bowling with my dad. I am therefore a demon bowler. So when my dad and even ickler brother came up to make it a family party last night, I was odds on favourite. Except...I'm now a crippled bowler because I can't do the action anymore because of my back. So I was using one of those kiddies slide bowling aids, which only added to my coolness. Sadly, no pictures survive. But I did manage to find a few of my other family members. Pater, having just got a strike...
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Freddie and Piers, just being cool....
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And of course, the Poochmastergeneral. Who was knackered and did his best...
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Poor Pooch. 

It was lovely to see everyone and great fun, but it is quite nice to be getting back to my peaceful patchwork. 
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2 comments:

Daisy said...

The colours were amazing at Wollmeise, and I got sucked into buying more than you did!

Probably Jane said...

Oooh Smootherino - good call! I'm knitting some socks in a shade that I can only describe as Dirty Lemon and I love it!