Ally Pally - finally!

Hello, hello! I meant to blog before today, but somehow never managed to find time before tiredness set in! So I am taking full advantage of a short staff meeting and Mr JK going to the gym after work to tell you about my trip to The Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally on Saturday.

I set off super early, taking an organised coach trip. I prefer this option as it's a door to door service. No need to struggle across London on the Tube with bag loads of yarn and other goodies! Saturdays are always busy at the show and I don't think this day was any exception. You just have to accept that in some of the aisles, it's stop and start all the way. I did my usual thing of starting at one side and systematically going up and down each row, making a note of anywhere I wanted to revisit. I was super-excited to visit the Stylecraft stand and see my cushion! The staff there were so friendly and despite being rushed off their feet dealing with customers, I was introduced to Annabelle, their sales director who spent some time chatting with me about the possibility of future collaborations! Very excited about that!! Flo was very relieved to hear that all is well with her cushion.

Some of the other designs made using the new yarn colours were also on display and the colours looked so striking together. Just in the few minutes I was chatting, the bins of the limited edition packs were refilled more than once.

As well as all the shopping opportunities, the thing I like about Ally Pally is the chance to look at some truly wonderful work from leading textile artists and students. I especially enjoyed looking at the exhibition of beautiful scarves by Sophie Digard. Such delicate designs, hard to capture in photos.

Another thing that caught my eye and definitely drew in the crowds was 'Kate's Plaice The Stitchmongers' featuring a fish counter filled to the gills with all kinds of knitted, crocheted and be-sequinned fish and shellfish. It really was amazing and I could have looked at it for ages. The attention to detail was quite astonishing.

So what did I buy, I hear you ask?! Well, it would have been rude to return home empty handed, wouldn't it?! I bought some Liberty Tana Lawn scraps from Alice Caroline to make another crazy patchwork cushion as well as a couple of fat quarters that caught my eye.

It's always a thrill to spot something new and this year I wasn't disappointed! Two lovely ladies from Daisy and Grace showed me their products and I bought a Christmas wall hanging to sew. It came in a beautifully packaged kit for the bargainous price of £12.50. Well worth the money. Pop over to their website and see what else they have on offer. Some of the little project bags are just delightful!

Yes, I did buy some yarn! I bought some more Stylecraft Special DK yarn to knit a blanket. You can see Florence eyeing it up already, drumming her paws waiting for it to be finished! Got to love that cat!

I also bought some new to me yarn from a company called Yarn Stories. It is beautifully soft and squishy and I think I'm going to make a cowl from this little lot. They were also giving away free shade cards which was a nice touch. It's good to see the complete range of colours.

So all that's needed now is for my thumb and wrist to get a clean bill of health so that I can start using all these goodies! It is getting better thank goodness and I have been knitting a little bit. Socks are a no-go still as holding those tiny needles is rather uncomfortable, but 'normal' wooden knitting needles are ok for short bursts. Just don't tell my Occupational Therapist, ok?!! By the way, there's still time to enter my tape measure cosy giveway here. Back soon! xxx