Well hello there - glad to find you again!
Having spend this past year and a half on a personal matter, I'm really glad to be back on track and back to my beloved activities: crafts galore...
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| Rowan - so much to choose from... |
When: Of course, the very first day - I naively thought to take the day off work, so that I would be one of the first visitors, avoid all those not being able to come because of work and thus be comfortable. Right? Wrong! This must be one of the more visited venues I've ever been to!!! Good thing I dont' suffer from agorophobia, because it's places like this that can trigger major emotions. To explain, I'm of a certain age, don't like being tread on constantly, rather enjoy lingering over "stuff" and appreciate contact with the sellers that takes longer that 3.2 seconds...
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| Soak and needles |
Where: Olympia, London. London Underground is great for such things, and the people at the reception great - helpful and calm and very, very accomodating!
Time: given that I was there for anything knitting, stitching, sewing only, I managed to skim on the remaining parts of the show, so overall it took me about 3 hours to get a very good glimpse of the show!
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| sewing patterns with a difference |
What I left with: I'm happy to say that there were a good many offers to be had. And a lot of new businesses worth getting to know: my bundle of joy included:
- Rowan yarn, at a staggering 70% reduction
- Knitting needles, at the difficult sizes of 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5
- Knitting soak (from Canada!)
- By Hand London sewing pattern (btw, the girls were amazing and their stand really cute!)
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| what presents are made of |
- Stitching little projects (for various presents I have in mind)
I didn't buy anything from but I'll seriously consider once I've mastered my sewing skills: a rather new company, Til the sun goes down, with a selection of vintage-inspired fabric --delightful! Really, people, keep an eye for this site, because the fabrics are the most elegant and a treat to see and touch! The shipping costs to Belgium are more than reasonable, so I'm already thinking of all my DVF-inspired wrap-dresses I'll be making...
What I really enjoyed: the whole buzz and the way all workshops were full -- so full! The whole experience showed what a great community the crafts community is - and what a great escape from all that can be negative in our lives!
Now, on to stashing everything away...
For the first time in my crafting career, I offered hand-made gifts to members of my family, and (to my surprise!) they all adored their presents. So much so, that I now receive orders from other (neglected) family members and repeat orders as well!
For my lovely sister, a cowl: I like how it "hugs" the shoulders and keeps a sensitive and beautiful neck warm and protected. I used the ombre pattern and I'm pleased with the end result (so was my sister...)
For my nephew, a classic men's scarf (he's actually the one who started the trend: he made a specific request for this!). He already knew the colour and, when I sent him several patterns to choose from, of course he chose the difficult one - but also the better-looking one: Kyoko Nakayoshi's men's scarf introduced me to the world of finger-twisting knitting. I didn't expect to manage it, but manage it I did and now I feel much more confident about new techniques in the patterns. Bring it on, I say!
