The knitting and Stitching Show 2010

On Sunday, 10 October, Sue, Suzie and I went to the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace.

'The Knitting and Stitching Shows are the definitive and best exhibitions for lovers of textiles in the UK and Ireland.  As the name suggests, it covers knitting and stitching but SO much more; felt-making, shibori dyeing, jewellery-making, card-making, mixed media... the list goes on! There is so much to see and do you'll find it hard to fit everything into one day; hundreds of exhibitors selling specialist supplies that you can't find in the shops, galleries from leading artists and groups, plus hundreds of workshops to introduce you to lots of new subjects!'

The event is a mixture of exhibition, workshops and market place, with lots of tempting things on offer. I gave into temptation and bought many lovely things, the biggest purchase I made was a sewing machine. Doing my homework, before hand, I knew the major sewing machine manufacturers would be exhibiting and demonstrating at the show, a perfect opportunity to compare machines. After a demonstration I decided on a Bernina, can't wait for it to be delivered. I also bought some beautiful soft yarn called Ebba (a mixture of merino, alpaca and silk) from a scottish company called Woolfish. 

I am always interested in the Graduate Showcase, an exhibition of textile graduates work. I noted the students work was in a very similar vein to the hand knitting/crochet themes my daughter is working on at the moment, she is studying knitting at Brighton.

The Rowan wools stand was very attractive, they had a display called British Sheep Breeds Homeware. The collection comprises of cushions (a union Jack), throws, mats and hot water bottle covers. The patterns can be accessed, for free, from the Rowan website  

I also entered a competition, the Sew, Salvage and Save Competition in association with Morsbags 

'The Morsbags competition is an attempt to help save the environment by creating a fabric bag (and therefore avoiding the use of plastic bags), and having some fun while making them! There are some great prizes on offer, so be as creative as possible. From the registrations we've received, we're expecting to hang around 800 Morsbags - not a bad start in helping the environment!!!'

I am very pleased to say I won! I'll write more about it in my next post.