Two very different Saturdays

Life's irritation number 2 -

Don't you just hate it when you have to work on a Saturday?

Yes, I spent most of last Saturday at work and it was particularly irritating because the previous Saturday I was feeding my yarn habit at the really brilliant Unravel. There are a number of yarn and fibre shows all round the country but this one is my nearest being in Farnham, Surrey. In fact I was actually there on Friday afternoon, taking a workshop on colour knitting with Alison Ellen, Friday evening at the 'new this year' preview event as well as all day Saturday and most of Sunday! There was just so much to see, from these knitted animal heads by Louise Walker which welcomed visitors as they arrived to over 70 stalls of beautiful yarn, fibre, patterns, needles, buttons and everything else a knitter needs to keep them happy.

It wasn't just a shopping feast and I was fair restrained compared to others I observed but I will show you my haul later. This being the third year I have attended it was a chance to see the independent yarn suppliers that I have been buying from over the last year and also to meet up (and lunch) with knitting friends. The knitting community is surprisingly small and very very friendly. Even the husbands and boyfriends who had been brought along to carry the bags seemed amazingly amiable even if they were sat in the foyer with a coffee and the Internet.

Farnham Maltings where Unravel is held is an old building that started life as two, one was a originally a tannery before they both became a brewery so that explains why there are lots of different rooms hidden away on three levels and I remember that the first year I nearly missed half of the show because I didn't realise that there was an upstairs or basement.

The studio hosted some interesting talks and I heard Susan Crawford talk about her Vintage Shetland Project (more about that in a future blog) and Wendy and Belinda from True Brit Knits talk about knitting as a fashion statement, food for thought there.

There were a varied selection of workshops available over the three day but you need to book early as places are limited and the popular ones book up quickly (the ticket price includes weekend entry to the show). It's a great way to try out new skills, I have learnt to knit with beads and entrelac knitting in previous year.

So on to my purchases!

When you put them all together they do look quite a bit but considering it was over three days I don't think it was that bad and I shall have hours of fun with it all!

And what's on my needles right now?

The secret red thing is now finished and will be unveiled next week (more news in the next blog) so this is my second pair of socks which are my 'carrying around knitting' as they are small, will fit into a small bag to be taken out with me and knitted while travelling or waiting. They are following the stitch pattern of Riverside by Rhian Drinkwater published in Simply Knitting issue 117 March 2014. The pattern is written as a top down sock and I wanted to knit toe up so I am adapting it!