Ally Pally

Ally Pally bus shelter

So you know it's going to be a good show when you see a bus shelter decorated as a tester bed.

It was my first time at the Ally Pally Knitting and Stitching Show. I went to Harrogate last year and Birmingham two years before that. I was expecting it to be big, busy and full of woolly goodness and I wasn't wrong.

Some highlights were the lovely lady on the Making Magazine stand, and the stunning and very well dressed ladies at Arbour House, the 10g for 50p random skeins on Colinette, and the Yorkshire Book Company (like book companies used to be...)

And the biggest highlight was the distinct lack of papercrafting stuff. So nice to have a knitting and stitching show that was all about knitting and stitching (and crochet)

The biggest surprise was how restrained I was, especially in comparison to my sisters who each came away with two jumpers worth of yarn and some other stuff although that was because they fell into the Black Sheep yarn mountain and I live quite close to Black Sheep so can visit them at any time. Here's my haul

Ally Pally Haul

That's Knitted Lace of Estonia at the back, and then from left to right: some pretty vintage style ribbons, a normal sized skein of Jitterbug in Popsicle, a smaller skein of Jitterbug in Fire (I think), a small skein of Art, 250g of aran weight wool/mohair and lurking at the back is a Zauberball Laceweight in Cranberries.

I was very, very good - not least because I had a delivery of Ethical Twist DK wool/alpaca from Kemps last week...

On the needles:


My Featherweight Cardie is taking shape. I'm knitting the collar at the moment and then have the sleeves to do. It's looking pretty good so far but I will be pleased when it's done. It's not been an interesting knit but it will be a useful garment. It's taking a short break whilst I do a test knit for Wonk on Ravelry which is...

Evening Primrose in Posh Sylvia 4ply

...not photographing well at all. It's really pretty in real life. It's an end to end (or side to side depending on how you look at things) scarf that forms a wide crescent shape with a deep lace border. It's knit in Posh Yarn Sylvia 4ply in 'anywhere but here'. I love this yarn. It's got wonderful stitch definition and an amazing subtle colourway. It looks a bit washed out here for which I blame a new phone and therefore a new camera that I've not worked out and the rare Manchester sunshine. I'll take better pictures when it's finished. The pattern will be in Wonk's new ebook when it's released and is called Evening Primrose