First up – winners for the giveaway have been contacted by the Knitting and Stitching Show team, congratulations if you were one of the lucky 5!
If you haven’t been contacted but still want to go to the show (it’s on until Sunday 15th October), you can get £2.50 off an adult ticket by booking here using the code Elsie17.
My Knitting and Stitching Show Experience!
I’ve just got back from my trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show, and I am so excited to give you all the low down!
The Knitting and Stitching Show is held in Alexandra Palace, which is a completely stunning building in London. It sits on top of a giant hill, which meant I hit my daily steps target before I even made it in the front door – result!
When we arrived, though, I didn’t stick around to look at the views – I was itching to get in the show. I’ve been to the Knitting and Stitching Show once before, and I loved it. I was there on the Saturday last time, but when I was invited to attend this year I decided to go along on Thursday. Having a class booked at 5pm today meant we went along in the afternoon, which was really nice – it was clearing out a bit when we arrived just before 4, and today the show didn’t close til 7 (so obviously we stayed until 6:59!).
I was lucky enough to be invited to have a look around the show, which meant Mr Elsie Pop and I got to wear some Press badges for the day – obviously we played it cool.
As soon as we arrived, I was completely amazed at some of the art on display. On the way into the main room, we walked past the winners from the Festival of Quilts. I fell head over heels in love with this completely awe-inspiring picture quilt.
I mean, where do I even go from here with trying to quilt? I’ve barely managed to sew a few squares together! I love seeing such amazing pieces of art at the Knitting and Stitching shows – it’s as exciting as the shopping.
After we managed to tear ourselves away from the best quilt in the world, we had a sewing class to attend. I have to say, I was looking forward to it with a particularly high level of enthusiasm because I couldn’t wait to see Mr E P sitting at a sewing machine!
We attended a class taught by the fabulous Miss Libby Rose, with fellow blogger Heather from Keep Calm and Crochet On UK. The lovely Miss Libby is a great teacher – she is exactly the kind of sewing teacher I appreciate, with a relaxed and friendly approach. She was happy to let me cover up my mistakes with ribbons too, which I’m all for!
The class entailed making our own stuffed toys, which I was really excited about – I love making crochet amigurumi toys, having started really getting into crochet when I discovered how fun it is to make something with character. I couldn’t wait to see if I could have as much fun making a toy in a different way.
I won’t say I was entirely successful – I made a few mistakes, but they were easy enough to fix. But the big surprise was that the Mr managed to finish his toy long before I finished mine!
In fact, he was so much quicker than me that I didn’t even manage to finish my poor little cat toy! I’ll get his button eyes on at home soon so hopefully he’ll start to look a bit less terrifying!
We left our class with our new handmade buddies and stumbled upon the amazing Dolphin WI display of knitted versions of famous buildings in Braintree. They were completely amazing!
Having caught the sewing bug after our class, I couldn’t contain my excitement when I saw these amazing Danish fabrics in a selection of geometric patterns. I may have accidentally left with a metre of the one on the left…
Fresh from the accidental fabric splurging (a bit of flamingo print fabric may also have found its way into my haul!), we hit the Stylecraft stand.
Stylecraft yarns are some of my all time favourites (I’ve reviewed the wonderful Stylecraft Special DK before), so I always get really excited to see their stands when I go to craft shows.
This year doesn’t disappoint, and I finally got to see the amazing Eastern Jewels crochet blanket in person. Look how wonderful it is! Before you ask – of course I bought the pack! I’ll be posting Instagram updates as I progress with the blanket.
From one amazing blanket to another… Next stop was the Black Sheep Wools stand, where I got to stare at some Sophies.
I think I’ve finally decided that the next Sophie I make will be with one of the colour packs, and it will be the Cotton 8 colour pack. I’ve used Cotton 8 yarn before for my Lydia blanket and I loved it, so I’m putting this version of Sophie on the 2018 must-crochet list.
By the time I’d stopped ooh-ing and aah-ing at Sophies, they were starting to announce that the show would be closing soon, so we embarked on a whistle-stop tour of the rest of the huge venue.
Some of my favourite moments from the rest of the show included:
The giant crochet giraffe at the Toft stand! LOOK AT THIS GUY!
My “I take a photo at every single craft show because it’s always completely beautiful” trip to the Spin City stand.
And I left the most intricate to last – these amazing Temari balls completely blew my mind! How is it possible that these are made with a needle and thread?
The Knitting and Stitching Show 2017 is on until Sunday 15th October at Alexandra Palace. I’d HIGHLY recommend a visit.
If you fancy going, pre-book tickets with the special discount code Elsie17 for £2.50 off an Adult ticket, or £1 off concessions!
Until next time,
Elsie Pop
xx
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