Trend Spotting at Ally Pally October 2010

(The Rowan Stand)

I wasn't going to go, but in the end, I couldn't resist Ally Pally.

This year, there seemed to be a lot more companies selling undyed yarns (although not many companies selling dyes). And the Rowan Stand was full of their "purelife" etc yarns.

Still plenty of colour, though, which is always good to see.

(Habu)

The place seemed to be more about "stitch" than "knit" this year - if I see another patchwork quilt, I may weep.

The best/prettiest yarns were from The Knitting Academy. Their stuff is on the pricey side but looks and feels absolutely fab.

The black sheep jumble sale was there (but I resisted) as well as all of the usual spinners (large Colinette stall, Rowan, Sirdar etc).

Some obvious folks were missing (Get Knitted for example), and there weren't as many book sellers as previous years, but generally, it was a good show.

And it was absolutely packed with people - I think it was the busiest I've seen it. Which, of course, means that it was incredibly hot, as many were there in their best knitted items!

The student shows were inspiring, as ever - here are a couple of my faves.

Time for a lie down in a darkened room, now.

Money earned, money spent

What a week!

Jo from knitting group (I know you're lurking Jo....) passed a job my way. She does a fair bit of knitting for other folks, including some fantastic knitted cakes for a local cafe. She is really busy at the moment with knitting projects, so when the lady from the cafe wanted a teacosy made, she passed the gig my way.


Cheers Jo! Here's the finished object:

So, as I'd earned a little money from my knitting, I decided to spend a lot at (dah dah dah..... Ally Pally!), Yes, it's that time of year again when Les goes to North London and spends all her birthday money.

I found I was calmer this year, as I realised that NOT EVERYTHING WILL BE SOLD BY THE TIME I GET THERE!!

However, by the time I got to the Black Sheep stand, the jumble sale of yarn packs was still there, but there was nothing I wanted!

Oh, how discerning I've become.


I also took a bit more time to look at the displays this year (only a bit, there was still some serious shopping to do) but here are a few things I found impressive.


Giant knitting was a theme this year - here was a display in the palm court entrance.




There was also a chance to buy big needles (seriously tempted, but I've got some 20mm somewhere, so I thought I'd give them a go first).













The hyperbolic crochet reef was also very impressive.....

... as were the exhibits from the student shows.

This was my favourite.

But in the end, I'm a shallow individual, so it was all about the shopping.

Here's the stash, guys!

(Including some Kauni effektgarn - that made me so happy!)

Knitting and Stitch Show

I went, I saw, I shopped.

It was a busy but great day yesterday at Ally Pally.

It was hot, crowded, you couldn't get into the learning curve stuff, but it was a good day, and I bought loads of wool.

Being a girl from a provincial town sadly lacking in decent knitting shops, it was great to see yarns that I normally only read about in the knitting mags.

It was a question of "get thee behind me, visa card" once I got to the Black Sheep stand, as I had promised myself that it would be cash only day, and I nearly spent £60 using my plastic, but with ultimate self control, and not a little regret I put the yarn back, and stepped away from the stand.

The only disappointment was the lack of needles/accessories around. The only needles I found were some pretty glass ones (far too noisy), Lantern Moon (beautiful but very expensive), stainless steel (I was after bamboo or wood), or a small selection on a few stands of Britanny needles, but these were frankly more than I wanted to pay, so I came home and hit ebay instead.

That aside I found a great book of crochet stitches (which I'd been after for ages - I thought I was going to have to write one myself), and loads of yarn.

It was also a good day on the writing front, as I chatted to folks (including editors) of four knitting mags - all of whom accept proposals from freelances - time to get writing and knitting!