Knit & Stitch Show

Made it up to the Knit and Stitch Show, briefly, today - it's a huge trek from my side of London, so I think if I go next year, I will try to go on the weekend (wasn't practical this year) even if it means bringing a sprog or two with me. But still, I had a few hours there - enough time to see some exhibits, like the Valerie Campbell Harding retrospective - and I had a nice chat with Maggie Grey there, not just about the piece she was embellishing, but about blogs and blogging, too. Also managed to meet up with Susan, which is SO cool. She is here in the UK mainly to see her son Mathias, who is a dancer with the Birmingham Royal Ballet (I think) dance at Sadler's Wells, and what fabulous luck for her as a fibre artist that this happened to coincide with the Knit & Stitch Show. Anyway, we met up for a little chat, also with her sister, who lives in Germany but popped over to visit as well - the sister, Wanda, is looking to get into quilting, so I was able to give my expert (ha!) opinion. Anyway - how fun was that, too meet a blogger I am in regular contact with, and whose work I really admire... Have I mentioned before that I love blogworld? Yeah, I thought so. And yes - as you may have guessed, that's Susan and me in front of the Val C-H exhibit. I have a slightly odd expression on my face, not sure why, but you know what struck me when I looked at this photo? You guys are going to relate to this - I look like my mother! The thing is, I don't really look much like my mother, but in this photo, the expression in particular, I do. I guess it's true, we all turn into our mothers sooner or later...

And on the right, is most of the goodies I bought (ok, ok, Atet, you were right - I DID buy some goodies!) - I also bought a twin needle for my sewing machine, to play with texture, which didn't make it into the picture - and looking at the photo, it seems I forgot to put in a small bag of stuff from ArtVanGo, which had some textured gel medium and a couple of acrylic colours in it. This was probably because I had some help unpacking my bag and photographing my loot (4.5 year old help) and I was too distracted making sure the help didn't take anything away or open anything.

Anyway, what you are looking is is some textured paper (at back), some mulberry bark, rusted paper, threads and misc fibres, mostly from an Australian vendor called The Thread Studio - they are in Perth, so if we ever make it over to visit Geoff's brother, we'll have to drop in. Great stuff. Rusted paper had only just gone on my list of stuff to look for, so I was thrilled to see it. I think it was the only thing I bought that was actually on the list... Also bought a small Christmassy cross-stitch kit, but am not showing a photo of that, as I've put it aside in the present drawer for my birthday - so I'll show it when I officially get it.

I tell you what - I am SO glad that knitting is not among the textile arts I practise, because there were just so many fabulous yarns there - I'm sure I would have had to buy tons. As it was, I wouldn't have even known where to start, so I just walked around admiring stuff and stroking the pretty yarns...



And then, guess what, I arrived home to two postcards in the post (this strike action sure makes you appreciate the post). These two are from Ann in France for the monochromatic swap on FAI, and from Helen in Arkansas, a slightly belated "Something beginning with H" card. My "something beginning with J" cards are due out on the 15th (Monday) and if I don't manage to get to them on the weekend, they might become slightly belated too - actually, we have another strike coming next week, so they will almost certainly be belated. Even if they get finished on time.