Iknit Day featuring the Yarn Harlot

Saturday was the long awaited IKnit Day at the Royal Horticultural Halls & Conference Centre, Victoria, London. We arrived to a long queue of people all excited to get inside to buy, play and look at yarn.

We only waited a few minutes and entered to find stalls of yarn no paper crafts here (or scarf pins, shoes, handbags......I hate going to yarn/ stitch shows that turn out to have a few vendors selling yarn and lots of non yarn related stuff.........) there was lots of interesting things to see as well as buy.

We rested in between shopping and watched the "a Stitch in Time" fashion show, garments were from Jane Waller's A Stitch in Time: Vintage Knitting Patterns book

There were several fashion shows (Maggiknits, Erika knight) , workshops (I don't manage to get to any) poetry, book signings and comedy plus Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka the Yarn Harlot (It was an extra £5.00 on the ticket price to see the Yarn Harlot but well worth it)

It was interesting to hear Stephanie Pearl-McPhee speak, in future when I read her blog I will hear her voice in my head. She spoke as she writes, very natural and funny. The time went very quickly. After she signed copies of her books, guess who don't remember to bring any books to get signed.......:(
I had coffee with friends and we compared buys than off home to play with my new yummy yarns.

International Jewellery London 2008

This week I attended the International Jewellery London 2008 at Earl Court 2.

I like this event its a time to stock up, make contacts and see the trends for the future year.
White metal dominated Silver for the lower market and for the higher quality market white gold and platinum.

Fancy cut Diamonds and mini super sparkly diamonds chips in black, yellow and champagne where everywhere. This will be interesting to see how the high street takes this trend, maybe mini crystals?
There was lots colour and a wide range of different gems, last years murano glass trend seems to have evolved into the use of real gemstones.

Freshwater pearls in every shape where available plus the prices seemed cheaper and the quality seemed higher than previous years (which is good for me and my new range of sterling silver, gem & pearl stitch markers)
The charm bracelet was still popular with many more individual component style companies .
I noticed many beaded necklaces were stung using silver coloured silk threads to give a look of metal without the weight and making the necklaces very fluid. In contrast I also saw some beautiful french wire wrapped pieces with very delicate wire, beads and crystals in organic shapes that can be shaped to the neck with stunning effect.

Weather Flowers

I don't know what these pretty pink (we also have white ones, they started off pink and just turned white) flowers are called?

We call them weather flowers because when its sunny they open up

but when it is going to rain they close

My Ticket Has Arrived : )

My golden ticket for the IKnit Day featuring Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka Yarn Harlot arrived. Now to start saving my money and keep my ticket safe till 6th September

Rhubarb

My dad picked some rhubarb from the garden today, so I turned it into a rhubarb and strawberry pie and very tasty it was too.

The recipe for this pie is on my other blog (posted July last year), you will notice there are no finished photos on last years pie as it was eaten while I went to fetch my camera..............

Olympics 2008

I was watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics today, it was really well organised.
I love watching all the different sports and have planned on knitting and crocheting as I watch, I have designed my projects and bought the yarn only problem is will I drop lots of stitches while watching...........

Pure London

I was at the trade show Pure London yesterday packed with Spring/Summer 09 womenswear, accessories and footwear collections. There was trend presentations and catwalk shows, plus a few Autumn/Winter 08/09 collections.What I noticed most was a lack of crochet and knitted garments and accessories, those I saw were very simple and lacy. There was lots of floaty sheer fabrics and jersey with interesting drape effects and hemlines. Soft folds and plenty of ruching on A-line dresses and tops. V shaped and V crossed necklines. 1960's hippy influences with tie and dip dyes. Florals were very strong from small repeat patterns to large bold prints. The colour that stood out most was bright coral pink it was everywhere, also oranges, reds and greens. Pastels as always with spring made an appearance but were more muted like lavender and dusky rose. In contrast block colours of pale grey and beige in more tailored lines looked clean and different.