Knitting and Stitching Goodies

 
I had a sneaky day's leave from work today to go to The Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, London.  I've been going to this show on and off for well over 20 years.  I can remember going with my mum and a couple of her friends when I was in my early 20's and literally spending all day there. 
 
This year I went alone, got there for when it opened and left around lunchtime.  I prefer to go early as the first hour is normally much less crowded and you can see a lot before it get too busy. 
 
These are the goodies I came home with today.
 
 

 
 
Starting on the left, 5 balls of Sublime Luxury Tweed DK, to knit a little pullover top for myself, and of course the pattern book to go with it.   This colour will go well with my Winter wardrobe, and it should be quite a quick knit.
 
 

 
 
Next we have a dress pattern - the Easy Pull-on Shift Dress from MiY Collection.  Once I'd bought the pattern, of course I had to look for some fabric, and got 3 metres of grey flannel, but I can't remember which stall this was from!  My husband's comment when I showed him the pattern is that it looked shapeless, but the sample MiY had on their stand (made in denim - which looked lovely) was really nice, so I have high hopes for this one. It is a loose style, but didn't appear to be completely shapeless.  All being well, this will be worn with a long sleeved t-shirt underneath, thick tights and boots. 
 
 

 
 
More fabrics were then purchased.  1.5m of teal jersey and 1.5m of bird print poly/viscose (possibly?) from Simply Fabrics, and 1.5m of black crinkle burnout jersey from somewhere else.  The black jersey has a nice floral burnout pattern which I could not photograph.   The jerseys will both be simple long sleeved tops, the bird print I'm not sure about, but at only £3.00 a metre I couldn't leave it!
 
 

 
 
My other yarn purchase was some grey Drops Alpaca Boucle from Nest to knit a cardigan for my mum for Christmas.   I knitted myself a cardigan from this recently and my mum has been trying to steal it from me every time she sees it.  Just hope I can get it knitted in time (and possibly one for my sister too) otherwise it will be a birthday present!
 
Those were my purchases for the day.  I think I did quite well this time, everything I bought - except possibly the bird print fabric - I have a plan for.  No completely random purchases at all, which I admit I have sometimes succumbed to.   I find it's so easy to get carried away and buy things just because they look cute or pretty on the stall, only to wonder why you've spent all that money on it when you get home!
 
 
Oh, and I helped David from GBSB series 2 choose a sewing pattern! 
 
 
 

 

14 comments

  1. Very jealous you are so close to go to things like this and buy lovely stuff! Btw I still haven't finished knitting the jumper I started....

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    1. Don't worry about the jumper not being finished! Winter is knitting weather, hopefully you'll get some more done soon.

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  2. You sound more organised than me in your shopping - I did a bit of that 'grab all the pretty things'. It was a great show!

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    1. It was good, wasn't it!? It's so easy to grab all the pretty stuff, but you made some great purchases too.

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  3. That's a nice collection, I'd have picked up the bird print too, whether you have a plan or not :)

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    1. Thanks Jacq. I'm sure it will be a top of some sort, just not sure exactly what yet.

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  4. Great haul! I love those knitting pattern books, I've made several things from them.

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    1. I've never used a Sublime knitting pattern before, but there are several nice ones in this book.

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  5. Fantastic collection of fabrics. That bird fabric is gorgeous! Really looking forward to seeing your pull on shift dress. It looks lovely.

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    1. Thanks Jen. I really want to make the shift dress now, but suppose I ought to finish a couple of the other things I have on the go first!

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  6. That's a lovely haul you brought home with you. I'm especially taken by the purple wool and the bird jersey. I actually went to the show yesterday and tried to find the jersey :) but couldn't. I wasn't as successful with my purchases as you were but that was merely to the fact that it was so crowded that I struggled to reach the stalls and have a look at the fabric!

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    1. The bird print is actually a woven, not jersey. It does get too crowded to reach the stalls sometimes. I tend to go on a weekday, when it's marginally quieter, and always get there for when it opens. The first hour or so is normally more bearable.

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  7. Hi Sam, I hope you enjoy that MIY Collection shift dress - I sold out of them by the end of the show! Look forward to seeing it in grey flannel, sounds great. I can see it with a stripy long sleeve top underneath. You could always add a bright orange belt (love orange and grey) to please the husband ;o)

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    1. Hi Wendy, I'll be sure to let you see the dress once it's finished. I love the idea of an orange belt, that's a great colour combination with the grey.

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