knit nation

I know it’s been a bit quiet over here, but there’s actually been a lot going on behind the scenes.

Last week I joined the thousands of knitters who descended upon Imperial College in London for the fabulous (and hopefully the first of many?) Knit Nation.  I made only the briefest appearance there, as I was moving house that weekend (that’s a story in itself).  I made it across town for the Thursday night marketplace ‘preview’, which was the first chance for people to hit the stalls for some serious yarn shopping.

Not wanting to queue, I arrived 15 minutes after the opening time and, like everyone else, went straight for the Wollmeise stand.  Oh my word!  I think the best word to describe it: intense.  The intensity was not only the hundreds of knitters grabbing at armfuls of yarn, but also the intensity of the yarn colours. By the time I’d got there, the laceweight had all been snaffled, but there was sock yarn galore.  Once the crowd thinned a bit, I managed to get a photo of one section of the stand:

It’s bright, huh?

People were going mad for this stuff.  I had quite a few skeins that I was keen on, and spent a very long time trying to decide on which red to get.  I’m very particular about my reds! After much deliberation, I proudly came home with (only) three skeins of Ruby Thursday:

Of course, the colour is more vivid than the photo shows, and a tiny bit bluer, but you can get a sense of the lovely, subtle, variegation.

My only other purchase on the day was some beautiful glass buttons from Nichols Buttons.  I’d wanted some for ages, and Dixie was so helpful, that it seemed like the right day to finally buy some.  They’re black with a slight backlight of aubergine, and I gave up trying to get a decent photograph of them!  They have the most stunning organic quality to them; I can see myself re-using them on different cardigans for years to come.

Congratulations to the fabulous organisers, and here’s hoping for another Knit Nation next year.