Ally Pally 2011

Today was a good day.

Mum and I met the lovely Annisa on the steps of Ally Pally and we worked the aisles, room by room, scooping up the inspiration by the bucket-load. The student shows provided lots of ideas as usual from recycled materials to knitted furniture.

I kept getting distracted by buttons and fabric as there were so many gorgeous stalls to tempt me in, but I managed to resist, apart from two fat quarters, ahem! The most gorgeous stalls that I have to mention were a couple of little querky makers. Kate Haxell’s stall pulled me in with pure whimsical charm. Her cute jam jar and teacup pin cushions really made me smile.

Then there was Tugba Kop who made me laugh with this old man portrait bag. There were more fantastic leather goods and portraits of old ladies playing bingo on the stall. Her art work is well worth a look.

There was lots of fun at the annual ‘yarn dive’ on the black sheep wools stall. Annisa got stuck in and I nabbed a bargain of 10 balls of Rowan Purelife organic wool for just £14.99 – Score!

My other purchase was from the lovely Millamia girls who had their latest book on sale and their yarn at a discounted price. I of course had to get involved in that and so bought the book and yarn to make Flo a cardigan for next winter.

Also worth a quick mention was an amazing new design I caught on the Purl Alpaca’s stall called Lillian. Another multifunctional knit from these talented people, the garment can be a top, dress or poncho. My favourite is the top variation. So gorgeous.

Another year gone by and another great Knitting and Stitching show. Bring on 2012!