Ran out.....

Yesterday I went to the Kitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate with Snaterkat, Pinkphish and Impressionist. We set off bright (well drizzly) and early at 8.30 am. Because I've been recently getting up to drive to school ever morning this was still a lie in for me. I woke early anyway and couldn't sleep because I was thinking about all the lovely things we would see at the show. We got there in good time and after a bit or argy bargy managed to find a carpark with spaces (we got one of the last few). We negotiated the crowds outside, eventually found the right door, paid and went in.

The place was massive with four halls of stands, each with a section devoted to exhibitions of textile art. There was a 5th hall downstairs with seating and food stalls and a 6th hall with fashion shows going on. Unlike WoolFest there was no straw on the floor or livestock to gawp at.
The whole thing was a bit commercial. There were quite a lot of sewing stalls in there two. As Snaterkat pointed out to me, it was a good thing we were only interesting in one craft or we'd never get round everything.

I was a lot less overwhelmed than I had been at WoolFest (my first experience of this type of event). But as time wore on the place got bussier and bussier. By the afternoon it was heaving. Elbows were out and the old biddies weren't taking any prisoners. Whoever said that the older generation is more polite has never been to one of these events. Whatever happened to saying 'excuse me'? I finally decided I'd had enough when I got myself into a mobbed button stall and couldn't get out again.

I didn't spend too much money. I got a couple of reduced books and some magazines. I was particularly glad to get Yarn Forward magazine as I've been wanting to have a read of it since it came out.

I got some nice 4.5 and 5.5 mm wooden DPNs for a small amount of money. I bought some cashmere (so soft), angora (uber-bargin!), some silky stuff in greens, enough hemp to make the Linda cardi from the House of Hemp book and some star shaped buttons to go with it.

I also got some tiny knitting needles.

The only bad thing about the day was that my camera wouldn't work. The lens wouldn't open and pop out like it's supposed to so I couldn't take any pictures. I'll have to take a trip down to Jessops next weekend. Anyway, that's why there are no pictures from the show and why these ones are so rubbish.

We were all feeling pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I got home at about six, had dinner and settled down to watch The Time Machine, which I'd borrowed from one of the teachers at school.

I quite enjoyed the film. I was desperate to play with my new yarn, but being a sensible young lady without much free time to knit, I decided that the best thing to do was try and finish my digger jumper. I got part way up the second sleeve and promptly ran out of yarn. My experience of knitting kids' patterns is that the yarn amounts are always underestimated. Who comes up with the amounts? I could understand it if I didn't knit at the right guage but I do. Grr..... I predicted this from the start, so I can take comfort in the fact that I was right!!! However it's annoying to have to order an extra ball just to do half a sleeve and the neck edging.

Still being sensible I decided to make a start on another knit for Christmas. It's meant to be for a little boy. I'm still not sure about the colour though. Is it a bit girly? He's only 1 year old. What do you think? I could save it for someone else.

It's my last week of teaching practice this week. I'm finding it hard to motivate myself today because I only have one lesson tomorrow. I should probably make an effort to get on though, because I will be grateful for it later in the week. I've enjoyed the experience, but I can't wait to finish and be able to relax a little. Right now all I want to do is vegetate and knit.