Knitting and Stitching Show, RDS, Dublin, October 2008

On friday last I headed to my first knitting and stitching show. It's organized and run by Twisted Thread. I heard from people that last years show wasn't great, there wasn't enough knitting and there were many irrelevant stands. I don't know about that but this year there was loads to see and I spent the entire day in a wooly whirlwind.

First off I went for some coffee to give me a caffeine boost. Then I did a quick tour around all the stands. There were loads of them and I think even after the day there were some I didn't see. The thing I really wanted to see was the Crochet Coral Reef so up I went to the balcony. I have seen photos of the reef but they don't do it justice. I got talking to the lovely girls who were looking after the reef. I met Stitch Lily in the flesh. We had a good chat while I finished crocheting my bit of coral for the reef. She's a lady with loads of great ideas.





That was enough relaxing the shopping had to begin in earnest! First off I found the This Is Knit stand which looked as good as the shop. In the bargain bin I found a lovely skein of
Araucania cotton ulmo. This will be turned into something for my Mum who is allergic to wool. She says even cashmere or alpaca irritates her. I also wanted something really special to make her a cowl for christmas. I found Di Gilpin's stand and while looking at her beautiful designs I discovered she also had yarn for sale. I fell in love with the hand spun, hand dyed silk. It's so shimmery and the colours are iridescent. The photo doesn't really do it justice. I think this will do nicely made into a lacy cowl for my Mum, she deserves it.



For myself I got some alpaca in a lovely grey which I think may become more handwarmers or gloves. You can never have enough gloves. I also got some lovely kilcarra tweed to make into a hat for the husband. I love kilcarra, the colours are lovely and all go together really well. I got the brown in This Is Knit and the orange from the lovely Stephanie of The Yarn Room. I got talking to her at her lovely stand. This was her shops first year at the Knitting and Stitching show. I wish her the best of luck and hope she'll be there for many future shows.

She had some lovely roving so when I decide I want to spin a bit more I know where I'll be heading.

At the show there were many artists and exhibitions of work. Most artists didn't want photos taken so I can't show you any of their work. Also since my camera serves as my memory aid I can't even remember the names of many of them which is a pity. I'm not sure not allowing photos is a good thing as maybe some online promotion would help artists. I suppose my photos wouldn't capture the essence of the work but a link to their site might help.

There was lots of very inspiring and different work. I was very taken with Anita Bruce and her wire knitted plankton. I have a big thing for emergence and why things take one form and not another. So I was very interested to see this. The wire creatures are very delicate and beautiful.

Another fun exhibition was Searching for Pearls. The artist (whose name I can't remember) had what looked like a button shop set up with countless jars of buttons. You could rearrange the buttons in the jars and then lock the jar so it couldn't be rearranged again with a star sticker. I met someone from my Stitch and Bitch group while rearranging jars of buttons so I went for lunch with her.

After all those buttons I felt the need to buy some. I found a lovely stall where one could fill a bag with buttons for four euro. I crammed two bags with as many buttons as would squish in. Don't all the colours look nice?



I stocked up on beading supplies at the show as well. I'm enjoying the Beads and Bling course and I have lots of things I'd like to make at home so I needed some tools. I got a good deal from the Totally Beads stand. I was especially pleased with the pliers set. I got some tubes of beads and wire. I may make some wirework pieces with them or else use wire crochet to make the pieces. I'll see which looks nicer.





Upstairs in the RDS were the stands of the guilds. I loved the Feltmakers Ireland stand with the red themed pieces. The Irish Guild of Spinners and Weavers were there too. I loved the spinning class I took so who knows maybe next year I'll do another more serious course. There was also the Braiding Society from whom I bought a braiding kit.



Now I better stop rabbiting on before this becomes the longest post ever. The rest of my photos of the day can be seen here. Needless to say it was a great day out. Plenty to see and buy. Recommended.