The Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace

For last week's Nice Day Out I went to the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace.

 

Ally Pally is in the middle of a park on a hill in North London... even on the grey day I visisted the views of the city were pretty impressive!

The building itself is pretty nice too...

 

I was really lucky to get a free ticket to the show thanks to Ruth Singer who was exhibiting her work and had a ticket going spare. I have been in quiet awe of Ruth's work for years, it was great to meet her and to be able to admire her work in person.

Ruth is the author of Fabric Manipulation, Sew it Up, and Sew Eco (you can read an interview with her about her latest book here) and she runs lots of sewing workshops in her studio in Leicester - if you're in the area, do check them out! She'll also be selling her work at the Selvedge Winter Fair. 

 

Walking round the show was like textile overload - so much to see, do and buy! I had some excellent company in the lovely Carina (whose book, Stitched Blooms I reviewed last month), it was fab to meet her and to have someone to chat to as we explored the sea of stalls, exhibitions and workshops.

Here are a few things that caught my eye during the day...

A knitted car! (well, a car covered in knitting). Delightfully bonkers.

Lots of copies of Selvedge magazine:

 

Colourful needlework kits by Emily Peacock:

 

Pretty textiles from Charlotte Liddle and Dotty Does:

 

 
A wall of colourful yarn, where the UK Hand Knitting Association were teaching people to knit (the woodland pictures are from an outdoor exhibition called The Woollen Woods).

 

And displays by the Craftivist Collective & The War on Want:

I also loved the exhibitions by Mandy Pattullo, Tilleke Schwarz, and the William Morris -inspired exhibition by Nicola Jarvis (which I had totally meant to go and visit at the William Morris Gallery this summer but not had time, so I was quite delighted to see it make an appearance here!).

It was great to see some familiar faces during the day. We bumped into the lovely Momtaz...

Momtaz & Carina

 ... said hello to Sami of Teasemade...

Sami & Me

... and popped by to see Sarah who was signing copies of her new (and rather aweome-looking) cross stitch book:

I also got to meet my fellow felt-obsesive Sarah from Blooming Felt:

Lots of lovely ladies! :)

It was also very nice to pop by the Collins & Brown stand and get my first look at the new Mollie Makes book (out November 7th). It's called Mollie Makes: Woodland Friends and it includes a project designed by me (yay!). There are some seriously cute projects in this book, folks.

 

Rather amazingly, I managed to get out of Ally Pally without spending my entire bank balance on nice fabric and yarn and other crafty goodness. I bought a card from Ruth, some felt and glue from Blooming Felt and some Christmas cards and a gorgeous teatowel by Nicola Jarvis:

The Knitting & Stitching Show will be at Dublin and Harrogate later this year, and at London's Olympia in the spring.

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