The Big Textile Show - Leicester Racecourse
I nearly missed this, but friends staying for the weekend persuaded me to go. It wasn't as big as the Knitting & Stitching Show at Ally Pally in London a week or two ago, but it was much more civilised.
One building held all the traders - yarn of every hue and material, fabrics, accessories, crafting materials and ideas. I bought several sketchbooks, a fabric dye starter kit and some acrylic wax from artvango. And some photograph transfer printer paper from Kim Edith Artwork.
Source: Kim Edith Artwork This stand had several beautiful stitch books that combined transfers of photos and quilting, applique and embroidery. You could buy starter kits to go with the photo transfer paper, and themed kits for different pages. They would make lovely presents to commemorate special occasions. I really liked the tiny letter stamps and label kits, you can see some examples in the picture above.
Source There were also beautiful handmade baskets and these lovely ceramic buttons from Injabulo. I really missed out here - all the buttons were unique, some of them were fabulous - but I'd seen too many things by the time I got to that stand, and I couldn't make a decision :(
Across the (rainy) way there was another building with a huge tea room downstairs (fabulous cakes, sandwiches and paninis, and hot dishes, too) and a wonderful exhibition space upstairs. I was kicking myself because there was so much beautiful work on display and I'd forgotten my smart phone. I've selected a few pictures from websites, but really, they were no comparison to the array of stunning pictures, embroideries, quilts, felt garments and other objects.
This picture is from a series of works by Drawn2Stitch celebrating the life of Alice Hawkins. Alice was a factory worker in the shoe trade in Leicester who became a prominent local activist in the suffragette movement.
Source I was so pleased to find this group "Textend" which does monthly workshops trying out different techniques and approaches. One of the selling points of the group is that you don't have to join - you just sign up to the workshops that you're interested in.
This was such a lovely day - very inspiring, all the traders were lovely and helpful and interested in chatting. I bumped into lots of people that I knew and met many more. Everyone was so nice. It was also staggering to see the huge numbers of groups that are active in the county and wider region.
Inevitably, I bought some more sock yarn. Drops is a new brand to me, they have an amazing website with lots of free patterns translated into 17 languages. I started knitting my socks in the pub, which was a mistake, because I got into a muddle with the magic loop and ended up going the wrong way. Never mind, it all got sorted out today!
Happy needleworkmonday :)
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I'm really glad you went out and gave yourself a little respite.
As always, best wishes and my thoughts are with you :-)
Thank you. I needed that :)
Wow what an inspiring event! Those buttons 😩...I need more buttons. I still haven’t found my bag of buttons and appliqués...those blue ones are so pretty!
I am so glad you got to make it to this! The yarn you got is sooo pretty. It reminds me of the yarn I got from out of town that I will be using to knit a scarf...one of these days. Thanks for sharing ~
I remember that yarn ... so much wool, so little time!
I was sorry about the buttons, I should just have bought the ones that took my fancy. They were a very good price, I was astonished how expensive buttons can be in the shops.
Drops is a great company! Such a pretty yarn, the socks are going to be very pretty. It sounds like you had a great day exploring the show.
It was really nice, quite relaxing. The venue was about half a mile from where I live :) The trader I bought the yarn from has a shop in a very pretty town - the sort of place you could go for a little outing, have some lunch, take a little walk in the countryside ... and come home with wool :)
Great post! I like garnstudio for patterns too. Great color on that sock yarn!
My friend was completely captivated with the exhibitions, he'd never seen anything like it before and I needed a sit down but I didn't have anything with me to do. I had noticed the yarn colours before - hard to make a choice - so I picked up some yarn and some needles and started knitting in the cafe :)
That looks like a great show, @shanibeer :D
I haven't really seen the Drops but I'm aware of their patterns... and to be honest I haven't really tried any of them but they're always inspirational and to offer in such a great array of languages is even better !
It was a lovely day. I think you would have really enjoyed the exhibition. The Drops website is great for a group like this where we are from so many different countries. I haven't had a good look yet, I was trying to find out more about the manufacturer of the wool, I think they are Danish?
Yes, they are from Denmark - I made a NWM-post about the company some time ago. Though I never saw (or felt) yarn of them.
Must have been a truly lovely day (besides the rain) - an abundancs of things to see (and buy), an interesting exhibition and some food to charge your batteries. I bet you weren't the only one knitting in the tearoom so no disbelieving looks à la "WTF is she doing there?" but only interested looks "What is she knitting and how?"
And I get confused with magic loop, too, when I haven't done it for some time. Once I even went to Youtube and watched a video! hangs head in shame
It was very sociable - a nice atmosphere. Those big shows in London and Birmingham are always packed with people struggling to get past each other and so noisy. This was like the best kind of party! I'm just coming to the bottom of the cuff on the first sock and wondering if I will remember how to do the heel or if I will have to hunt for my battered scrap of a pattern. I want to try toes up - I think you have done some like that? - so I know how much yarn I have left to make longer socks.
Cake, tea, wool, art and lovely people: heaven! I can imagine that this was a beautiful day (although I would perhaps gone broke over all the beautiful things you can buy at such a fair) And I understand your decision problems all too well.
I also never used Drops yarn, but as @muscara wrote I also used their patterns. When I started to crochet I found their website and I was so excited about all the free patterns, I think I sat a whole day in front of the computer and downloaded patterns :-DDD
And with the pub... sorry for the pun... don't drink and knit :-D
No, I am only joking, it is easy to make mistakes when the surrounding is noisy, but good to hear you are back on track with the sock. And I hope you are well besides the knitting <3 <3
The cakes were works of art, too. The first time I had cherry and almond and the second time, I tried lemon meringue cake. They were both delectable. It's probably a good idea to go with a list and maybe some samples of wool/fabric that you want to match with buttons or other accessories. I will be better prepared next year. I'm also going to suggest that they have a cloakroom where you can leave heavy outdoor wear, so you are completely free to enjoy everything. Or maybe I will take a trolley 😎.
I agree drinking and knitting are not always compatible 😜, especially when your friend is telling you the latest dramas in his romantic life (mine is never so interesting).
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