The knitting and stitching show at alexandra palace

SO, last weekend my fellow crafters and I took the coach to The Alexandra Palace knit and stitch show. I was so excited I hardly slept the night before ( I know - I don't get out much). We sat on the coach and made our crafty shopping wish lists.

 On the way there I told all the girls hubby wanted a jumper, to which they all gasped and told me about the "Curse of the love sweater"... ?? Supposedly, if you knit a man a jumper he'll leave you shortly after!! I'd never heard of this but it's even documented in Wikipedia! It turns out if he asks for a jumper the curse doesn't really apply. Either way I quickly went off the idea.

As we entered the glorious palace of craft all I could hear was the Rocky soundtrack in my head. I suggested to the girls that we don sweatbands and do some stretches to limber up, but we settled for a quick cuppa and a scone.

Inside the venue was a HUGE main hall with two smaller ones either side, and in each hall were row upon row of craft stalls. I was literally beside myself with excitement .... I found myself squealing a lot! (mostly under my breath.) We arrived at Ally Pally at 10am and gorged on craft until we left at 4pm, utterly exhausted.

There were SO many crafts, and so many creative talented souls. If you love craft or are simply thinking of trying something out I promise you will love this place. It's my third time and I always leave feeling inspired (and a bit skint : )

Below are some of my most favourite stalls, and some of the wonderful artists I discovered that I'd love to share with you. Plus some of the projects I have taken on!

Lovely classic knits of Libby summers

Dandelion designs - lovely designs with a country cottage feel

Janie Crows knit and crochet designs

Jennie Atkinson

 Jennie Atkinson is my favourite knitwear designer in the entire world. Fact. Her designs are all so beautiful! So feminine and intricate. In her book the designs are based on fashions of the late 19th and early 20th century. On her website she states 'I particularly like this period of fashion because of the delicacy and detail of women’s clothing design, and the imaginative variety of embellishments used. I wanted to recreate this in knit.' The patterns range from easy to tricky, but I intend to tackle it head on  starting with her beautiful cardigan, 'Persuasion' which isn't actually in this book by the way, I bought it separately, and you can too here.

Tall Yarns

I bought the same yarn Jennie uses for the Persuasion Cardigan, from Linda at Tall yarns  - this is fast becoming my favourite yarn shop. This is where I found my yarn for my lovely wedding shawl and Linda who runs the shop is just lovely.

The Cross stitchers guild

I love cross stitch - it's a craft you can easily become addicted to. It's so easy and so effective. I bought this from The cross stitch guild. I could have bought so much from here but I was nearing the end of my budget! I'm putting their beautiful Florette stitchers carousel on my Xmas list, that for sure!

Abigail Mill

And lastly, Abigail Mill.  I just love her work. Her pictures are embellished with embroidery, which really brings them to life. I love this cottage print. Looking at it simply makes me happy, and if I hadn't spent my budget I would have loved to buy the print. She sells kits, postcards, calenders and embellished cards (which would also look lovely framed.)

So there you have it. Some lovely ideas to get you inspired. I'll keep you up to date with my progress on the 'Persuasion' cardigan and the 'Sweetheart sample,' though whether hubby's jumper will ever see the light of day is another matter!

JM x

PS. Thank you to my crafter pals for making the day such a joyful one x