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Arts and crafts

Discover knitting, crochet, scrapbooking and art and craft ideas on this forum.

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Original poster

just come back from ally pally knitting show

20 replies

warthog · 11/10/2007 17:03

ahhhhhh
i spent waaaaay too much but it was fantastic! weren't very many bargains, but i guess they save those for the last day.

OP posts:

Tanee58 · 11/10/2007 17:26

ooh, thanks for reminding me that this is on. I live nearby and have avoided it for the last couple of years as I always spend far to much and never get round to using half what I buy! But tomorrow's my day off and I might JUST go take a peak ! My dd's studying GCSE textiles so I might just take her on Saturday and go admire the exhibitions. She's terribly sensible and will be a good brake on my spending!

Original poster

warthog · 11/10/2007 19:44

the exhibitions are stunning! very inspiring.

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DarthVader · 12/10/2007 11:31

I am going on Sunday for the first time, no idea what to expect!

Do they have reasonable food there or is it best to bring lunch with me?!

Original poster

warthog · 12/10/2007 22:34

bring lunch with you. there were loads of queues and just not enough food places. i hadn't had breakfast thinking i'd nab something when i got there. because i only had 2 hours i wasn't prepared to wait in a queue for 30 mins.

if you bring your own, it'll be far better, and you won't waste any time.

enjoy!

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FREAKshow · 12/10/2007 22:41

Did you see any good knitting books for kids? I went to liberty yesterday and didn't see any that I liked. Want to make my DS a different pattern (keep doing bigger ones in the same sizes cos I can't find any more really nice ones - may try designing my own).

Original poster

warthog · 13/10/2007 08:44

they had lots of stands selling books, but i didn't look at any as i was short of time and i have too many.

i'm pretty sure you would be able to find something you like.

liberty doesn't have a very varied range iirc, mostly rowan?

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SaintJude · 13/10/2007 08:46

oh yes - forgot they were doing craft type shows....

Tanee58 · 15/10/2007 15:41

Sooo, what did we all make of it? I didn't stay too long as had dd with me and although she's studying textiles GCSE, she loses interest fairly quickly. Also very tired myself as am recovering from a pretty bad cold. We did buy a lot of lovely knitting wool from New Zealand - some of it hand-painted. Have started knitting a very long scarf and wondering what else to do. Spent far too much on the wool, really shocked at the total. But managed to resist everything else this time .

What did you like best? I loved some of the student clothes exhibitions and something called 'crysalis' made out of skeleton leaves. Pity most of the exhibitions ban photos now.

screaminghousewife · 15/10/2007 20:10

I (unexpectedly) went, thanks to another kind mner who sold me her ticket, it was fabulous, although I agree with Tanee about the exhibition and prohibition of photos.
I'm also of the opinion that if you exhibit cross stitch, you should really let people touch it. It is a textile after all, meant to be touched.

jeangenie · 15/10/2007 20:21

I loved a lot of the exhibitions (tho' found that primmy and jessie mother and daughter thing quite eerie). Julie Arkell's work was (predictably) delightful and I liked a fair amount of the work in the graduate showcase. I made the mistake of going into the "shopping mall" bit first, got totally overwhelmed and beat a hasty retreat to the exhibition room which restored me and set me up for some inspired (well, we will see) purchases. Just some wool and a teacosy pattern but it's a start. I need to get back doing something creative really badly and feel re-invigorated after the show.
I also got snaffled by the Rowan lady to become a member, not sure yet whether that is a good or bad thing...
Oh, and I went to the Rowan fashion show which was interesting, found some stuff I would quite like to knit but can't quite bring myself to spend however much it is on a book for just one pattern. Grrrrr that they don't just sell the patterns singly...
(Glad you enjoyed it SHW)

Original poster

warthog · 16/10/2007 10:34

i was surprised at how many stalls were selling the finished product. is it only me, but anyone who's going to a craft show wants to buy the raw materials, not the finished product? or am i guilty of incorrect thinking?

i was amazed at some of those quilts.

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screaminghousewife · 16/10/2007 20:40

Yes, I was a bit surprised at that but, people were buying them but, then I am one of those people who thinks 'Oh I'll have a go' and the end result ends up looking hideous.
I (smug) only bought yarn.

grannyslippers · 16/10/2007 22:27

It's great being a Rowan member, well I think so anyway.

I was at Ally Pally with a group of friends so it was a bit harder to look at the exhibition, which usually one of my favourite bits. But I did come back with quite a bit of multicoloured yarn.

jeangenie · 17/10/2007 09:03

I didn't see any quilts but I think there was a whole room (on the right as you walked down the entrance corridor) that I didn't manage to get to
I like quilts

DarthVader · 18/10/2007 19:30

I loved this designer here

jeangenie · 18/10/2007 19:47

oh me too darthvadar - she was the best of the graduate showcase by far. My sis and I felt we had to go tpo the two stands either side and do some ooohing and aaahing too to make them feel better

expensive stuff though! I bought a badge for a quid but she was charging £70 and up for the wee bats and things...

Original poster

warthog · 18/10/2007 21:59

grannyslippers, what is involved in becoming a rowan member?

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lucykate · 18/10/2007 22:08

i spoke to the girl who did the 'quirkles 'at the birmingham k&s show, her work is lovely. she's lovely too but hasn't got a clue about how to use her talent now she's finished college!. luckily for her though, she won an award through the embroiderers guild and is going to work for coats crafts uk for 3 months on work experience (i know all this as i used to work for coats), she will learn lots from that (hopefully!)

£70 is far too much for her softies to sell for, problem is, at her age and stage in life, you are far too precious about what you make. needs to add a more commercial spin on it if she wants to go anywhere with it.

Tanee58 · 21/10/2007 19:08

Well, finished knitting very long scarf for dd yesterday and have started a small cape for myself. The New Zealand Touch yarns knit up really quickly and look lovely - rich, vibrant colours.

I would also like to know what being a Rowan member involves...?

grannyslippers · 25/10/2007 22:25

Sorry to be slow getting back. RL inconveniently got in the way of MN.

you are a Rowan member if you subscribe to their arty twice a year magazine/book. This is about £22, it's more or less the cover price of the magazines. Personally I think it's better value than a subscription to a monthly magazine as the patterns are so good, there are no adverts/padding and you don't end up with dozens of them cluttering up the place. You get a package of benefits too including a free kit, various website things like free patterns and access to their chat forum. It's a nice forum with a lot of knitting expertise I met up with my local group and a lot of other knitting friends through it. details all on www.knitrowan.com. If you like the Rowan yarns and magazines its nice to be able to link up with other knitters who might be doing the same designs. Now there are so many knitting blogs and other forums (like MN) maybe not such a big deal but it was the first online community I found back in 2001.

I am a bit of a Rowan addict though as it was their designs that first got me into obsessive knitting in my late teens. and that was a looooong time ago now.

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