Because. . . the rest of the weekend is going to be fully taken up by the Edinburgh Yarn Festival!
I've been to several wonderful woolly shows in the UK but this one packs such a punch. So many interesting people are going to be there - designers whose patterns I've knitted (what to wear?), podcasters and bloggers that I regularly listen to and read, other knitters I've only known on ravelry and hope to meet in person. It's going to be really fun. And then of course there are the vendors. Oh my, what a great ensemble of yarny treats. So many gorgeous hand-dyers. My favourite UK store, Baa Ram Ewe will be there with new shades of Titus (greys and blues and a lovely Yorkshire heather colour). The Icelandic Knitter will be there. Tin Can Knits and La Maison Tricotee will be there (there will be Canadian wool!). Stephen West is going to be there. It goes on and on. Just fabulous.
And there's a yarn shop about five minutes from our hotel. They are hosting a book launch of Lucy Hague's incredible Celtic Cable Shawls book on Friday evening. I've been eyeing Taliesin for ages. Will definitely be buying the book and probably some yarn to cast on right away.
Saturday kicks off with a course on turning a favourite object/photo into stranded knitting with the amazing Felicity Ford. I've already bought her book, The Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook and it's so inspiring. I'm torn between a number of photos I could bring for this workshop and will probably pick one at the very last minute as I'm heading out the door at 6am. I'm also quite excited that this course includes some instruction on steeking, which I've been too scared to attempt.
Ford recently hosted a swatch knit-a-long using pomegranates as the inspiration starting point. You only have to read her blog post here and see the amazing results from knitters around the world to appreciate how beautiful and dynamic fair isle can be. I just can't wait for this workshop.
I've barely been able to sleep this week with anticipation. Been also working really hard on finishing my second sweater of the year in time to wear it for this trip. That's fodder for another post as I've had some harrowing moments with it but while I'm not 100% happy with it, I think it's ready to face the outside world. I've heard the train journey is really pretty too. So much to pack into just three days.
I'm also probably in real danger of coming home with a loom!
1 comment:
The first time I tried to go up Arthur's Seat, I got the worst vertigo. I sat down on the edge of the hill and couldn't/wouldn't budge an inch. There was something about the perspective that just shut me down and I could only manage to scoot down on my bum an inch at a time. Happily, it was only that once. It's a great climb!
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