So after arriving in London and having a blast prepping with Alice, Knit Nation finally came together. The teachers began arriving early on Wednesday morning. Here is Clara Parkes of Knitter’s Review looking fairly jolly not too long after having gotten off the plane.

On Thursday, we went on a little tour of the Victoria & Albert Museum led by the illustrious Judith MacKenzie who I could listen to all day long. (Apologies for the bad photos, but I forgot my camera, so they are all taken with my phone.)

One of the highlights was this knitted christening gown from the World’s Fair. I admit I don’t quite remember why the gown was connected to the World’s Fair, but it was stunning.

After a short break, we headed to an afternoon champagne tea where I was too busy chowing down to take many photos. (Julie Weisenberger AKA CocoKnits in the background there.)

On Friday, classes began and the vendors began setting up their booths in the marketplace. I used my connections to sneak in and take some photos.

Takako from Habu sorted through all her little piles of yarn.

Tilly Flop Designs had some lovely knit themed cards.

Juno Fibre Arts had some gorgeous yarns out.

Atomic Knitting had ADORABLE tape measures.

GMC were pre-selling Alice’s upcoming book. I’ve pre-ordered mine through Amazon and can’t wait! I got to leaf through Alice’s proofs at her flat, and it’s beautiful.

And while set-up was happening in the market place, the teachers were teaching. Susanna Hansson and Lene Alve were always so cheerful. Someday I’ll have the time at an event to take one of their classes.

I taught Knitting off the Grid and somehow convinced my students to pose with socks on their hands. Heehee.

Over the weekend, more knitting happened. I spotted these clever London-themed project bags at The Bothered Owl.

Renaissance Dyeing who hailed from France had an amazing display to show off their wide array of naturally dyed yarns.

I was really excited to see Twisted Angle because I’d heard of the magazine but wasn’t sure what the content was like. I got a chance to pick up some back issues and leaf through them. The magazine is fashion-forward and showcases what’s new in knitwear from the runway. I’ll have to do a more in depth write-up about it after all this crazy traveling ends.

Oh dear, this post is getting ridiculously long, and I have to pack for my flight tomorrow. There is much more to come, but for now I want to thank our sponsors Ysolda and Knitting Magazine for making Knit Nation possible. And, very sadly, I don’t have photos from the charity bingo on Saturday night (was too busy having fun!), but I definitely want to thank the sponsors who helped us raise money for Refuge: The Knitter Magazine, Knitspot, The Little Knitting Company, Old Maiden Aunt, Signature Needle Arts, and Collins & Brown. We really couldn’t have done it without help.

And last, but certainly not least, the crew was FANTASTIC. I will snag a photo from Alice of the awesome crew for the next post.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 23rd, 2011 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.