Little thoughts

Little thoughts: need more sleep! :)

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Craft fair extravaganza!

I went to a craft fair at what will forever be called in my head anyway, the CIA, and what wonders there were!  Oooooh!  It was an absolute delight!  I tried to be restrained as I'm going on the blogger meet up in Birmingham next weekend with Minnado's House and Scruffy Badger Time but did come away with some lovely and useful things!  I was also bowled over by the kindness of strangers as when we were walking in a lady came upto me and asked me if I would like a free ticket as she had two and only needed one!  How lovely is that?  Even the woman on the ticket desk was happy for me and told me it must be my lucky day!

I bought some cross stitch material as it seems I'm addicted and needed some new colours and weaves as getting a bit bored with the limited supply I have at the moment.  I very nearly bought some on line last night but restrained myself and I'm so glad I did!  I bought some dark blue aida as love the colour and think I'm going to cross stitch some white snowflakes on it to get a nice contrast and got some silver sparkly thread so can use that too. 

Dark blue aida for cross stitching

Sparkly silver thread for cross stitch

I then found another stall selling scrap bags of cross stitch fabric and thought I was getting a good buy, well, when I got it home and unpacked it all I realised just how fantastic a buy it was!  Lots and lots of different weaves and colours and even some sparkly ones too!  Wooo Hooo!



And then there was this magical place:

Side view of outside of the cavern, everything is knitted and I mean EVERYTHING!

Knitted lobster basket and lobsters trying to make a break for it!

Another view of the side as this one shows the lighthouse in the distance

Puffin complete with fish

Mmmmm Lobster!


Isn't it amazing???

Nemesis the knitted sea creature!

And his little friend the sea turtle with some pirates in the background

Another view of Nemesis and a better view of the sky and gulls in the air

A very glittery mermaid, what you can't see here are her exquisitely sparkly eyelashes!

Slightly blurry jellyfish as had to use a long exposure as this was inside the cavern

We all live in a yellow submarine dum dum a yellow submarine...

Arrrrrggghhh!  Shark!

I wanted an octopus but sadly another lady bagged him before I could, boo hoo!

It's all donated stuff to help raise funds for charity.  This one was for the RNLI, I got to speak to the lady who made it all happen and she said that she had FIVE sacks full of knitted fish!  Three of which went into the inside of this cavern.  Thankfully my fishing skills were good and I managed to bag this whopper:

green and silver striped fish


and this tiddler:

mottled red and brown little fish keyring

There's going to be another one, this time it's going to be based on a book and she's inviting sewists and felt makers to join in with the knitters and crocheters to help make it happen.  I'm thinking I'll sew some leaves and squirrels for the Autumn page of the book and maybe a rabbit or two now come to think of it.  If you want more information you can have a look here: www.all2knit.co.uk

I also had a very inspiring chat with a lady who runs sewing courses in Spain!  How wonderful would that be?  Not only learning a new skill but in sunny and beautiful surroundings!  Their work looks amazing and has been shown at other big exhibitions in fashion shows etc, but don't think I can justify the expense especially when J and I haven't had a holiday abroad together!  If you're interested in investigating this lovely college go here.

I also spotted some amazing quilts and it almost makes me want to learn...almost.  I think I'd better stick to what I'm doing at the moment as if I take any more things on I think my head may explode!  Look at these lovelies instead:

Oh so pretty flower quilt

An old favourite, the owl and the pussy cat

This is so striking to me, the colours of the leaves? I think that's what they are anyway, and love the swirly bits in the centre too.

I've been quiet as found the stall last weekend exhausting, had sewing class again this week and have been trying to get new stock together for the next fair in November as don't want to be running round like a headless chicken like last time!  I'm also ummming and ahhhing about whether to make a special outfit for the meet up next weekend, but to be honest I'm not sure I've got the energy or the time.  I have made my name badge though and am very proud of it!  I'm going to keep it a secret until the day I think as put a lot of thought and work into it and think it sums me up a treat! hehe!

Ok, that's all for the minute folks, need to keep stitching!  Don't forget to vote in the Men Quilt Too Competition!  Thanks!

11 comments:

  1. that knitted stuff is amazing!

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  2. It was truly awe inspiring! I wanted just about one of everything! hehe!

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  3. I hadn't thought of you as a fisherwoman! you can save all your leftover bits of thread and make fishing lines for catching woolly fish! hehe

    That was good luck getting in for free too :)

    My quilt show today was a lot smaller than CIA but I managed to bag a couple of freebies... I'll blog and photograph them ready for tomorrow's blog post!

    PS permission granted if you want to change your name and move to another location in order to vote for me twice ;)

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  4. Haha! Thanks Giles!

    Nice one on bagging some freebies!

    I don't think I'll be allowed back on the website if I try and cheat!

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  5. What an exciting knitfest! I adore the cleverness & quirkiness of crafters - loved seeing the underwater pictures!
    I am just about to make my badge (outside). Don't bust a gut to make a new outfit for next weekend - I know it's tempting, but who knows what the weather will be doing? Impossible to plan for methinks! See you next weekend Woo hoo!!

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  6. Ooooh! Can't wait to see the badge! Yeah, I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to save myself the stress and not make something new. I'm going to enjoy the sunshine instead!

    Can't wait for next Saturday! Hurray!

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  7. loving the knitted grotto - that was hilarious (little knitted lobsters vying for knitted freedom from a knitted cage)

    also, it turns out if I use anything but my usual firefox, I can comment on / interact with your blog. Go figure. Anyhow, that chuncky color blocks I was asking about last time seem to have been knitted. Still not totally sure, but as I like bright colors, I'm pretty okay with whatever it was.

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  8. huzzah for the knitted grotto! freedom for knitted lobsters!

    also, it turns out if I use anything but my usual firefox, I can comment on / interact with your blog. go figure.

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  9. Ah, that must be the crochet necklaces/scarves that I made as fell in love with the wool as it's so pretty!

    You've got to love the humour in that grotto!

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  10. Yay! Comments coming in loud and clear! Hurray!

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