I enjoyed Unravel so much last year, I was a little worried I'd be disappointed this time. That I'd feel that I'd seen it all before but it was a fantastic day and well worth being at Waterloo before 8.00am! I was impressed that the organisers had not just rehashed last year's exhibits but had commissioned new items and organised new displays.
One of the main attractions of this festival is that there is so much to do and see. I begrudge paying for some knitting events as it involves paying a considerable sum just to buy yarn. The free talks are a major attraction for me.
This year I went to two; "Combing and Spinning the Hills" by John Arbon and "Knitting from 1800 to Today" by Joyce Meader. Joyce is hilarious and could be the world's first knitting stand up comedian. I loved the tale of a lady bathing in a knitted swimsuit and a young boy's observation that her lungs had fallen out!
Jen and I went to a workshop on how to make Dorset and bead buttons. Mary Brown, the teacher, was clear and patient so we spend a relaxing 90 minutes learning a new skill. The workshops at Unravel are realistically priced and prove that you don't need a knitting celebrity, just somebody passionate about passing on their skills and knowledge.
My stash has grown beyond amusing, past embarrassing, to the point where I start to feel sick with guilt when I think of how long it will take to knit up. Consequently, I had a strict budget and guidelines of what I needed to buy. Buttons for specific projects I got from Textile Garden and yarns for dyeing came from Fibre Harvest. I looked for purple laceweight for a 60th birthday later in the year, I didn't get anything on the day but will probably buy from Fyberspates. As I'm on a yarn diet,I allow myself to buy patterns so I bought one for a cut lace cardie from Debonnaire. My only splurge was a hank of both green and rose yarn (which at £2.99 each doesn't count) and a hank of Fyberspates Scrumptious Chunky to knit the Tamesis Cowl.
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