DAPHNE'S TRIP TO HARROGATE

Good Afternoon to you,

I had the most wonderful day a couple of Saturday's ago, when I went with a group of friends, to the beautiful Spa town of Harrogate for the Knitting and Stitching Show.

I was up and about at 6.00 am eating my breakfast, drinking my coffee and making sure I had everything I needed for my trip. 

Now I have to tell you, at 8.00am it is usually very quiet in my household and being so early, I expected a quiet journey to Harrogate.  How wrong was I. As the coach filled with ladies, the noise grew louder and the air filled with excited chatter. I have never experienced so much fun and laughter, so early in the morning.

We arrived in Harrogate a couple of hours later to see queues forming in front of the Harrogate Convention Centre, but none of us minded because we were with like minded people, who love to create, so waiting in a queue was no problem at all.  It's amazing how you can strike up a conversation with a stranger when they have the same interests as yourself.

Once we passed through security and were indoors, the fun began.

I had taken a list of items I wanted to buy, because I knew there would be a lot of stalls and I needed to be focused.  I decided,  I would browse first. The problem with browsing, is, you have to remember where you have browsed, especially as there were over 200 craft exhibitors.

.... and whilst browsing  I went completely off piste when I came across,

a stall selling Sashiko templates. I stopped dead in my tracks and knew immediately, that although Sashiko did not feature on my list, I would be buying some cloth.... at which point my list went right out of the window.

Sashiko is an ancient form of sewing using  running stitches.... similar to our quilting stitches.  Now you may think running stitches are easy, but to sew accurate running stitches, well that is another matter.  I will be put to the test when I begin this project.

As we walked on, I saw some very talented exhibitors, but I was intrigued when I saw  a stall with numerous perspex boxes laid out on tables.  I walked towards the stall and discovered under each perspex box, the most beautiful sweetheart pin cushion.... this is something I have never heard of. When I spoke to Diane Grant, she said that the pin cushions were love tokens made by recouperating soldiers during the Great War.  I really feel I cannot say too much because Diane researched this book for 4 years, so I would urge you to buy a copy as I feel sure, like me, you will find the history of sweetheart pin cushions quite fascinating.

Diane's Forget Me Not Book is published by Tandem Books, Wakefield, Yorkshire with the ISBN:978-1-9997950-09.

I spent a lot of time at Diane's stall, but eventually it was time to move on.

Now I think you know I am quite partial to a homemade Christmas tree decoration and so are my daughters, so I was pleased to discover this Christmas Beaded Wreath Kit.... I should say kits, because I bought 2, one for each of my daughters.... a little late to make any headway this year, but this will be something fun to complete next year.

.... and my final purchase was 3 skeins of this beautiful Falkland Aran wool and with a name like Basil it had to come home with me.  This wool is absolutely gorgeous to use.  I cannot tell you what I am knitting because it's a secret.... and if I tell you, then it will not be a secret.... but when the wool is knitted I will show you what I created.

All in all, I had the most fabulous day.  Now I mentioned at the beginning that in the morning the ladies on the coach were in high spirits, so I expected, after many hours of walking, everyone would be quiet on the journey home.... how wrong could I be, everyone was talking about the different items they had bought.... there was so much laughter that I have to tell you my sides hurt when I arrived home. That night I slept like a baby.... with a smile on my face.

.... and talking of a smile on my face, Christmas is really on its way, because yesterday I received my first Christmas card from our youngest daughter..... how happy am I.

Take care and I will catch up with you next Saturday.