All good things must come to an end

After all the anticipation the weekend of the iKnit show finally arrived.
Mhairi, Kimberly, mum and myself travelled down to the big city on Friday to spend the weekend immersed in yarniness with all our fellow knitters. After a quick check in at the hotel we dashed over to visit the iKnit shop before closing time. It was lovely to see the place in the flesh, so to speak. Of course yarn purchasing ensued and some delightful Kraemer merino, silk and sterling silver in Tuxedo found it's way into my stash. I have it earmarked for some extra long lacy socks.

There then ensued what can only be described as a farcical exercise in long distance navigation! Having decided that Wagamamma was our dinner destination, we set out under instruction from me, for Victoria the location of said restaurant. However, on arrival at the station I had neither address nor directions to our chosen eaterie. Frantic phonecalls home followed with directions from Googlemaps passed on over the intermittent mobile connection. After wandering aimlessly round in circles and being utterly drenched in the heaviest deluge of rain I can recall we hopped into a taxi. After all are London Hacks not renowned for their "Knowledge"? After 20 minutes of yet more circling of Victoria Station (admittedly in the rather drier comfort of the taxi) we were deposited £5 lighter at the exact same point we had started where we discovered we had been practically outside the entrance to the restaurant all along. This was really a portent of what was to come and my dear fellow travellers should really have taken note of my lack of sense of direction immediately.

Our spirits were not dampened however and a lovely meal followed.

An early rise (07:15) on Saturday allowed us a wonderful hour in the famous Liberty store. I resisted the yarn but did acquire some stunning silk fabric (earmarked for a bag lining) and the new book Thrown Together by Kim Hargreaves. It really is worth a visit to Libertys if not just for the experience and a tour of the stunning Tudor building itself.

We headed over to the Royal Horticultural Halls and joined the queue (yes there were enough knitters there to form a queue, a long one) for the show. There were so many beautiful yarn stalls, charity stands, demonstrations, fashion shows, workshops and knitters, everywhere, hundreds of them. Of course the major highlight of the day was the Yarn Harlot's talk. What a fantastically funny, naturally witty and entertaining 90 minutes. I truly wish a recording had been made of her talk as I would love to play it back and take it all in again, and again, and again. I hope she got a sense of our appreciation for her, her visit and her endlessly insightful and amusing blog. We queued along with our new found friends for 2 hours to get a signed copy of one of her books. It was quite amazing that she found the time and fortitude to talk personally to every one of those who queued , and never shied away once from the endless photographs with socks!

Of course much yarn was added to the stash!

The day was rounded off with a superb meal at L' in South Kensington a short walk from our hotel. We dined with our fellow Scottish knitters, 11 of us in total. It was a delicious meal in lovely surroundings with first class company. Thanks to Julia, Yvette, Lynette (and her lovely tolerant Bruce) Heather, Catherine and Paula for joining us and making it such an enjoyable evening.

There was just time on Sunday morning for a quick dash round to the V&A though sadly the Textiles Exhibition was closed. We did however enjoy excellent scones and brownies in the Cafe along with the Dutch Knitters and some lovely knitters from Switzerland and Denmark. I feel a trip to a LYS in Geneva coming on.

And so, All Good Things Must Come To An End, we are back home, weary but happy, looking forward to show and tell at our Stitch n Bitch on Thursday night. I suspect we may be planning another iKnit trip to London next year!