East Neuk Knits

So, the East Neuk is a coastal district in Fife and East Neuk Knits is a new yarn show which is taking place this weekend at the Bowhouse in St Monan's. It has a connection with the Channel 4 show The Game of Wool in that Di Gilpin is common to both. If anyone was wondering, yes, I have been watching The Game of Wool and yes I will be ranting about it in due course. But I thought I'd wait until it was over and I had an oversight of the whole thing. Incidentally the website for ENK said filming and photography for Series 2 of the Game of Wool would be taking place over the weekend which is  I suppose good or bad news, depending on what you think of the show. It seemed to me that if they were filming Series 2 already this meant that they wouldn't have had time to reflect on the reactions of knitters to Series 1 and make any tweaks they thought might be necessary in the light of that, but then I'm not a TV producer, so what do I know? ( More than the producers of the show apparently know about knitting, that's for sure ). 

I did of course buy stuff, because what is the point of driving for 90 minutes, parking in a muddy field, freezing yourself between the car and the venue, waiting an unconscionable time for the delivery of lunch ( which in any case wasn't the desired scone as they had 'run out' of scones by 12.30)  if you don't then justify the trip by making purchases. 

Here's what I got

The project bag I had decided to buy before we went, having seen them on the website and deciding I'd like something a bit more structured than my usual floppy drawstring ones. This was from Wild Wood Stitches and you can find their website  here, definitely worth a browse. I was so excited about buying it that, to my shame I totally confused Loch Ness where they are based, with Loch Lomond where they are definitely NOT based. I do know the difference but I was just a bit carried away. It wasn't cheap but it has leather handles, the bottom is Harris tweed and it is beautifully made so it was good value for money. And I love it,  which is really the only justification for buying anything - although it was quite difficult to decide which one to have.

The single skein was a pick by the OH and is for me to turn into socks for him in due course. I knew that if he was let loose in a wool show he would pick some wool for socks so that wasn't really an impulse purchase either. The other two things, the pattern and the miniball fade from Wee County Yarns ( Website  here ) weren't planned purchases although I have looked at that pattern multiple times on their website. I'm only planning to make the mitts. 

I also picked up a card from a vendor who does sport weight yarn with a high natural fibre content because that's what some of the patterns in Kalevala II call for and I want to knit a couple of those this coming year. And I had a nice chat with the lovely Clare from Cookston Crafts ( again website here ) where I didn't buy anything but made plans to buy some of her yarn in the new year to make a sweater that she has a sample of. After seeing the sample previously  I've thought about getting the pattern before,  and I've decided that now, or at least 2026, is the year to give it a go. More about knitting plans later I expect, but possibly not until after Christmas because  tomorrow is the 1st December and the blog will be full of advent opening for the next 24 days!