I seem to have managed to squeeze an awful lot of stuff into that bag...
I tried to be disciplined by buying only things that I can't buy locally and therefore can't touch before buying which actually meant pretty much of all the yarn on sale. I didn't buy quite all of it though but I had a good go.
First up are the Get Knitted yarns. I got some Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino, some Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb, Cherry Tree Hill merino lace (yards and yards of it!) plus some Cherry Tree Hill supersock. Lots of lovely bright colours.
I loved the yarns on the Habu stand - so different to anything else. I toyed briefly with the stainless steel yarn but rejected that in favour of a huge skein of soy yarn (soysilk?) plus a huge skein of incredibly soft bamboo - both were in slightly different shades of cream, both equally fine, I was thinking of shawls of some description. The two cones at the front are tsumugi silk - beautifully soft and very fine gauge, possibly for small neckerchiefs.
I stopped by the Garthenor Organic Pure Wool stand and bought some of their 4-ply and also snapped up a little Jamieson's Ultra at their stand. Not a lot of colours there - apparently someone else had been there first!
I skipped over to the Web of Wool stand to pick up a few sock yarns that I'd hadn't seen before, some Regia silk, plain and patterned, and a very jolly self-patterning fairisle type which looked lovely knitted up in the sample but absolutely nothing in the ball. At the front on the right is a little scarf kit from Touch Yarns - she had gorgeous hand-dyed yarns on her stand.
The Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Shop always makes me feel nostalgic for the time we spent living in the Yorkshire Dales. I picked up one of their cute scarf kits and also some dyed roving to spin up myself. I simply could not get a good picture of the roving at all so here's the solitary scarf. I'm really looking forward to knitting up this aran-weight yarn - it feels so smooth and soft.
Last, but by no means least was Kerrie's stand. So great to actually meet Kerrie at long last, too bad that I had to leave before Brooke and Cameron turned up. I bought some lovely sock cashmere, one in orangey tones, one reddish. I picked up the remainders of the cashmere laceweight used to knit the gorgeous little capelet knitted by Purlpower which was on display - so incredibly light and floaty, I may just recreate (read: shamlessly copy it) myself. I treated myself to a couple of skeins of the lustrous silk, just to try out a mini Clapotis. And I must say 'thank-you' to whoever made the silk pom-poms and also to Kerrie for giving them to me. I picked them up and commented how wonderfully tactile they were and how much the Baby Bohemian would enjoy feeling them, next thing I knew they were in my shopping bag! Thanks again, Kerrie and for the cute circs. - however did you get your url printed on them so quickly?! Oh, and the last thing is the pattern for the little octopus - too cute!
I did pick up a few small size Addi Turbo circulars, also some shorter length circulars for sleeves and was pretty pleased with a little lucet from the Handweavers Studio. My girls have been after a lucet since seeing some ladies in Elizabethan costume at a National Trust house making cord. Oh, and they had a really good-looking swift but frankly, I just couldn't carry anymore!
Posted by Anita at October 19, 2005 09:53 PMooooh, so much lovely stuff. The habu stand was amazing wasn't it? I was only there for a few minutes on Sunday aftenroon but it all looked so beautiful, I especially liked their already knitted tubes that they were selling for about £1 per yard...
Posted by: kerrie at October 20, 2005 11:14 AMHabu yarns are definitely unusual. I visited the shop in NY recently and was surprised by how many yarns that I saw for which I had no idea how I might use them (no matter ho interesting and unusual they were).
Posted by: Colleen at October 20, 2005 01:02 PMYou packed that well, lots of lovely stuff there. I know what you mean about the don't buy it if you can get it locally, we're pretty much in the same boat. Did your jaw drop when you finally got there? Mine did, so many wonderful things to see and play with that I missed so many stands. Better prepared next year.
Posted by: Tracy at October 20, 2005 01:33 PMSo much lovely stuff! I got a couple of those Touch scarf kits and was tempted by the Wensleydale ones too - very cute.
Posted by: Mary at October 20, 2005 02:20 PMHow on earth did you fit that all in?
Your finds look really lovely, in particular the yarns from Get Knitted.
Lovely, lovely haul! Some of the yarns are too pretty to knit up, but it sounds like you've got a project in mind for each and every one of them. The octopus is adorable--is that a Magknits pattern or an altogether separate vendor?
Posted by: MJ at October 20, 2005 07:27 PMWhat a fabulous haul !
The Habu silk looks particularly interesting. I'd happily knit everything you bought. ;-] Great shopping.
Wow!!! I am impressed beyond words... So envious to have miss all this, I will go next year for sure...
Posted by: francoise at October 20, 2005 10:31 PMI missed out on Habu and the wensleydale this year (both too busy at the time) . Looks like you've gone for a million projects but in small packages. Lots of yardage! Lovely colours, lovely yarns and a lovely haul! I think us Ally-Pallyers ought to have an Allypallykal!
Dawn
Posted by: dawn at October 21, 2005 01:29 AMGorgeous!! I think I would be sitting in the middle of all of that just staring at it all for days! Lucky, lucky you! (And how did you CARRY it all??)
Posted by: Kathy at October 21, 2005 01:50 AMSuch lovely soft looking yarns. You have good taste in yarns.
Posted by: erin at October 21, 2005 08:58 AMOh là là! Wonderful, wonderful yarns...
I couldn't go, of course - but now I'm off to explore all the links you kindly provided!
Ah ha! So it was you who stole (ok, purchased fair and square) the last of the cashmere laceweight. I was poking around for some at the stall and was told - in your own words - "someone else had been there first!".
It was fun, wasn't it?!
Posted by: Noo at October 21, 2005 05:57 PMhigh five on the successful shopping trip! i do that too when i go elsewhere .... #1 rule, get stuff you can't get locally! you have a lot of knitting ahead of you ... i look forward to seeing all the upcoming projects (but, if you're like me, the new yarns sometimes 'ferment' for awhile)(gets chummy with the stash)!
Posted by: gray la gran at October 22, 2005 02:46 AMWowza! What a wonderful haul. I can hardly wait to see your finished creations.
Posted by: Jennifer at October 23, 2005 02:04 PMOhh..you are so lucky! Such beautiful new yarns. Can't wait to see what you knit up!
Posted by: Donna at October 24, 2005 02:29 AMI think that the fun of unpacking the yarn when you get home and seeing all the wonderful things that you bought is one of the best bits of going to Ally Pally. And those are some lovely things that you got.
Posted by: Amelia at October 25, 2005 08:02 AMHi Anita! What a wonderful set of haul shots - loving 'em. I hope you enjoy making the capelet, it's a fabulous yarn to work with, hopefully you saw the details posted up on my blog last week. And aren't you lucky not having to ball-wind that leftover cashmere! I'm glad it's gone to such a good home. All the best. PPx
Posted by: purlpower at October 28, 2005 10:07 AM