today was the first day I have been able to do as I please, after the adventures of the past couple of weeks, it was sunny and reasonably warm out, so I decided to go visit the Sydney Craft and Quilt fair down at Darling Harbour...I had been planning to take Holly, but she arrives on Saturday afternoon, and as Sunday is the last day and a weekend day, it would be packed beyond reason.
I arrived around 11 am, and things were in full swing, if you were a quilter, then this was heaven, there were fat quarters for Africa! I started at the far end, and meandered along the rows and tried to remember bits and pieces that I needed, thin velvet ribbon, $1 a roll - 3 in crimson, 1 black, 1 eggplant, beading needles... I found the Bendigo yarns stall and bought a hank of cream cotton for more petal bibs, and some baby wool at 30% off, if you could get near the yarn stands there were some reasonable bargains to be had, and it was great to see some yarns close up.
I splashed out on some Belisa Cashmere in plum and school jersey grey, I have been wanting to try it for ages, not 100% certain what I am going to knit with it, but an idea is blossoming.
The ladies from the machine knitters guild were very sweet, and the quilts on display were stunning, I restrained myself and only bought 2 beads - little fortune cats to make into stitch markers. I stayed away from most of the quilting stalls, trying to avoid being in too much of a crush, however there were 2 that I just had to purchase from "wabi-sabi" and another whose name I have mislaid, both had japanese fabrics, so I had to buy a few charm squares as well.
as you can see, I was very restrained. The queue for coffee was long, so I made my way back out into the sunshine and headed for home.
Verdict: If you are a quilter - GO!
if you are a knitter - go if you are interested in other crafts as well, though for some the Colinette may be all the encouragement you require!
