We were on the road once again this past week - making an appearance at the newly branded Spring Knitting and Stitching Show (formerly Stitch and Craft) at London's Olympia.
The Show took place from Thursday 14th through to Sunday 17th March in the newly renovated Olympia Two and West Hall and boasted 150 exhibitors from knitting brands and haberdashery suppliers to niche stores and bead stockists. The essence of the Show was 'Making' as described by the organisers, Twisted Thread and there really was a plethora of inspiring fabrics, textiles and yarn as well as 'how to' courses to help every visitor find the perfect craft project for them.
There was much more to do than merely shop - some of the most popular features were a Dressmaking factory where you could join a production line to help make a simple garment as well as a 'Home Sweet Home' making area that aimed to provide inspiration for pretty crafty interiors. Though if you were there with shopping in mind (and a carefully managed budget!) there was ample opportunity to purchase almost anything for a textile based project.
I saw, amongst many others - the very talented Sue Stratford of The Knitting Hut and Knitted Meercats fame, Erika Knight helping Lucy Bush of Woolaballoo on her stand, those incredibly helpful guys at Knitting4Fun, Kate Heppell, editor of Knit Now, Karen and Susan from the beautiful Mrs Moon and I drooled over (and purchased) the gorgeous fabric and haberdashery at Ray Stitch. I could have spent most of my weekend frequenting these and many other amazing stands, but luckily for my purse I really didn't have time!
We were a little under-staffed for the majority of the weekend due to Katarina being on maternity leave and Helena damaging her knee during a skiing trip. Apologies to anyone we kept waiting - it was SO busy that customers were standing 3 deep at our stand at some points!! Huge and grateful thanks to Yumiko and Maja who stepped in to help out at what was a first retail show for both of them - you did brilliantly! Thanks too to all of you who visited us with pictures of your projects, and for all the lovely, generous comments about our yarn and patterns - we NEVER get tired of hearing just how much you love to knit with our merino yarn.
The Show was another great experience for us with regards to how well recieved the adult collections have been. You all love the newest collection, Colour Coded, with many of you tempted to purchase yarn and patterns there and then for specific garments - I know of at least 2 ladies who were so excited that they were going to cast on as soon as they got home! I hope you are both making good progress, and please send any pics of your projects to info@millamia.com or post them on our group page on Ravelry - we'd love to see them!
(posted by Max)
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