I've been going to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace for 4 or 5 years. It's one of my favourite outings and I thought I would share some of the highlights for me this year.

I usually go to Wood Green Underground station and, if the weather is fine, walk to the Palace from there. But there is a shuttle bus just on the opposite side of the crossroads outside the station. This year the weather was sunny and very warm for October, although as I walked up through the park some of the trees were turning yellow to show that it was autumn. I sat outside on the terrace to eat my sandwiches admring the view - you can see the Post Office Tower, the Natwest Tower and Canary Wharf when the weather is clear.
The location of the show gives it an exoticism that most big exhibitions lack. As you enter the building you're faced with a half-dozen large palm trees under a glass roof, and the main hall itself is painted in creams, tans and blues with a gorgeous stained glass rose window in the same colours at the end. The glass roof is underhung with swags of cream cloth for practical purposes but the effect with the sun shining through is to provide a bright but mellow background light.

The first thing that caught my eye when I entered was the Dunsfold Millenium Needlepoint Tapestry. This is a panel 18ftx5ft which is a jigsaw of various motifs sketched in dark red against a background of uneven vertical stripes of several colours, including red, blue and cream. The stitching is done in pearl cotton No. 5 and the background has been overstitched with metallic thread which unifies the whole and makes the motifs stand out in contrast. There are several other large community projects in the same entrance passage which are also fascinating to study.

I usually start at one end of the main hall and walk up and down all the aisles to start with and then go back afterwards to look, and buy <g>, items that have caught my eye. There are also specific stalls that I make a point to visit either because I like the designer featured or the products they have in stock. And, although this may sound like a contradiction, one of the nice things about going to a show which has stalls for areas I'm not interested in is the relaxation of not being tempted to buy everything! So, here in no particular order are some of things that caught my eye. (The numbers are the stand numbers, just in case you see this before you go and want to check them out.)

At Choices (J31) was a beautifully elegant Charles Rennie Mackintosh Alphabet in shades of pink and grey by Roslin Design Studios available in chart form. R&R Enterprises (H21) was stocking sampler patterns by Brenda Keyes for The Sampler Company and had an excellent pattern reference book for sampler fans "Alphabets, Motifs and Borders" by Brenda. The County Needlecraft Ltd. (DV19) stand had a steady stream of visitiors and every time I stopped to look, someone asked about the Celtic Knots design, which is one of their plainest designs but obviously very popular! Barbara Thompson Designs (DV18) always seem to be at the leading edge of what's popular and as well as more Mackintosh designs they also had some lovely Art Nouveau pieces - I particularly liked the stylised perching peacock with trailing tail. Opposite here was Amathusia Designs and Tom Pudding (G18) who had some original designs and free charts which made them very popular.
If any of you read the American magazine Piecework than the latest issue had an article on Arraiolos rug-making in Portugal and Anaci Rug Kits(M11) have just produced a range of designs based on these traditional carpets. They use the Arraiolos stitch which is a long-legged cross stitch which is very hard-wearing. The designs are very vibrant and not overly fussy, so if you like cross stitch and are looking for bigger projects, this may be worth investigating.

Colcards of Malvern (H29) have the most beautiful range of greeting cards taken from old embroideries and other art like pottery. You may have seen a few of their cards in English Heritage shops, but the full collection is stunning. The cards would be ideal to give to stitching friends or to anyone who appreciates something unique. They have in stock at the moment a Christmas collection based on old religious images. Janet Granger Designs (DV20) have the most delightful kits for dollshouse enthusiasts. You can sew a tiny sampler or cushion or a needlework stand with work in progress. You may even feel tempted to go out and buy a dollshouse just to have something to house these dainty items!

Hanging by a Thread (E26) were showing the bonsai trees from The Fei Collection. The designer herself is often at smaller shows and is well worth searching out for her lovely oriental pictures which are simple to sew but well-designed. The next stall West End Embroidery(E7/D6) is a place where I always stop and buy something. They usually have the entire Caron Collection, Kreinik Metallics, Rainbow Gallery threads and designs which show all of these items at their best. The material packs for the designs are good value for money if you compare the prices with buying the individual items required. Millennia Designs (DV4) is one of the most aesthetically pleasing stands to look at, they have about half-a-dozen ranges of designs often using the same colour scheme, which are hung together. They have Egyptian and Mediaeval ranges, also William Morris, Willam de Morgan and Burne Jones (the latter I think is new.) At Spinning Jenny(DV5) they show one of the classic cross stitch designers, someone who can really be called an artist in thread - Thea Gouverneur. Even if you never attempt one of her designs the pleasure of looking at them is worth a visit by itself. Also at this stand were samplers by Permin, the classy Danish company. And while I'm mentioning continental companies, let's not forget Lanarte who were stocked in several stands and have some lovely animal kits just out (lion, zebra, elephants) which include their own custom-dyed evenweave fabric.

As I entered the Textile Galleries at about two o'clock what sounded like the All Clear sounded, followed by strange mechanical noises from the roof which reminded me of spacecraft docking but turned out to be the ceiling vents opening! As well as some of the bigger stands like New Stitches, and Coats Craft Ltd. (who also have free leaflets if you're out foraging) the Galleries have several different exhibitions. Amongst the graduates I liked Jane Cole's very wearable scarf designs and Christina Brown's pick-me-up-and-wiggle-me cushions. In case you don't make it to the show, Christina had half-filled hollow plastic tubes with coloured powders and then sewn them together in a way reminiscent of Native American quillwork. Moving the cushions causes the powder in the tubes to shift and creates a different pattern. Elizabeth Gibbons sells Antique Textiles and had a wonderful collection of beadwork including a case of bags that you almost had to fight to get a glance into!

Quilts from several exhibitions were on show. The wonderfully witty cricket piece by Jennie Lush in cream shaped like a pullover and with cables picked out on the vertical. I also liked The City which is made of strips of mens suits and ties and gives the impression of a mass of business men marching towards you. Two particularly beautiful quilts were Tarian Anu (which I may have spelt wrong, but which means Golden Shield) and Cathedral Window. Images in Stitch was a collection by several textile artists, I especially liked Dorren Brewster's brown and green studies of old architecture but there was certainly something to suit all tastes here.

Also an area to suit all tastes was the 10/10 display! The 10/10 was this year's competition and entrants had to fill a 10x10 wooden frame with a design - the frame was the only thing that was square for many of the designs! All kinds of techniques were used, and all dimensions, there was even a cross-section of a pyramid <g>. I'm just going to list a few that I enjoyed but I'm sure you'll find your own favourites if you visit (the frames will also be on show in Dublin and Harrogate). 3.14 was a decadently rich purple study of a flower and 4.22 a luxuriously rich ruby hardanger piece. 3.42 was a quilted angel and 4.270 was what looked like a close-up of the angel's face. 3.48 and 3.61 were both based on triangle designs and used similar colours and would make a lovely pair hung together. 4.58 and 4.330 were both abstract cityscapes capturing the essence of citiy skylines without the grime. 4.43 and 4.44 were by the same artist and were detailed plant studies. 4.14 was a lovely impressionist view of a cathedral that I so liked that I put a blind bid in for it.
(Apologies to the creators of these fine pieces that I didn't write down your names.)

And that's all folks!

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