October 28, 2009

Bonjour…I’m back!...Back from London and Paris. And I didn’t gain any weight, although I ate like the Queen’s Pet Pig!

The Knitting and Stitching Show at the Alexandra Palace in London was fabulous, filled with creativity, and attended by over 40,000 people (many of the knitters and crocheters) over a four-day period. There we hundreds of exhibitors representing the stitching and craft world. One great booth was The Guild Of Machine Knitters Ltd.

I saw a lot of old friends and made new ones, signed a lot of books, and was happy with the Brits' reaction to my new book Knitting A Kiss In Every Stitch (released in the U.S. on Nov 2). They particularly loved the shot of Barkley (the dog on the cover, pictured below) and their enthusiasm for the knitted gift designs was encouragingly enthusiastic. Also got many compliments on Knitting In Tuscany. One charming lady that I had met last year gave me a homemade greeting card with one of my knitted flowers on the front (left). I was very touched. Thank you, Linda.

The hardworking folks at my British distributor GMC were generous and fun to be with. Tony, Georgina, Emma, Mel and Beth were great, and GMC head Jonathan Phillips showed up with his beautiful wife Robin and their adorable 16-month-old son Felix. I was also a judge, along with 4 designers/editors, in the young student designer’s knitting competition. It was so hard to judge because every piece was spectacular, and I’m here to tell you that British knitting, crocheting, embroidery and quilting enthusiasm and creativity are alive and well! At the entrance to the show was a wonderful seaworthy boat completely covered with knit and crochet patterns, including yarn sea creatures, worked on by over 350 knitters. You can read more about it by going online under Casting Off: A Coat for a Boat.

While I was working, Mr. E did an in-depth study of London Pubs and reported his findings to all of us.

After the show we hopped the Eurostar Chunnel train for Paris and a week of relaxation. The weather could not have been better. Paris is as magical as ever, although the Euro rate takes some of the magic out of it. We dined at some old favorite bistros, Polidor, Brasserie Isle St. Louis, and Chez Denise. My travel consultant, Mr. E, discovered 3 new fabulous places—Chez Dumont Josephine, Le Rubis, and Chez L’Ami Jean, which is a modest but charming bistro with world-class cuisine. We dined on duck confit, rillettes, choucroute, pheasant and drank lots of lovely and inexpensive wine. We also got to go to the Bastille Market on Sunday with the most wonderful array of foods, clothing, antiques etc. I bought chocolate (not as much as I usually do), a few Christmas gifts, rose earrings and an amazing dinosaur kit for a friend.

We also got to La Drougerie yarn shop and visited the great yarn collection at the Bon Marché Department Store, probably the largest collection in Paris.

I got some inspiration from the fashions I saw in the shops, and it sparked my creativity so that I was designing on the plane trip home. At De Gaulle airport my 2 inch scissors with rounded edges were confiscated by French security…I nearly cried…but, they allowed my pointed 14-inch steel knitting needles to go through. Go figure! C’est la vie!

But, back to reality—I’m trying to get a lot done before I leave on October 31st, for not one, but two back-to-back knitting/teaching cruises to Mexico. I tell you all about it when I get back…if I survive the midnight chocolate buffets. Oy!

Hasta la vista,
Keep knitting…keep in touch!

Nicky