The Knitting Tent: September 2011

How it all began....

A few years ago, some of the members of our local(ish) knitting group, Bolton Knitting Noras, decided it would be a jolly good idea to take our skills on the road and teach the world to knit and crochet. So we got ourselves a little gazebo and off we went. We visited festivals and green fairs, meeting lots of new friends and picking up a few new skills ourselves.

Thanks to Lisa, Bev, Eadaoin, Jen, Lesley, Caroline, Ani, everyone who has ever knitted/crocheted with us and, most of all, one of our knitting group founders Sarah, for a fantastic few years of mud, stitches and lots of fun.

We recently graduated to a proper canvas traders tent and so I, Jacky (Wigan Pixie), have decided to blog about our adventures on the road.

We do not charge for workshops and often give away needles, hooks and yarn, relying on donations of supplies and expenses, frequent visits to the charity shop and selling whatever we can, to keep the show on the road. If you would like to donate, or even offer occasional help, please get in touch.

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Green Peaks Eco Festival 2011

We were recently very lucky to be invited to take part in the first Green Peaks Eco Festival in Derbyshire. It is a beautiful site and you can find more about it here http://www.knockerdown-inn.co.uk/

We were situated in the Earth Field, amongst spinners, masseurs, willow weavers, upcyclers and, best of all, the cake and coffee tent.

After a slow start, we got our first pupils. Sadly we had to concede that crochet certainly wasn't for one of them but the other was naturally gifted.

Here are a couple more photos of some of our new knitting friends, all of whom helped to make the weekend very special indeed.

Despite having some very talented pupils, special mention has to go to our two star pupils.

The young man on the left of the photo had even spun his own fleece, with the help of the lovely ladies from Chorlton Craft Workshops, who then sent him over to us to learn to knit it up.

Despite Ani and I working very hard, with Ryland and Welshy helping out behind the scenes, we still had time to have a good mooch around the site and even have a bit of fun dancing our collective arses off to Dub Pistols on Saturday night. If you ever get the chance to see these guys I recommend that you do, you will not be disappointed. We even took part in the making of a video by our lovely Transition Town neighbours.

Here are a few more random photos (taken by Welshy) of the rest of the fezzie.

All in all it was a brilliant little festival, thanks to the organisational skills of Tez, Aimee and Maria, and I recommend that everyone should try to get there next year. If you do, don't forget to call in and say hello to us in The Knitting Tent.