The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia

It’s been a busy week but all week I’ve been looking forward to visiting The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia. It’s been a few years since I last went but you can never have enough fabric shopping. I deposited the children at school, hopped on the tube and found myself outside London Olympia.

The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show is pretty similar to the other Knitting and Stitching Show I frequently go to at Ally Pally. This year it’s on between the 2nd-5th March and sells itself as the definitive event for anyone with a love of textile based crafts. There are supplies, workshops and textile art.

I wasn’t expecting to buy anything but as soon as I saw the shopping area that thought went out the window. There were over 200 specialist exhibitors and I really enjoyed visiting them all. I made sure I got to the Show as it opened so it was easy to get round. I visited the stands I already love, buying some kits from Janet Clare, and found lots of new to me stands too. I particularly loved the Daisy and Grace stand, they had some beautiful, fresh craft kits. I also picked up some Japanese fabric to try my hand at sashiko stitching and some gorgeous Liberty scraps, just because who doesn’t need Liberty fabric in their stash?!

I spent far more than I had bargained for but I don’t often get to fabric shops so it was a real joy to look around.

As well as the shopping area there were over 150 workshops. These all looked great and you could book some on the day. There was the Creative Living Theatre, The Dressmaking Studio as well as demonstrations and inspirational galleries. The Show was getting really busy by the time I left but you could easily stay all day as there were plenty of places to sit and have a coffee or lunch. I can’t wait to go again, next time I hope to grab a friend and make a day of it.