Maidstone Knitters caught KIP-ping ...

(13.6.2006 - sorry, Blogger is being awkward right now about pics, will have to try uploading these tomorrow.
14.6.2006 - still not happening, will keep trying)

Saturday was a very l-o-o-o-o-n-g day ... Holly and Emily and I left the house before 7am to get a bus to Maidstone, and because we arrived so early, I treated them to breakfast in McDonalds ... (actually the only meal I would ever contemplate buying in there). Feeling somewhat more wide awake, and in much better tempers, we sauntered down to the Chequers Centre to find Hazel and her husband Chris attempting to arrange stuff on a very tiny table, which became even more crowded as I unloaded magazines, scarves, yarn and spare knitting needles.

According to the rules of the shopping centre's management team, we had to be set up by 9am, which we managed to do (but we had to be there till 4.30 in the afternoon, before we would be allowed to pack up again). It was already shaping up to be a very hot day, but luckily we had been placed near to the air conditioning vents, so we were nice and cool all day (and Hazel was delighted to note that we were right next to an ice cream stand)

Emily spotted Hazel's big needles, and decided that she wanted to try out the ones I'd made the previous day (which was fine by me as my wrist was still playing up quite badly). I found some thick yarn for her, and cast on 10 stitches, and then she amazed me by remembering how to knit all by herself (though the last time she did it must have been at least a year ago), and had completed several rows by the time the photographer from the local paper arrived. He decided that the big needles were just the thing for his photo, and took loads of photos mainly just of Emmy and her knitting, and some with me as well (hope he uses the one of the ones with just her in it, though!) - we are rather hoping that a picture of a young knitter will be very good for encouraging others to give it a go ...

Meanwhile, Hazel was showing Holly how to finger knit, from the photos on Pixeldiva's Flickr gallery - Holly was delighted by how easy it was, and managed to create a long skinny scarf, which she is going to decorate with some beads, and put tassels on the ends (you can see the WIP in the photo here), one thing that really pleased me was that she gained sufficient confidence as a result to be able to explain what she was doing to someone passing by - and Chris was busy setting up the french knitter to keep Hazel supplied with i-cord to knit a thick scarf on her big needles - she had managed to teach herself to knit backwards, so that she wouldn't have to turn the work, and purl as well - good thinking 'cos purl stitch with needles that big is likely to cause an injury to someone (if not the knitter, then some hapless soul out shopping), and we certainly didn't want to have to make a claim on the Public Liability insurance that Chris managed to organise for us (another shopping centre rule that we had to comply with) ...

Patricia and Cecilia arrived with more stuff for the stand, and Mary turned up to say hello as well, and the nice man from the shopping centre had managed to get us an extra table to give us more space, so Chris went off to get some cloths to cover it with, and we rearranged the stand, which was looking really good, and well-filled. By this time there were lots of people in the shopping centre, and it was very entertaining to see so many people doing a 'double take' when they saw Hazel knitting with the huge needles, and many people were intrigued by the french knitting machine (so much more fun than cotton reels with nails! - and of course a damn sight quicker, certainly works for me ...!).

Lots of people came over to chat, and we gave out leaflets about Maidstone Knitters, and information on wool shops in the area, along with all kinds of general chit-chat, like the mad conversation I had with one lady in which we covered such diverse topics as hamsters and the Big Issue magazine. It looks like we might well get a few more members joining us, including (possibly) one little girl who was out with her mother and stopped to learn finger knitting - interestingly, the mother said that she didn't knit, but her daughter did. I found myself demonstrating the Loopa to several people, and in between times, I got on with yet another moebius - on the grounds that this didn't seem to hurt my wrists too much - and which I had finished by the end of the day (all bar darning in the ends), having cast on at the start of our bus ride to Maidstone.

The morning went by quite quickly, as so many people were around, but the afternoon went rather more slowly, mainly due to England having their opening game in the World Cup (much to all the other knitters' disgust :)), so that there weren't so very many people around any more. I had a small radio with me, so that I could listen to the commentary, but couldn't get very good reception - though I did manage to hear England getting the only goal of the match, and let out a very small cheer - so I had to give up on it, and wait till we got home. Margaret and Jackie came along, and stayed to knit, which swelled the numbers, and some of us (me, anyway) now have great plans for bathroom mats from recycled clothing, having seen the one in progress (what a very good idea!)

Emily's friend Emma and her mummy turned up unexpectedly, and came over to say hello, and they kindly whisked Holly & Emily away to do some shopping - cheers, Maggie & Emma! - they were both starting to look a bit frazzled by then, so it was a welcome break for us all. Holly came back with a new bikini (for the bargain price of £3), and Emily had a good time in Claire's Accessories for a similar amount. Then Emily went back to Emma's house, leaving me and Holly to go home on the bus (that child has brains!), and Holly went round with my camera (so you have her to thank for the photos!), taking photos of the stand.

The last half hour dragged the most, and we were all pretty tired by then (but Hazel still managed to have enough energy left to do an interview over the phone with the local paper, and give them loads of information, so here's hoping for a good write up, chaps!), so we were all pretty glad when we got to 4.30, and could pack up at last - believe me it's a lot quicker clearing up than it is setting up - must have taken us at least a minute :), then Holly & I went to catch the bus home.