Oh what a weekend

Another busy weekend beginning with a nifty knitting show over at the Horticultural Hall near Victoria Station sponsored by the I Knit London Shop near Waterloo Station.When the knitting renaissance began in the States ten years ago, London was a backwater for craft supplies of any sort and was progressively shutting down all the most popular sites. The go-to department store John Lewis on Oxford Street had a floor devoted to sewing fabrics and yarns in 1998 and that was pretty much gone a year later. The loss of Liberty's fabric floor at about the same time was like the violation of a World Heritage Site. On my first trip to London in 1974, I hyperventilated in Liberty's fabric department. Bob had to take me outside to calm me down before I could breathe evenly and buy a yard or two of Tana Lawn from the massive display. Even as knitting shops were opening by the day in the States in the early years of the 21st century (isn't that a great historical line!), Liberty's moved their entire yarn department into a little alcove behind the stairwell where if one customer and the shop assistant were in the alcove, there was no room for a second customer. The only yarn available at either John Lewis or Liberty was Rowan -- I'm not counting the cheap synthetics since I am never more than barely aware of their existence yarn snob that I am -- but the saving grace at the time was that Rowan had gorgeous, affordable yarns that were so desirable it didn't matter they were the only game in town. I'm not sure where Rowan went wrong, but I never even look at Rowan yarns these days. I knit a sweater for Bibs last year from a cotton-wool blend that did not feel nice to work with and looked worn out after one washing.

Slowly the world's wonderful yarns have been slipping into England. In London the shops Loop and Stash were opened by American ex-pats. Loop in Islington is not a favourite although lists usually proclaim it to be the premier London shop. I was there with Susan the opening weekend, excited to be buying some patterned sock yarn, previously unavailable in England, and the owner asked me if knitting socks was fun because she had never tried knitting a sock. Hmm I thought, not a shop for advice then. Loop is really a yarn boutique, nice yarn if a bit expensive, and if knitting is not your interest, very nice knitted gifts to buy at a premium price. I have only ever been to Stash once, and it was terrific, but involves a train ride to Putney, which isn't so difficult, but not something I think about doing. The UK is great for mail order too -- well maybe not now with the endless postal strikes that are carrying on -- but ordinarily, the on-line shops are well stocked, the country is small, the regular postage costs are not onerous, so things are often in hand within one or two days.

When I Knit London moved to Waterloo a few years ago, I began to go there for the odds and ends I need. They have a wonderful variety of stock including a lot of small British yarn producers and dyers/painters that are both beautiful and reasonably priced. Their website is
www.iknit.org.uk and offers a link to the weekly newsletter which usually has interesting tidbits even if you don't live in or around London. I went to the show early on Friday when it wasn't very crowded, so it was easy to look and touch and feel. I bought unusual fibres, silky Chinese bamboo, very fine hemp, a cashmere-silk blend, and some gorgeously dyed merino. The publishers of Sew Hip! magazine had a table because they publish a knitting magazine Yarn Forward, so I was able to pick up a few back issues of Sew Hip! too.

Friday evening, we went to a fantastic concert at the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank. We have gone to many Waterson/Carthy concerts over the years in the various combinations and groups they perform with, but this was a special Waterson Family concert. Norma, Martin, and Eliza, with Mike, his wife and two daughters, and the late Lal's son and daughter. In the middle, Eliza did a set with her band. It was a wow evening. . .a reprise to a similar show they did at the Albert Hall two years ago, that we managed to miss. We never heard Lal Waterson live, but the commentary is that her daughter is the image and sound of her. Bob of course bought the career box set of CDs so we have been listening to a lot of East Yorkshire music since Friday night.

Saturday and Sunday were devoted to Susan's Big Event. Last spring she was awarded a £14,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to do an oral history for the 30th Anniversary of Burgh House's opening as a community centre. Saturday was street festival day in Hampstead, so we spent the day passing out announcements of Sunday's schedule of events at Burgh House to the people wandering through Hampstead for the Gayton Road Festival and for Gail's Bakery's Food Festival. Saturday was lovely weather, a bit cool, but sunny, so there were mobs of people to leaflet.

Sunday dawned cold and grey, and sadly remained cold and grey all day. The morning event -- speeches and birthday cake went very well -- Susan gave a rousing speech that touched everyone. One of the reasons she pursued the grant was the realisation that many of the people who saved Burgh House were getting on in years and would not always be around to share their stories. She was most upset because Ian Norrie, a writer and owner of a Hampstead bookstore for many years, who she had interviewed for the project and had quite liked, was gravely ill in hospital. And had in fact died the day before, we later learned. Christopher Wade, founder of the Hampstead Museum with his late wife Diana, started off with a great joke about how "he was of the age where you wonder whether to buy green bananas....." It took everyone a moment, before the room was convulsed in laughter. I may never buy another banana without contemplating mortality.

The afternoon of public events began very slowly -- worryingly slowly. The Buttery cafe has become very popular, and on Sunday is ordinarily standing room only, but the patio was empty. The cold weather? Festival fatigue? By mid-afternoon, everything was hopping at last. The short walking tours of the neighbourhood around Burgh House were well-subscribed, as was the informal piano concert, and the talk on Dr Gibbons who owned the house during the 1720s. My contribution, as a Friend of Burgh House, was a tour of the House itself. I had a very small audience, but it was scheduled for the lunch hour, so that was a factor. We may try to do more scheduled tours in the future. We walked with Ed Wolf on his New End excursion which was erratic, eccentric, and wonderful. He showed us places I never knew existed. Then he announced New End was boring and took us down to Gainsborough Gardens which was not boring! All in all a huge success for Susan.

Bob and I were knackered at the end of the day. Fortunately, we had some corn chowder in the fridge, and some delicious smoked fish spread I bought at Gail's Food Festival from Pinney's of Orford -- a town in Suffolk (that seems to smoke a lot of fish, and oysters too) where we have eaten more than once at Butley's with its 1950s interior and ambiguous menu. By googling, I have just discovered that Butley's and Pinney's have the same ownership (www.butleyorfordoysterage.co.uk ). Orford has a lovely church and a fun castle to explore too. The corn in the chowder was from Riverford. I accidently ordered two bags so I have to still deal with a few more ears. The flavour was not too bad, but the sweetness and tenderness is just not there even in fresh organic corn.

It was a good night to watch DVDs, so we popped in more episodes of Damages Season 2. I love Glenn Close, not so much Rose Byrne who does only seem to have one facial expression, but the twists and turns of the plot does keep the blood pumping. Our first year in London we went to Heathrow to meet Megan's plane for the Christmas holiday, and Glenn Close was standing near us in the scrum of people waiting for passengers to enter the arrivals hall. She is tiny with a large head, like most actresses, and she looked exactly like Glenn Close on screen, despite no make-up and waiting-at-the-airport casual clothes. Maureen Lipman, a famous London stage actress, once said in an interview that she never had a film career because she wasn't tiny with an outsize head which is what the camera needs for the best screen shots. It's been true of the three actresses I have seen in the flesh recently: Helena Bonham-Carter, Imelda Staunton, and Alison Steadman.