Yarn, Champagne & Chocolate Cake

Thursday, June 30th was a very important day in the Dublin knitting community. It was Yarniversary day. This Is Knit, a gorgeous yarn store in the city centre, celebrated its 5th birthday in style. My eldest son had broken his arm that week and we had spent two days in Cavan & Drogheda hospitals so it was great to be able to sneak off on the bus for the day on my own.

I met a few of the twitter knitters (aka “the knitterati”) in Yamamori for lunch before the party and we headed on to the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre after that for the main event.

Tickets were €5 but the entire amount was donated to the Irish Cancer Society. On the way in, everyone received a goody bag with a Debbie Bliss Knitting magazine, a SOAK sample and a 10% discount voucher which is redeemable within the next six months.

It was so exciting when we arrived. There was a great buzz in the loft and it was such a chance to meet the designers present.

The fabulous lace & colourwork designer Kieran Foley was there. I adore his designs. I’m going to make it my goal to knit one of them next year. Such a quiet & unassuming man and such talent. A really nice guy.

Another designer present was the enormously talented Aoibhe Ní Shúilleabháin. She makes crochet rock. Her pieces are like crochet architecture. Unbelievably beautiful. Crochet isn’t my forte but I could happily look at her creations day.

I was so looking forward to seeing Carol Feller and her designs again. She was with a few of us for lunch but had to rush off to set up. She had some favourite classics along with her like Captiva & Centrique (both of which I loved knitting) along with new designs from her upcoming book “Contemporary Irish Knits”. There are some really exciting designs in the book. Looking forward to getting a signed copy somehow. Carol seems to never stop and is full of such enthusiasm and inspiration. She makes being a mum of four boys look so easy (which, of course, we all know it is).

The first ever item that I knit & completed when I started knitting was a lovely garter stitch rib cardigan for Rory in a lovely wine shade of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. Over the next few months after that I grew in skill and confidence as a knitter by following some classic and much-loved patterns in many of Debbie Bliss’s Baby pattern books so it was great to finally meet her. She spoke with such passion about her designs and the whole process behind the selection of yarns that you had to love her. She had a huge selection of garments from her Autumn/Winter 2011 collection and we were all encouraged to try them on. She had explained that all were knit as a size 34 but most designs would fit all sizes. It was a revelation. Usually if knitting a cardigan for myself (which is rare) I’d go up a few sizes but the resulting cardi is then heavy & shapeless. I tried on a few of the Debbie Bliss items and will definitely be knitting two – one a warm, cosy winter jacket in her new yarn Riva and the other a fabulous cross-over cardigan in another new yarn, Paloma. Everyone that tried on the second cardigan loved it. I predict an epidemic of them this side of Christmas. Hope This Is Knit doesn’t run out of Paloma yarn.

I got Debbie to sign one of the many books of hers that I own and she was so nice. We had a quick chat about some of her designs and Sineadr & Sweensie got a picture of me chatting to her.

There was a huge yarn table too with lots of yarn on special offer. I may have succumbed to some Debbie Bliss Andes but it was all in the name of squishiness & gorgeous luxury softness.

There was a great atmosphere all evening & a real community feel about the room. It was a fabulous day of yarn, Champagne, Chocolate cake & great friends. What’s not to love? I also got some knitting time on the bus journey home.

Congratulations This Is Knit. Here’s to the next Yarniversary. Booking my ticket already.