Last Friday saw me battling through the chill in London to the first ever Christmas party from the beautiful ladies at Pom Pom Quarterly. It had been a long, long week which meant I had missed both yoga and knit night, so I was looking forward to some chill time, and I certainly got that…

Pom Pom Party

First off, let me say that Meghan and Lydia had done an amazing job of decorating the Crypt at Christ Church Spitalfields. There was an amazing road of candles leading into the building, and inside was a big stage with plenty of Christmas greenery, pom-poms, a washi tape Christmas tree, a bar serving cranberry gin and mulled wine, and a big cheese, biscuits and popcorn table.

There was also a clothes rail featuring knitted items from Pom Pom Quarterly, which was incredible – I chose two projects from the most recent issue which I want to knit in the New Year, that on paper hadn’t really excited me that much but seeing them in the flesh was amazing.

The thing that kept me occupied most of the night was the yarn market…of course! There were some wonderful vendors there, and I had a really good look at all of them and spent far too much money. I am going to blame this on PayPal, and enablers from my knitting group – it definitely has nothing to do with poor self control.

I spent a lot of time hanging out at the Kettle Yarn Co stall, largely because I enjoyed stroking the camel and silk fingering yarn…and also because Linda goes to the same knitting group and we were having a great time partaking of the beverages. I did eventually buy some of this yarn, in “Westminster” – I originally bought it with a blue highlight, but changed it to a purple one (although I did nearly buy both).

I spent a good time chatting to the proprieter of Lionness Arts, Dani, another knit night pal. I spent a long time asking her about the ins and outs of doing this with acid dye (does anyone remember my disastrous attempt at dyeing my handspun?!) and she definitely made me eager to try it out again…so watch this space!

The Skein Queen also contributed to this conversation, with a comparison of the yarn from Lionness Arts massively increasing my understanding of dyeing yarn. I loved both of these stalls but had definitely run out of money by the time I got round to them and didn’t manage to blow any more cash on the beautiful colours.

The Uncommon Thread is where my ambition to not spend to much fell down. There was a skein of the brightest pink yarn that was catching my eye all night – everytime I walked past it, I touched it, said NO firmly to myself, and walked on. The last time I did this, yet another knit night buddy was standing near me and she totally enabled me. I bought it…and a gorgeous blue skein to go with it. No idea what I’m going to make with it, but I don’t care!

I also made a purchase from Art Equals Happy, using a Secret Santa exchange as an excuse to buy some beautiful 100% British Wool in a chunky yarn. Not more to say there as the exchange hasn’t happened yet, but I loved all of her beautifully quirky and rustic fibre, and kept being drawn back.

For yarn purchases, I am relieved to say I ended there, but I did get two patterns as well…

One from p/hop, a great charity where the name is Pennies Per Hours of Pleasure, where you simply donate a price you think is fair for the pattern. I donated £2.50 for the Riviera Neckerchief, a pattern I have been after for absolutely ages.

The second was from East London Knit, another KN friend and a gorgeous pattern for Invader Mitts, based on the space invader type characters that can be found all over London as well as other cities including Paris, Bristol and so forth.

I can’t wait to get started on all of my purchases, knitting Christmas presents is definitely feeling very old and I am itching to start some other projects!

When I wasn’t casually spending all of my wages, I was wandering around chatting to a huge number of people, whilst quietly marvelling at how many people I actually knew at the party, and on the London knitting scene. A number of hilarious conversations ensued, encouraged by the mulled wine and gin, including discussions about facial hair, moth-killing and copious numbers of jokes about yarn-overs. I was definitely in my special place.

The music was also fantastic, with a number of indie bands singing and playing some of the most mellow, gorgeous music I’ve heard at an event for a long time. It was perfect for the mood of the party, the balance of music to chat volume was excellent, and I loved the eclectic mix of instruments being used.

So, that’s it for the Pom Pom Party. I want to offer my congratulations to Lydia and Meghan for pulling it off so spectacularly, as well as for producing such a generally amazing publication. If you have never tried Pom Pom Quarterly, I suggest you pop on over and have a look. You won’t be disappointed (and if you are wondering what to ask for as a Christmas present…a subscription is just £37…)

Much love,

Corrie

PS Don’t forget you can enter my celebratory giveaway for £25 of Etsy gift card to spend…a few of these gorgeous vendors are selling on Etsy, it could be a good opportunity…