Going completely Loopy

Sorry, that is the most terrible pun. I am almost, but not quite, ashamed of myself.

I had such a lovely day yesterday! The lovely Alice organised a bloggy trip to Loop for a knitting workshop; I have to confess that I had no idea until I arrived what the workshop was going to be about, but I did know I wanted to go as soon as I found out who else was going - Tracy, Monica, the famous blogless Kristina, and Ali as well as Alice, of course. I am the last to write about this, which given it's only 24 hours since we arrived home is probably some sort of measure of how much fun we all had!

It was a hot hot hot day in Islington, but all was calm and cool in the depths of the Loop basement. Well, that is until we all started to confess our past knitting disasters and giggle and mess about. I felt very sorry for our extremely elegant and very patient teacher Linda, but I hope she secretly enjoyed it as much as we did.


We learned all about different techniques for sewing together pieces of knitting, making buttonholes that actually look like buttonholes and not mistakes, and three needle casting off - it's a wonder I didn't have to have a quiet lie down before my brain exploded.

There were gifts! Ali made everyone a very lovely little pouch, each one adorned with a personalised stamp, and the stamp itself inside the pouch!! I can't tell you how long I've coveted one of Ali's stamps - and this one couldn't be more perfect for a dotty person who drinks tea till it comes out of her ears. And chocolate from Alice for the Smalls, which disappeared within minutes of my welcome home. You do realise you have attained mythical status with those two, Mrs M?



We feasted under the trees on delicious quiche made by Tracy with eggs from her own chickens, and salads, and wine, and there was even an embroidered tablecloth - the height of sophistication.



Oh, and these cupcakes which we tried to convince Ali she should pretend she had made herself. They were divine - see those pretty things on the top? Dried strawberries. Oh, Yes Indeedy.



What a day it was. The workshop and the food and the wool were all marvellous but the best part was the way everyone chatted and laughed and got on so well it was hard to believe we hadn't all known each other for ages. Thank you for letting me come along, you're all marvellous! We really do need to have a vast blog picnic one of these days ...