Just got back from this show, it was ok, I remember going to one more or less the same about 6 years ago at Don Valley.

Down points: far to crowded to get to see very much, far far too many 'papercraft' stalls, heard alot of complaints about this, from both stall holders and other visitors, how many peel-off's and toppers can one person want??

The up side of this though was that most of the pushing and shoving was around these stalls, so me and my lot could freely wander around the (very few) yarn stalls.

They had advertised that there would be knitting workshops, and on the big boards behind the lady in charge of the workshops it said Knitting as well as how to make paper things out of more papery paper things, but when I asked when the knitting workshops would be, she said there weren't any :rant: and indeed she was right.

Out of a hundred stalls there were about 3 dedicated yarn stalls, two of which had just thrown bags of yarn on the floor and expected us to rummage through them, then pay around £30 for the pleasure of taking some of their old stock home.

The one decent yarn stall which had gorgeous dyed merino, mohair and wool in large hanks was sadly let down by the most miserable bloke on earth owning it, but the prices were really good.

I got:
a 500g hank of hand dyed pure wool (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/jmb123/ca5cca2d.jpg) for £8, in green shades
A 250g hank of Merino hand dyed in burnt orange and browns (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/jmb123/a0b6e7a2.jpg) for £4.50
and a 250g hank of pure wool in purples (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/jmb123/7ed41eeb.jpg) for £4.00

I also found three Sirdar Bigga (http://www.yarnmarket.com/images/ACF64.jpg) balls on another stall for £1.99 each, which I thought was a bargain as i'm sure it's alot more in Hobycraft.

I wouldn't bother going again to this show but if you like paprcrafts then it'd be heaven wi' door shut.

hmph at stalls selling made items :rant:

Now don't get me wrong, there were a few stalls selling items the seller themselves had made, such as one young girl who had made the most gorgeous felted items, bags and such, and i'm sure thre were probably alot of already made cards on sale, which I think is fair enough, and great for the crafter to get some recognition for their hard work (at £100 a stall though I hope they sold ALOT!)

What really annoyed me was the stalls selling obviously imported manufactured goods, such as handbags, those copper miracle bracelets, one stall was selling underwear (I was tempted to ask where the kits were for making the bra's lol) as well as stalls selling manufactured knitwear.

If I wanted to buy these things I'd just go into town.

On the positive side there were a couple of stalls run by charities selling quilted items and some hand knitted items knitted by the volunteers, which were really nice, I fell in love with a large shawl but it was out of my price range :(

I've been to the Harrogate one both '04 and '05, and must say you could see that the paper craft stalls were on the increase, folk just swarmed to these and crammed as much card as they could in the packs. I plan to go this November and hope the majority of stalls and exhibits are not too crafty, mum and I love the new fabrics and knitting stuff

...What really annoyed me was the stalls selling obviously imported manufactured goods, such as handbags, those copper miracle bracelets, one stall was selling underwear (I was tempted to ask where the kits were for making the bra's lol) as well as stalls selling manufactured knitwear. ...
Funny you should mention that. I subscribe to an embroidery magazine called 'Workbox'; it's an excellent publication, especially if you're doing City & Guilds. Anyhow, a year or so ago there was a flurry of letters about certain shows that had been advertised in the magazine in the 'What's On' section, criticising the lack of relevent stalls, and the emphasis on just the things you describe.

The publication wasn't at fault - they'd advertised the shows in good faith - and the editor was very supportive in his responses (yes, a male editor!).

I wouldn't have minded quite so much, at the show I attended, if I'd anticipated such a plethora of those sorts of stalls. It would certainly have prompted me to think about whether I really wanted to attend. Even if I hadn't moved north of the border, so moving out of traveling distance of the NEC, I doubt whether I would have gone back in subsequent years.

I've been to the Harrogate one both '04 and '05, and must say you could see that the paper craft stalls were on the increase, folk just swarmed to these and crammed as much card as they could in the packs. I plan to go this November and hope the majority of stalls and exhibits are not too crafty, mum and I love the new fabrics and knitting stuff
I'm surprised that the Knitting and Stitching Show has quite so many papercraft stalls, especially as there are so many other more suitable shows for those interested, and working in, that area to attend. The name of the show rather gives away what the emphasis should be...

I last attended Harrogate in '99 (I had to think about that; I thought it was more recently - time flies!) and I'm a little fuzzy as to whether crafts other than knitting and stitching were included to any great extent that year. I think I was probably too busy running around the other stalls to take much notice. There were cetainly stalls selling books, bead stalls, stands for the various magazines etc, but I can't recall seeing much that wasn't knitting and stitching related.

It'll be interesting to see how far in that direction the show has gone, seven years after my last visit to Harrogate.

I'm going to the Knitting and Stitching show in a couple of weeks at the NEC. I've been to the last 2 in Harrogate but as they're at the end of November, they get a bit too Christmassy for me if you know what I mean. So, my friend, mother in law and me are going to the NEC one. I'm looking forward to it and really ought not to buy any more stash until then!:gag:

I was going to go to the one at the NEC, but thought i'd try the one at Manchester instead, with it being closer.

I knew it wouldn't be as 'woolly' as the NEC one probably will be, and i'm still toying with the idea of going there as well, but it's my birthday that weekend so will probably be busy doing other things, also after being squashed/trodden on/poked and shoved today i'm really not in the mood for anymore lol