It was wonderful.

It was brilliantly organised, and there were plenty of stewards, so that the capacity crowd – this event is obviously a huge success – scarcely suffered. It began when we were queuing before nine to get in for the class-attenders’ private hour at the market. People passed among us inspecting our class tickets and dispensing golden wrist-bands. All we had to do when the magic hour struck was walk in past the gate-keeper holding a hand aloft.

I have never seen such a market – and I’ve been to Stitches. Admittedly, not to Rhinebeck. It would be interesting to compare.

Several of you spoke to me (on account of my Thanks Obama bag) – that was nice. The first one, while we were still in that queue outside, had a Strachur Primary School bag of her own. That’s where Alexander and Ketki’s sons began their education, on Loch Fyne. Other people congratulated me on the bag for its own sake.

I didn’t wear knitting, but instead my new sweat shirt, whose only previous outing had been on Chrstmas Day:

And, sure enough! I met an Oberlin knitter. She was actually in Hazel Tindall’s class! If we can get Arthur Dent’s Infinite Improbability Drive to work that well at Twickenham tomorrow…

In the market: I bought the colours I couldn’t supply from stash, to make up the colour scheme for Alexander’s Fair Isle vest. 

I decided against the Brooklyn Tweed "Arbor" yarn for the Nila pattern, beautiful as it is. It cost something like £13 a skein, and I needed something like 15 skeins. That's too much, considering that I was doubtful about the pattern. But I can tell you that Jared was there, first thing in the morning and still there when I re-attacked the market after lunch. He looks younger than I expected. I also saw Gudrun Johnston (this year's patron of Shetland Wool Week) and Kate Davies and Carol Feller, among others.

I didn’t buy Baa Ram Ewe’s yarn for the shorter Ancasta, either. I didn’t like it quite well enough, face to face.

I did buy the Samite for Nancy’s Vest. I regretted that purchase almost as soon as made. I chose what I thought was a dusty red. It turned brown as soon as I had paid for it, but looks perhaps slightly better this evening.

I bought two skeins of Sweet Georgia sock yarn (=washable) for Mary Lou’s Pollywog Popover pattern from Drop Dead Easy Knits, one solid, one variegated. I’ll have an incentive to do that one soon, before the great-grandchildren start school. And I added an (expensive) mini-skein set also from Sweet Georgia. Mini-skeins were everywhere, as expected.

Hazel Tindall’s class was wonderful. She is delightful. I’ll have to write more about that tomorrow. For now, I’ll just tell you that Hazel Tindall doesn’t finish a steek – neither reinforcing it before cutting, nor hemming the facing in any way. That’s if she’s just knitting a sweater for herself. If she’s aiming at a competition, she takes more trouble. For the judges’ sake – the steek doesn’t need it.

So now I’ve got the yarn, and I’ve taken a class with Hazel Tindall. All we need is the Calcutta Cup.