A Trip to London

... not to see the Queen, but to see some Quilts at the V&A with some fellow knitters from The Yarn Yard group on Ravelry.
I am quite ashamed to say, despite living in London for about 7 years I had never visited the V&A before. I headed straight for the museum last Thursday morning and had a mooch around. I found some amazing knitting...
A Child's Sock, in cotton, knitted in the first half of the 19th Century.

Or what about this "Daisy Cap" from 1836-40, again knitted in cotton

Such amazing, delicate, intricate work. Did babies and children really wear such things?
I loved the architecture of the building; the tiles, the floors, the ceilings. This is the cafe:

The alliums were out in bloom in the courtyard garden.

I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, despite never having made a quilt in my life. The workmanship in some of the older quilts was just phenomenal. The stories behind some of the others - like the quilt made by convicts on the way to Tasmania; and the quilt made by children in the POW camp for their teacher were particularly moving.
My favourite quilt was a fairly early one, made in silks in a simple triangular pattern. The colours were rich and so well thought out.
I also loved the Liberty print Union Flag quilt on the postcard below.
After a relaxing cup of tea and some sock knitting in the gardens

(Photo courtest of Picperfic)
we headed over to All the Fun of the Fair in Kingly Court, just off Carnaby Street.

We met the owner, Buzz, and had a good browse around before sitting down with Alice for Knit Night(of Socktopus and Knit Nation fame)

I made some purchases, two skeins of Koigu to make a baby surprise jacket or a mitred baby jacket for the bump, two vintage iron-on applique patches, star buttons that look good enough to eat and two fab cards (from the V&A)

Finally, on the way home, I managed to take a quick picture of Mr Stripy - part of the Elephant Parade.

A good day indeed