I can confirm that Barcelona Knits! Several people have asked me just that after I told them I was going to the Barcelona Knits Festival 2019! What a festival it has been, I have had a blast and must admit that I have never been to a festival so well organised as this one! The four behind the festival, running for the second time around, are: Anna, aka misswasabi81; Marta, aka tricotoseando; Eva, aka lalanalu and Kiara, aka lalanalu. You can see them at the front in the Instagram photo below. Above you see me photographed against their wall, wearing the Yellow Gold Pullover.

The venue was the World Trade Center in the harbour, I was teaching in the Mohair Classroom and on the television screen outside the door was the name of the workshop, my name and my photo. The view from the classroom was magnificent, just take a look above.

All participants to each workshop received a free ball from one of the sponsors of the festival. I on the other hand received a large box from one of them: Las Hidalgas, a goodie bag from the festival and presents from one of the attendees after my first workshop.

On Sunday 17th, about 1,5 hour after the market hall closed, a group photo was taken of the organisers, vendors and workshop holders. You would not believe how far knitters had travelled to come to this festival. They had come from the US, Peru, Taiwan, Scandinavia, Germany, the UK and Spain, just to mention a few of the nationalities present. I even met two Norwegians I knew from Stavanger at the airport in Oslo going to the same event as me.

I knew that my test knitter, Heidi Torres was coming from Sweden together with three of her friends, since she wrote to me and told me that only two of them got tickets for my workshops “Smart Knitting Techniques” since they were too late in booking. Heidi, aka Heidi197 on Ravelry, was very easy to spot since she wore my design Mistale in a gorgeous bright pink. Above you see us, and I am wearing my Ena. After my first workshop, there were many that wanted to take a photo with me and that was fun!

Michael and I flew in on the Friday afternoon, leaving our house very early in the morning.  Barcelona Knits had booked our flights as well as the hotel for us, it was only about 10 minutes away from the venue. They also offered to organise a taxi from the airport, making it extremely easy for us. Arriving just after us was Susanne Sommer, aka SosuKnits, another workshop holder who flew in from Austria. We went sightseeing on Friday afternoon, before the festival began on Saturday morning at 9am. Just before the market hall opened, the queue to get it went around the inner courtyard, see above. For the second time, the festival hit another record with more than 2 000 visitors. The queue was still there, when I finished my first workshop, so I decided to visit the market hall on the Sunday instead.

My second workshop was “Perfect Fit” and not until 5pm. Straight after the workshop at 8pm, the “Tapas & Yarn Party” began. Michael had spent time in the backstage room (read: husband room) which had a fabulous supply of fruit, water, tea & coffee and snacks. Julie Dubreux, aka JulieKnitsInParis, who I first met at Bergen Strikkefestival; Isabell Kraemer, aka lilalu72, and Anna Maltz aka SweaterSpotter, who I first met at Vienna Wool & Design, all brought their husbands too. Above is one of the exciting yarns on offer in the market hall.

Eva introduced me to the yarn company Las Hidalgas, run by Alberto Diaz, who had asked to meet me and above you can see us talking. I discovered that one of the yarns he had showed me was not in the box I was given, so I came running back in on Sunday just after the market hall had closed. They had already packed down their stand but managed to find the ball I wanted!

The “Tapas & Yarn Party” on Saturday night was at a cool place called Ultramarinos at La Rambla only 10 minutes away from the World Trade Center. A smart move since I came straight from the second workshop to the party, which was limited to 200 people. Michael and I found seats next to the Norwegian yarn dyer Norne Yarn, who had a stand at the festival, and a lovely group of Spanish knitters & crocheters. The food was fabulous and never stopped coming, so many of us were too busy eating to actually knit! To be continued…