Spitting Yarn

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I lost my Edinburgh Fringe virginity this weekend. I don’t know why it took me so long!

Somehow, I’ve never made it up there, most usually because I haven’t thought about it until too late. Thankfully, DB is rather more organised than me, so we booked flights, accommodation and a couple of shows and away we went.

I did, of course, do my yarn research before I went. Scary Bez from over at The adventures of the silver bullet (great name!) helped me out by recommending HK handknit, a yarn shop on Bruntsfield Place. Not being one to turn down an LYS recommendation, DB and I duly trekked on down there.

It was a lovely, well-stocked yarn shop with a pleasing variety of yarn and notions, staffed by a friendly, chatty lady. If you find yourself in Edinburgh, take a special trip. The shop is on a chic road populated by little boutiques, gift shops and nice places to eat (including The Apartment, where we had a great brunch).

There are two rooms and several walls of yarn, including the one shown above. I only picked up a few balls of Rowan Handknit Cotton, but they have much more exciting yarn than that. I was extremely pleased to find a certain desirable knitting needle in stock.

I bought a couple of pairs. Thanks for the recommendation, Bez!

In addition to HK, I popped into The Dress Fabric Company a few doors down (no website, I’m afraid) and bought a couple of yards of fabric: one dotty, one floral. I don’t know what I’m going to do with them, but they’re definitely making me cast eyes in the direction of my sewing machine.

[Yep, that's another Ballband washcloth on the go!]

Anyway…the Festival!

We’d booked three things to see, Daniel Kitson, Realism and Blackwatch. I can’t tell you about Daniel Kitson because my flight was delayed and I missed it(!)

Realism was as good as everyone said it was. A deliciously trippy stay in the mind of a chubby Scot who decides to spend a day with only his mind for company. Despite the dream-like nature of the piece, it rang true. Worth its stars.

Blackwatch has been the subject of universal acclaim and – boy – does it deserve it. Absolutely brilliant. Who knew that a piece of verbatim theatre about a military regiment could be so good? Slick production, tight, tight direction and just all round good. If it transfers near you, go see. (I would say ‘If you’re up in Edinburgh, go see’ but I think tickets are like a rarer substance than gold dust.

I left DB in Edinburgh as he is staying on for a couple of days’ business. I was a little blue to be homeward bound without him, but a beautiful sunset over the DLR tracks made me feel a little better (engineering works on the Central line soon reminded me where I was, but there you go).