National Kint In Public Day-- Fun in Sutton, Quebec!

What an amazing day I had this past Saturday...Lots of sunshine, a gentle breeze, great company, and OODLES of yarn! What more could you ask for in the perfect day?

Saturday June 9 kicked off a weeklong event celebrated all around the world-- in certain circles anyway. This week is National Knit in Public Week, when knitters swarm high traffic public spaces to share their love of knitting with the rest of the world. Depending on the area, there could be a massive turn out or a very small one. I spent Saturday in beautiful Sutton, Quebec where weather cooperated and knitting was aplenty! There was probably close to fifty people who showed up to take part, though really no more than 30 at any one time-- folks were coming and going all day.



I arrived at the busy "downtown" locale at around 11:00AM and left at 5:00PM which is when the sponsoring shop Mont Tricot was closing up. Sutton is known as a very touristy summer town. Famous for its biking events and quaint little shops, it's a popular destination for people to spend the day walking around with friends or riding their bikes--with or without teams and groups. So the streets and sidewalks were jam-packed for our little event on such a perfect early summer day.



Mont Tricot is located at Sutton Place, a bustling shopping center at the heart of town with a lovely white gazebo nestled in front. This is where we congregated for our spectacular spectacle! And what a spectacle it was! There was no shortage of oohing, aahing, and curious eyes trying to take it all in. At one point there was even a bike team that whizzed by and in the middle of the pack was a man with his camera phone out recording us as they passed along! I've really got to find that video... It's probably on YouTube.



The majority of ladies who came to knit are from Sutton, though there were a few, like me, who came from a bit farther. We even had a few celebrity sightings! Ok... not THAT famous, but they are getting pretty big in the knitting community. Lisa, writer of Petite Tuques, dropped in a few times with her adorable boys. She bribed them with ice cream to try finger knitting-- What a smart, industrious Mom! (If this weren't a proper blog post, I'd smiley face all over that!).



A little later, Ariane and Laurie from Falling Stitches arrived from Montreal. It was great meeting them and we have exciting plans coming up... More on this in a few days...



I think the most fabulous thing about the day was all the amazing ladies I met. There was representation of three to four generations of knitters at that gazebo and I felt privileged to be a part! We had little ones who were learning to finger knit or use needles, we had more seasoned knitters helping those less experienced solve their knitting woes, and we saw a multitude of glorious items being created! There was even a late-comer who did not know what was taking place and so did not have her knitting with her. Lucinda, shop owner of Mont Tricot, had it covered-- she had some sample knitting with fun yarns out for folks to try out and play with. So our yarnless knitter took up one of these squares and went to town. She was so much a part of our group that I was unaware it was not her own project until she told me! It was a lot of fun to see all the different techniques, as well. There was both Continental and English, baby booties and blankets, intarsia and lace, just a crazy hodgepodge of things now added to my "must-do!" list.



So I guess the big question is how much knitting did I get done? Honestly, between mistakes I made and corrected, showing off my projects and favorite patterns on Ravelry, and oohing and aaahing over other people's work, I didn't get very much knitting done. But the event wasn't about project progress. It was about sharing, about friendship, and about camaraderie. There was plenty of all three with tons of yarn to boot, so I'd say that NKIP Day was a huge success!



If you would like to see more photos of the event, head on over to my Facebook page. I have an entire album posted right here!