Unwind Brighton 2014.....a weekend of fun, new friendships and lots of yarn.

Hello my friends, last night I got back from a long weekend break in Brighton. It was the weekend of the very first Unwind Brighton, so the weekend was arranged around it, though I wasn't sure whether I'd make it as I was ill, in bed for three days earlier in the week. I still wasn't 100% but I had an amazing time anyway, I met some wonderful people who I know through Ravelry and Instagram.

We stopped in a hotel called Five, a beautiful Georgian house situated on a Regency seafront square, directly opposite was the beautiful public gardens, perfect for some quiet time in the sunshine. As you can see at the bottom of the road is the beach, right by Brighton Pier. The hotel is very near the Laines, the Pavilion and on the doorstep were lots of bars, cafés and restaurants, saying that it was very quiet and we heard no party goers on the night.

The hotel didn't serve a traditional English breakfast but bought a picnic basket to you room consisting of toast and jam, croissants, muffins, cereals, cheese, fresh fruit and freshly squeezed orange juice. We're not fans of big cooked breakfasts, so this suited us down to the ground.

When we arrived on the Friday morning, it was raining heavily, we did have a little wonder around the Laines and through an Instagram friend's recommendation we had lunch at a little tapas bar called Casa Don Carlos, which was wonderful and very authentic.

After lunch, I could pick up my wristband and programme all ready for Saturday morning, we then checked into the hotel and relaxed for a while, it had stopped raining by early evening and we had a stroll down to the seafront. The first thing we saw was an open air cinema on the beach showing The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, it was free to get in so we took a seat and had a Margareita slushy, what a great way to spend a Friday evening!!!

We then took a walk along the pier where we ate chips and I had my fortune told by Zoltar!!!! By this time I was ready for bed, as I wanted a good night sleep before Unwind.

Saturday morning the sun was shining and Mick walked me to Brighton Dome where the event was been held, what a beautiful place for a fibre festival. The first person I ran into outside the doors was my lovely blog friend PJ from The Snail Garden.

We walked into the hall and was hit by a rainbow of colours, I dont think either of us knew where to look first, there were so many wonderful vendours, all very friendly and ready for a chat. I wandered around oohing and arrring, touching the luxurious blends of yarn, deciding what to spend my money on. It's my birthday on Friday so I'd been given my birthday money early to spend at the event, by lunchtime I'd spent it all and was very happy with all my purchases.

After lunch, I went to the Podcaster Meetup, where I met up with some wonderful people including Sarah from Crafts from the Cwtch, Kristina from Eaden Yarns, Tanya from A Yarn Loving Mama, Feltaria and Gem, Mrs Blaza who bought her adorable baby boy. All these lovely ladies, I've met through Intagram a great social media site for yarn lovers. I had a little chat with Green Triangle Girl from The Playful Day Podcast and also Helen Stewart from The Curious Handmade Podcast who I regularly do test knits for, it was a pleasure to finally meet her and she is as lovely as she sounds on her podcast :-)

I got to catch up with the lovely Zena also known as Little Yellow Uke, who I've got to know through Mel, Zena doesn't live far from me so hopefully we will meet up again soon. The photo above is of the two of us in the gardens, that we sent to Mel, hopefully next year they'll be a photo of the three of us!!!!

Zena gave me this gift, some beautiful stitch markers that she'd made with an handmade tag inspired by my class over at Camp Aloha Friends, aren't they pretty?

I got to spend some more time with Helen, Zena and PJ where we had a group cast on for Helen's new pattern Pebble Beach Shawlette which was the winner of the Unwind design competition. There was also some other ladies from Ravelry including Suddgummi and Ruthrabbit, we all sat in the Pavilion Gardens under the shade of a huge tree. I think this was the highlight of my day, sat chatting and knitting with such nice people, I could have sat there all day!!!!

Helen also gave me a gift, a gorgeous project bag and some fabulous Curious Handmade postcards, I feel really blessed to have met so many wonderful people over the weekend. Helen is having a Pebble Beach KAL over on the Curious Handmade Ravelry Group, why not join in, they are always great fun, with lots of chatter and the chance to win a prize.

This is my treasure trove of stash I bought, spread over my hotel bed. I would like to thank Dani and her team for putting together such a wonderful event, this was the first year for Unwind Brighton and hope it won't be the last!!!!

After the show I met back up with Mick and went to a few of the bars around Brighton, there's so many to chose from, lots had little hidden courtyard gardens. We finished up having dinner at English's of Brighton, a seafood and oyster bar. This is another restaurant I would highly recommend, we sat outdoors watching people walk by, listening to music played by the street musicians, eating the most delicious seafood and drinking wine. A perfect end to a wonderful day!

Sunday we spent the day at the beach, walking along the promenade, looking in the many art and gift shops along the front, stopping at the bars and cafés for drinks and snacks, we even watched a bit of the Punch and Judy show, that bought back memories of when my children were young. I also got to knit on my Pebble Beach, sat on the beach that is was named after.

 

The weekend ended far too quickly and on Monday morning we checked out of our hotel and drove further along the coast. We stopped off at Worthing and Bognor Regis, aren't the colours of the sea stunning, I could have sat there watching it all day. We finished the day off by eating chips on the beach before the long drive home. This has been one of my most memorable weekends away, I fell in love with Brighton and have left a little piece of my heart there. I'm so grateful to my husband for treating me to this weekend as a birthday treat and I hope to return soon.

Have a great week and I'll be back tomorrow to announce the winner of the giveaway.

xxxxDebxxxx