With less than a month to go until I head north for Edinburgh Yarn festival, my thoughts are turning towards preparation for the big event.

I can only marvel at the preparation required for those actually vending at the show - hats off to you all in advance. The preparation required from just from a Knitters perspective is quite enough to be going on with, thank you.

First of all there is the journey and the all important question of travel knitting. I am flying this year so there are important considerations of project/needle choice to be made. I have no wish to have my lovely new Knit Pro Zings confiscated so I will be opting for the tried and tested Knit Pro wooden DPNs and interchangables. The knitting project itself needs to be small and portable - socks, obviously, but also with a garter stitch shawl on the go for a bit of variety. Note to self - remove scissors from project bag.

Once at the Festival I'm hoping to meet with and chat to considerably more people than I managed to last year. It is my cunning plan to make a list (me making a list - there's a surprise) with stall holders I'd like to see/chat to/meet as well as to note down any knitting friends from Ravelry and where they are likely to be on the Friday. Last year I completely managed to miss large chunks of the Podcaster Lounge events just because I was totally distracted by yarn in large, squishable quantities.

And of course, there is the marketplace. If you are anything like me, when faced with yarn fumes in large quantity you spend approximately 75% of the time wandering in a happy knitterly daze. Merrily squishing, planning, chatting and having a lovely time congratulating yourself on your restraint. Then you make your first purchase, the brakes are off and you spend the remainer of the day hurtling towards financial bankruptcy and more yarn than you can knit before next years festival rolls around again.

To combat this I have a cunning plan:

It sounds obvious but I am going through my queue to identify yarn I need to buy for a specific project. Then looking through the vendor list to see which ones I am most likely to have success with. Armed with a shopping list and at least a vague plan for the yarn I am less likely to end up coming home with an armful of beautiful single skeins and no idea what to make with them.

And finally - the social side. The organisers at Edinburgh Yarn Festival really have thought of everything. For those, like me who are heading up on the Thursday, they have organised an informal Knit Night at a city centre location. Perfect for meeting up with knitting friends, meeting new ones and just generally hanging out with 'your people'. All the details can be found here - they just need you to sign up using the online form. There is no charge and no committment, it is just to give the venue an idea of likely numbers.

So, are you going? If so, do let me know. It would be great to meet up with you and compare yarny purchases.