Carnival! :)

So, on Sunday I had the most brill lesson! It was a simple Learn to Knit Two but the key to it was that all of the ladies seemed to get on really well. It was lovely! So much chatting we only just got done what we needed to get done! Two of the ladies ho were both GP's were pregnant, we had one woman who seriously loves kids, another with two kids, one lady who met her husband on a dating website and a couple of users of such dating websites, a woman going on a date with a fireman and a woman that worked for the fire service. It was like a Maeve Binchy novel. My favourite thing to happen in lessons is for people to make friends and arrangements to meet up afterwards and I think this lot are going to set up their own little knitting circle - I'll keep you updated. :)

So, just as the brill lesson was ending we started hearing noises from the Nottingham Carnival and you should know how much I like people parading down my street. LOVE! So we finished up and went outside to watch the parade and dance a bit.

We were waiting for ages! They took their time. We were looking at this for a long while:

But you could hear that they were coming!

Then they got a bit closer: 

And then they were upon us!

Nottingham's version of samba dancers. Ha. The girl in blue and yellow at the front of the troupe but the back of this photo really looked like she didn't want to be there, and she was wearing flip flops and no fake tan whilst the rest of them were wearing MASSIVE heels but she was trying. Made us giggle. :)

Then a percussion band who were brill: 

And then my fave act of the whole thing: 

An older lady working it like she stole it (my new favourite phrase). 

A gaggle of kids being encouraged to dance whilst wearing outfits that one of my customers helped to make!!!

And the first of the very. big. things. 

The parade was punctuated by these council vans with DJ's with massive sound systems perched on the back. I think it's my dodgy hearing but I couldn't hear the beat of the song until they'd driven past me a bit so there was an awkward moment every time the next set of dancers appeared where I just kind of looked at them and hoped for the best with my jiggling. I'm sure they all thought I was a terrible dancer but that's fine because it's probably right. :)

The next troupe were pirates and so they had a very. big. pirate. ship. 

And then an eagle: 

Thinking about it, I probably ought to put all of the big things in a collage. 

Not sure how well that worked out - I've tried an extra large one because the new format of the blog (what do you think?) might just take it. They were all very big though. Look: 

LOOK! There's a man in a big thing pushing another man in a big thing up the hill!

And there's a man not in a big thing pulling a man in a big thing up the hill. Mwahahaha. 

Apart from all of this there was a lot of beautiful flesh on show! So refreshing to see a culture where a little wobble (and sometimes a lot of wobble) is just as normal as everybody else. Not even 'celebrated', they were just there doing their thing and having fun like everybody else. (Though, I am reliably informed that Jamaican ladies swap their big bum insecurities with long nail insecurities...) My favourite was this lady here: 

who was enjoying herself so much! Seriously, the happiest person I've ever seen in real life. 

So all in all Sunday was bloody marvelous for Knit Nottingham and we've even started discussing a singles event for knitters and crocheters and the men and women who love them. What do you think? Ha. 

Before I go, I've just about halved my telephone line and electricity rates but not before British Gas sneakily tied me in for a whole 'nother year. I cannot wait to leave those bastards!

I'm offski, 

Eleanor. :)