Yarndale.

Yesterday the long awaited trip to Yarndale took place.  It started with an early alarm to get into town to catch the bus, a long drive and a lot of traffic.  We got there with plenty of time to look around though.

The excitement started in the car park when we spotted the lovely bunting at the entrance.

When we got inside we all went our separate ways.  Kate and I decided we wanted to start at one end and work our way systematically through the aisles.  It seems everybody else had the same idea.  It wasn't long before I made my first purchase at Town End Alpacas.  Two beautifully soft and delicious balls of Aran in two shades of brown.  So wonderfully lovely and so very hard to choose, I'd say it was the softest alpaca yarn I encountered all day which is lucky really otherwise I might have regretted such an early impulse.  They can be found at www.town-end-alpacas.co.uk for those of you interested.

We fought our way through the people to find some of the most beautiful hand dyed yarn, it was all just so exciting that I wanted it all.  Here are some of my personal highlights.

Yarn in varying weights, bases and colours from fivemoons who can be found at www.fivemoons.co.uk

 

Scrum my yarn and hooks from For the Love of Yarn, Lisa can be found at www.fortheloveofyarn.co.uk

More lovely yarn from Brough Lea Farm based in the Peak District.  They can be visited at www.broughleafarm.com

I held out though because I had one person in mind, it was of course A Stash Addict.  I am just in love with her neon colour ways and the way she combines her colours is just beautiful.  I went with a skein in mind but when I got there I just couldn't decide.  

Awful photograph!  Anyway after much deliberation I went for the centre skein called The Reaper.  I balled it up on the way home (with some help from Kate)and it now looks like this.  Beautiful!

Kate was torn between two lovely cakes of yarn in two different colour ways, I held them up to help her decide and only after a while realised how comical I may have looked.  She went for the one on the eft in the end.

A highlight for me was meeting some animals, I am a sucker and do like to say hello to
fellow inhabitants of this planet.

I saw some amazing big knitting on Ingrid Wagners stall, I just had to have a go and it was surprisingly enjoyable and satisfying.  I wanted it all but sadly had not enough money.  I will definitely be considering this in the future.

I was also very excited by the vast quantities of unspun fleece, some of it so soft I just wanted to climb in and sleep!

For a while now I have been considering taking up needle felting and when I arrived at Adelaide Walker I just had to take the leap and buy some wool tops and the necessary.  The colours (and prices) just couldn't be resisted.  I got home and just couldn't wait to start, here is what I made.

When stopping for a cup of tea and a sandwich I had another moment, I was looking at my alpaca yarn and thinking how soft it would be on my ears, I tested this theory out and was so in love with how soft it was that I didn't realise Kate was talking to me, turns out they make good ear muffs.

The highlight for me was seeing the work by Lucy of Attic 24, she is a definite crochet inspiration and her use of colour is wonderful.  So pretty!

When discussing my granny stripe blanket I was told off for only using three colours, I promised to use more in the next one.  Tom will be pleased to hear that, haha!

I also stopped to admire some of the bunting on the table, these were from all over the world and sent after Lucy asked for bunting to be sent for the event.  Here are some of my favourites.

By the time I got home I was very very tired but also very very excited.  Here are my purchases pre tampering.

I also got a lovely little porcelain Christmas tree decoration and some antler buttons, couldn't resist.

Yarndale was blooming amazing and I would definitely recommend it to anyone considering going next year.  It was a little overwhelming but go with this in mind and consider each purchase carefully because there is just so much to choose from.  I would say to go with only artisan products in mind.  I was a little disappointed buy how many people were getting hugely excited by yarn that can be purchased on any high street, for me that is not what a fibre festival is about but each to their own.

I have come home with a mountain of business cards and a bucket full of inspiration, wonderful little day out indeed and can't wait until next year.