Sunday, July 01, 2007

Walking Through a Wooly Wonderland!

Wowee! What a fantastic time we had at WoolFest even though we were all thoroughly exhausted by the end of it. I'm so glad I was staying in the van with Mum and her DH as the weather was so wet and windy that there was a tent on the site that blew away. But other that that everyone survived the night if not a little bedraggled.

Friday morning brought sunshine and blue skies and felt just like Christmas morning when you were a kid and seeing all the delights once in WoolFest itself did nothing to clam me down. To say I was hyper and manic would be putting it mildly and I would say that I've been hanging round 2 year olds for too long and got rather over excited! Mum didn't help by giving us a picnic dinner of Pain aux Chocolat and Coca Cola. Anyway I shall move on to tell you all about the delights! It was full of wonderful colours and textures, fibres and fleeces and it was really nice seeing all the livestock as well.

Herdwick Sheep

And on top of all that we met so many lovely people throughout the day. Before we even left the camp-site Kath came over to introduce her self to us and introduce us to Carrie-Anne, Becky and Bev who are all so lovely and instantly feel like old friends.

There was so much to take in that I don't think I really know where to start in describing the atmosphere there. Everyone was so friendly and didn't object to wide loads like Mum and me laden down with fleeces and other bags of goodies and trying to squeeze through the crowds.


Laughing Hens Knitted Sofa

There was certainly a lot to be tempted by as well which is why we only managed one day of madness. Both Mum and I grabbed loads of goodies, so much so that we'd spend our weekends budget in the first day. We just about managed to see everything but there was at least one aisle that I know I didn't manage to get down but we were just so tired by the end I couldn't really care or not. Anyway the goodies...

I did get some yarn as you can see - (clockwise from bottom left) some stunning lavender blue alpaca sock yarn from Fyberspates and some kid mohair/silk blend from MoBear which is beautiful. But the main purchases were fibery goodness such as the firey shades of the alpaca roving's which are again from Fyberspates and then some sparkly Sock-stuff from Freyalynn. Mum and I had a discussion that evening about what colours we chose when shopping and we both decided that we do seem to get a colour stuck in our minds when we are on a spree and I can certainly see a trend in the above photo and could even say that it goes back to the last lot of yarn I bought in the closing down sale. And like my green phase before that (and I could still happily pick up the same shade of green and buy it without thinking!). Mum did the same thing and bought fibres in the same colours as she was currently knitting! Has anyone else done this?


Right on the the natural bits! I got myself some Wensleydale curls to play with as well as some silvery grey angora fluff, a Turkish drop spindle (not sure how I'll get on with it but I'll give it a go!), some Bamboo staple and some baby alpaca rovings. All this in addition to the fleece I got in the sale which was some Moorit Shetland first cut and some Blue Faced Leicester which was a bargain! All of which will keep me busy for a good while! And as the fleece was a bit smelly we had to think of somewhere to store it overnight...


Handy Fleece Hanging Rack

All in all a great weekend and we shall have to go back next year and try to meet up with everyone again but for now I'll have to content myself with keeping busy with my spinning! See you all next time!

20 comments:

Artis-Anne said...

You didn't need anything to eat to make you hyper ; you arrived off the train like that LOL
Great wasn't it ? I am still trying to get through the washing and ironing and get all that fleece spun for next weeks Guild dyeing day. WHY didn't I buy some of that undyed yarn at Woolfest for it ?

florencemary said...

Think I just might have to get into spinning after reading your mum's post, Caroline M's, and your's! I'm certainly missing out on something very special!

Glad you had a wonderful time, but I'm green with envy! I've just GOT to make it next year...

Joanna said...

Great booty Kath, you have a good selection, there, I felt a bit overwhelmed with it all!

Linda said...

Thats a great post! I love the armchair, imagine knitting that!

SueJ said...

What fun! Better than what I was doing on Friday morning!(Boring meeting on 'the pupil voice'using questionnaire software that crashed!)Look forward to seeing stage 2 of your projects!

Hellbelle said...

Great pics. looks like you had a great time too!

artyfartykat said...

I've been trying to leave a comment for days but Blogger wouldn't let me :(
It was brill to meet you at the weekend, you were so bubbly it was infectious!
You have got some lovely stuff, nice fibres and fleeces to keep that wheel spinning! Thanks for your help choosing fleeces, it was definitely needed!! And I LOVED that knitted sofa!!

acrylik said...

I'm so glad you were able to get to Woolfest in the end, it was wonderful to meet you!

Great haul you've got there - wow! Looking forward to seeing it all progress in the coming months :)

Sarah said...

Sob sob I am so jealous of you all!!

Lovely purchases.

Ang said...

So glad to hear you went in the end! What gorgeous yarns.

Badger said...

That's some nice stash you bought there (although admittedly not as big as mine). SAhame we didn't get to meet, but there's always next year :)

RoxyK said...

Glad you had a great time and love that knitted armchair ;)

ra said...

lovely to meet both you and Kath. hope we'll see you again next year. Nice stash bye the way!!!

ra said...

sorry, meant you and Anne oops!

belaybunny said...

sounds like fun. I know what it's like hanging round 2yr olds all day!! you got some nice stuff there, lucky you.

EGJ said...

Love the knitted sofa! I think most people tend to go through colour phases, and not just knitters either. It's like an infection, and I personally can't help but think that maybe we are just naturally drawn to a colour that will make us feel good at the time (intuitive colour therapy, or something). Just my very unscientific theory. ;-)

Sarah said...

The pinky mohair/silk yarn is so pretty. I've never heard of Mobear before but I'll keep an eye out now! Sounds like you had a lovely time.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kate, I love reading you blog and just wanted to let you know I have tagged you on my blog if your interested in playing

Frankie said...

You sound so excited and delighted Kath! And looks like you've come home with some wonderful stuff.

cyndy said...

Those Wensleydale curls!!
ooooohhhhh! They ARE nice!
You are going to have fun with all the goodies you have!