Yarndale and ladies Night

I recently agreed to have a stall at a Ladies night in aid of Rosemere Cancer Foundation.  It was held at the Norman Jepson hotel near the M6 junction. There was a demo from the Clarins team, supper, raffle and some lovely stalls for a variety of tastes. A lot of money was raised for this local cancer charity, and I met some amazing people too. Thanks to Denise from Enabling Transitions for all her hard work in organising the event.

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Yarndale
Today was the first day of Yarndale. It's a fibre festival held in Skipton at the auction market. There were over 150 stalls selling everything you could ever want for crochet, dyeing, felting, knitting, spinning and weaving. The buzz online about this event was huge which should have told us how big it would be, but I think their popularity caught the organisers a little on the hop... The fibre lovers of the Uk turned up in their droves, causing gridlock around the town.

It was obvious when they opened the doors to the public as the crowds descended. On the whole the crowds behaved in a very British manner with only minor irritations being heard. Even the children attending seemed to sense what a great event this was and lapped up every experience that came their way.

I'm exhausted, bug I have to return tomorrow for day 2. Here's hoping I wake up in time for the hour long drive to the amazing event that is Yarndale.well done to the organising team, you did it, and you should be proud of what you've achieved...

Yarndale and UFOs

No, there haven't been any sitings of UFOs over Yorkshire, I thought I would try to get some of my unfinished knitting projects off the needles as I am itching to start a new project.

First of all, it's turned chilly here in the North of England and it's suddenly become knitting weather. A few weeks ago it was so hot I couldn't even bear to spin as the fibre was sticking to my palms, but now I love sitting in my studio in the mornings, spinning yarn in readiness for Yarndale.

Yarndale is being held on the last weekend in September in Skipton Auction Mart. It's the first year this event will have been held, but judging by the excitement it has generated thus far, I can see it becoming Yorkshire's version of Woolfest - or even better! Preparation for me includes washing and dyeing fleece, spinning and plying. I just hope I have enough stock for both days.

Whilst spinning like mad, I am currently listening to knitting podcasts. My favourites right now include 90% knitting, knitting in circles and  the UK based podcast Knittynatter. I'm thinking of starting up my own videopodcast but I need to do a bit more research into the hows and whys first.

My UFOs (unfinished objects) currently include:

1) Pair of socks for Amie
2) Bedspread for us
3) Hoodie Jumper for Matt
4) Cardigan for the LYS (local yarn store)
5) Winter coat for me...

My coat is described as a winter cardigan in the pattern below:

 

Its a woolyknits.com pattern and the yarn is theirs too. It is looking good so far, and I'm only 3 rows in. The pattern is knitted using 3 strands of double knitting yarn knitted together. I'm using two brown skeins and one cream. It's going to be lovely and warm. Laura from the shop Purely Wool is knitting one too - and we are seeing who can finish first...