Saturday 28 September 2013

Yarndale 2013

How long have I been looking forward to Yarndale?
How long is a skein of yarn?.

I seem to have been looking forward to it for MONTHS....and the excitement has been building slowly and teasingly all through the year. I've been completely hooked (no pun intended) by the hints and clues that sneaked out through Attic24. And when the appeal went out for a bit of bunting to help decorate the Agricultural mart and possibly the town of Skipton as well....Well, you already know this - I couldn't get my crochet hook out fast enough!

I bought my ticket!
I bought a bag (and personalised it a little bee-t)
And packed the left over yarn from the bunting to go to the Skipton Oxfam appeal....


Rounding up 3 quilting friends, a B&B was booked, trains were investigated and decided against in favour of a day off work ( Yeah - lets hear it for flexi time!) and a drive up the M1, the B&B let us down, (boo hiss) and then we fell on our feet finding this gorgeous little sandstone cottage right in heart of Skipton. (Yeah for lovely people)

And before I knew it.  We were there....right in the heart of Skipton...stretching our legs strolling around canals in the early evening sunshine....

 

 

We stumbled upon the Skipton puppet festival .....just between us I found some of these puppets a bit creepy ....but you've got to admire the workmanship that goes into them...not to mention the bravery (and endurance) of the folk inside!..

 

 

Then in the early evening light we found the first signs of yarn bombing.....and one of us (who is usually the best prepared) added a little bit more....

 


We were so VeRY DeFinITely in the EXACT right place...
Time to go home for a quick "ping" tea....( you know what I mean!) and an evening of great conversation and catching up on crafts....its thirsty work dont'cha know!

 




 

 

Saturday morning dawned and after a quick breakfast were off!!

A brisk walk along the canal bank (who knew canals can get congestion too!)

 

 

And as the bridge closes peace is restored....


Arriving at the next bridge there was a big clue that this was really was the place to cross the canal to the park...(Lucy really is a genius!)

 




As we started to follow the yarn bombing trail through the park


I could hear a little song playing in my head.....Can you sing it with me?
"follow the yellow brick...bunting trail....follow the bunting trail .......follow the bunting trail....

 

Follow.....follow...

 

Follow......follow...... over the hill....

 

And we were there !!


And so was every other knitter, spinner, felter or hooker (oh all right Crocheter) in the world ....or at least that's how it felt! - I'm fairly sure there were more crafters in the entrance hall than there was bunting...

 

I had great fun at a dying workshop, colouring wool fibres, already spun and knitted yarns and also some fleece direct from the sheep....

 

 

 

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it all.....I'll cross that bridge later when I get home.  After the workshop a quick spot of lunch and it was time for retail therapy.
I'd like to show you all the stalls ....but frankly they were jam packed with people and it was all I could do to get close to the stuff I wanted to look at...fishing my camera out of my bag was just not going to happen.
Suffice it to say that I was very glad to see Yarndale special bus as I'd spent up and it did look like it might get me all the way back to London!

 




I decided I needed one final walk through the stalls  - just in case I'd missed anything on the first pass....Indeed I had ...Look  - new friends!!

 

The one thing I'd missed, and it was beginning to bug me a little bit by now, was the fact that I couldn't find my bunting.. not one incy wincy little tiny triangle of it... :(
Surely now the hall was emptying out at the end of the day I might be able to spy it?


I can tell I'm going to have to look really carefully.......really really carefully......

 




There are some stunningly wonderful ones I zoom in on....

 

And then SUDDENLY I spotted one of mine......snuggled up against the top beam....a bunting triangle that could only have been made by a bee keeper!!


Hoorah!! SUPER SuPeR  HaPpy HAPPY bee keeper!!


The perfect end to my first Yarndale (there are so bound to be more!) It wasn't just the late autumn sunshine that glowed all the way over the hill back into Skipton...





I've really REALLY enjoyed this festival of all things woolly.  So much so I feel slightly blue that I have to wait till next year to go again...what a good job I have some great memories .....

 

...some drying by a radiator and others waiting to be made!
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