Yarndale Revisited

You’ll never guess where I went on Sunday …

Got it?  Yes, of course you have!  It was …

It was lovely to be back in sunny Skipton – and despite the rather dull-looking skies in these pictures, it really was.  The Yarndale team have been so lucky with the weather – that’s two years running the sun has shone and the Yarn Walk has been a pleasure to be able to do.

I decided that I would try to take different pictures from the ones I took for last year’s post to try to give you another glimpse of the festival.  It was bigger than last year, and the organising team had made some changes in terms of the cafe and it’s position, put extra seating areas in the spare pens and had well-organised people to direct car parking.

As you’ll have seen from the first picture in this post, there was a bit of a queue to get in – that picture was taken at just about ten o’clock when Yarndale opened – and I was in the pre-ordered ticket queue which was shorter.  The queue on the right was heading right around the car park!  The one below was taken a bit later inside – and it got busier!

I decided to start by taking a quick look around the pens.  There were considerably more exhibitors this year, and one of my favourite stands, Eden Cottage Yarns, had moved to a much larger pen to show off Victoria’s beautiful yarns.  They’re such wonderful, lustrous colours, I wanted them all!

This is Victoria, along with her partner, David, and I wanted to mention them specially as Victoria has been very kind in answering my questions about dyeing yarn over the last year.  I’ve still not been quite brave enough to dye the yarn I bought last year (and probably why Victoria answers all my questions as she can see that I’m no threat to her business!) but I’m definitely getting closer to actually doing it!

So, after chatting to them for a while, it was off to Lucy’s Knit n Natter Lounge to meet up with Jen whom I’ve got to know through our respective blogs – and it was great to put a face to the name and to meet the rest of her family as well.  Such nice people, and if it wasn’t for the great blogland community, I’d never have met them.  We were able to spend some time talking to Lucy too as she had a quiet moment – I haven’t photographed her this year as she was in last year’s photos, but she is still the same cheerful, unassuming person despite all her woolly successes over the year (you’ll need to read her blog to find out more!) and it was a pleasure to spend time in her company.

Next, after a quick visit to the cafe, it was time to examine the stalls more closely.   So much lovely yarn!  So many beautiful colours!  So much to buy and only so much money to spend!  I kept my purse firmly in my bag until I’d had a good look around.

I saw some rare breed sheep

I saw an alpaca with an interesting haircut …

I saw a man with the biggest angora rabbit I’ve ever seen in my life …

I saw some ENORMOUS sheep, complete with ENORMOUS sheepdog (not real, of course, but part of a display team) …

and lots and lots of toys.  I don’t remember seeing so many toys and toy patterns last year, but I really liked some of these.  I was quite tempted, especially by this little monkey from Edward’s Menagerie on the Toft alpaca stand but I know I’d never get round to making one.

And I did like these chickens with their long legs which were on the Sheapknits stand (thanks, Heather, from Sparkleduck for reminding me!).

You couldn’t miss the mandala display – over a thousand of them stretched the width of the Auction Mart.  Mine’s up there somewhere, but I couldn’t begin to tell you where!  They looked fabulous, and of course a photo that had to be taken side-on could never do it justice.  Last year’s bunting was up too and still looked stunning.

I stopped to chat to this nice lady called Audrey at the By Hook and By Crook stand because I’m fascinated by the process of spinning.  It looks so therapeutic and although I know that I’m probably never going to become a spinner, I do love to watch it.  She was telling me about how she once spun cat hair into a ball of yarn for it’s owner after the cat had died and I thought that was such a nice way to remember a pet – although I’m not sure I’d really want to wear something made out of cat hair yarn!

I liked what the owners of this stand had done too – can you see?  Their patterns are all contained in little knitted pouches.  It’s another stand that I can’t remember the name of, so do let me know if you do so that I can link them – I really must take better notes next year!

At last it was time, after much deliberating, to make my purchases.  It was such a hard decision!  And you’re going to have to come on the Yarn Walk with me before I show you what I bought …

The yarn bombing started outside the Auction Mart.  I found some bees in a tree (although I assume they won’t be using that yarn and needles themselves!) …

and headed for the steps up to the Yarn Walk.  Yes, I know I had pictures of the Yarn Walk last year, but I liked seeing the sheep through the bunting …

and the colours of the yarn against the wildness of the grasses up the hill.

This was the view that greeted me at the top.  It’s not surprising that Lucy’s Attic 24 blog often has pictures taken from her attic window.  It reminded me of what a rural place Skipton is.

I walked on into town through the park where the lamp-posts were sporting brightly coloured jumpers …

and school children had been involved in decorating these bikes with yarn, pompoms …

and on this bike, lots and lots of butterflies, bees and leaves.

I popped into The Studio at Coopers Cafe Bar to say hello to Tracy and the other ladies there.  It’s such a friendly, cosy little space and I could have quite happily stayed there for much longer than I did!

However, it was time to leave so I turned left out of the Cafe and headed up the hill towards the Castle where my husband and small daughter had spent the day. When they’d first suggested coming with me to Yarndale, I had been a bit concerned that it might not be their thing and they might want to leave long

before I did, but they chose to go to explore Skipton instead.  Armed with a picnic, they dropped me off at the Auction Mart and headed off on their own adventure where they were quite happy until I caught up with them.  This is Skipton looking back down from the Castle …

and the road we walked along here to get back to our car is called “Back ‘o the Beck”, which I think is a lovely name for a road.

And that was it.  Yarndale was over for me for another year.  I’d had such a lovely day wandering around the pens, squishing yarn and chatting to people I’d normally never get to speak to.  And – of course – making a few purchases that I would never usually make on a Sunday afternoon either!  There are no prizes for guessing what this is.  Sock yarn, naturally.  I do have rather a lot of sock yarn, but as a friend said, “It doesn’t go bad,” and it will eventually all become socks.

I bought a violet skein of British Bluefaced Leicester/mixed wool from The Knitting Goddess, a skein in shades of blue in kid mohair and merino from Sparkleduck and – because I really couldn’t decide between the two (and was encouraged by some other naughty ladies to get them both) – another skein from Sparkleduck of pink merino with Stellina which means that the yarn sparkles.  Oh yes, blingy socks!  All the yarn is mixed with nylon to make the yarn more hard-wearing for socks and help it to hold it’s shape.

I also bought a simple and rather beautiful pink ceramic yarn bowl from Margaret Glackin so that when I’ve wound all the skeins into balls, they can sit nicely in the bowl and won’t be shooting across the floor as I’m trying to knit with them.  I spotted yarn bowls at Yarndale last year but didn’t get one – and spent all year wishing I had!  There was a lot of choice this year so it took me a while to make up my mind, but I’m very happy with the one I picked.  Now I just need to get on and do some more knitting!

PS If you liked this post, you can find me on Facebook, Instagram and Bloglovin! 🙂

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12 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    Winwick Mum, it was so lovely to chat to you in person-you simply glow with enthusiasm when you're talking socks! You've got some fab photos and scrumptious yarn (I got my lime-rainbow sock yarn from the knitting goddess last year but don't remember seeing them this year). I'm pleased husband and smallest daughter had a good day too.

    Maybe see you next year? !

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I do have a bit of a thing about socks! 🙂 Yes, we'll definitely have to make sure that we meet up again next year, I'll look forward to it! xx

  2. Jo says:

    I was there on Saturday, my first time at Yarndale. I loved the Edward's Menagerie toys on the Toft Alpaca stand but resisted as I've never done any crocheting like that before, but I wish I'd bought it now so it's gone on my Christmas list. I love those yarn bowls, but don't know if I'd use one myself. It was such a great show, so much to see, and I came home full of ideas for new projects.

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I think making one of the Edward's Menagerie toys would be a nice treat for after Christmas, when life's calmed down a bit. Sometimes you've got to try new things and I'll bet you find it easier to do the crocheting than you expect – and there's plenty of help on the internet with forums and YouTube. I think you should go for it! I'm bursting with all sorts of ideas too, I think Yarndale is that kind of place – alive with creativity! xx

  3. Heather says:

    Gorgeous yarn purchases! I love Sparkleduck, they make beautiful skeins. I took TTB to the park on Monday and he really loved the bikes, we had to stop to look at each one, I think his favourite was the one with the bees and ladybirds on xxx

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I'm really looking forward to getting started on my yarn – I just need the perfect pattern now! The bikes were fabulous – I hope they're going to be on show somewhere after Yarndale. I think the bees and ladybirds one was my favourite too! xx

  4. Jacquie says:

    Hi Lovely to see your photos from Sunday. It's interesting to see it from others perspectives as you say.
    Thanks for your comment.
    Jacquie x

  5. Sparkleduck says:

    Thank you for posting this. It's lovely to see pictures of the Yarn Walk and stalls (and bunny) that I didn't get out to see.
    The long legged chickens are from Sheapknits. We were next to them at Wonderwool, and the cute creatures were sooooo tempting! Edward's Menagerie makes me smile, too. (As a grown-up with a swarm of giant rubber ducks, of *course* I like toys!)

    Have fun with the yarn!

    Heather

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Sheapknits! That's it! Thank you, Heather, I shall update my post. I can't wait to make a start on my lovely yarn (you'll be pleased to know that I'm not going to be any competition for you either when I eventually put dye to yarn!) and know they will be very beautiful socks. Thanks for visiting! xx

  6. Susan Sharpe says:

    Hello, it's lovely to see the walk, being a stall holder I've never seen the yarn walk. It's been good to see all the blog photographs as I miss so much.

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Hello! I did see you on your stall but you were always busy – which can only be a good thing! I enjoyed reading your post too, it's good to see things from the other side! xx

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