I can hardly believe it’s just two days since Yarn Gathering. It was a wonderful day and everyone who came as both vendors and customers were really enthusiastic about the event. We’ve already had people asking when the next one will be! To which we gently reply – next year. Once a year is enough, especially as there are so many other yarn shows around the UK to which people have commitments.
I was really busy on my stand throughout much of the day, which is my way of saying, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t take any photos”! There are some photos and videos of the day taken by Anne on the Yarn Gathering North Wales Instagram page and if you search the #YarnGatheringNorthWales or #YarnGatheringMold hashtag you’ll see some other posts too!
I popped into Yarn O’clock this morning to see Anne, and we both said, “We did it! Was it real?!” There is such a sense of relief that it all came together, everything worked, everyone turned up and no one had to pull out through illness. Add to that the sense of accomplishment at making something really happen and the tiredness of having run a stand myself as well and it starts to feel a bit dreamlike!
A special thank you has to go to The Daniel Owen Centre for hiring the building out to us and allowing us to move furniture around to suit our needs. Also to Rick from The Gathering cafe in Mold for his AMAZING vegan blueberry muffins that kept the vendors topped up with sugar and blueberry goodness through the day (great call on that one, Anne!). And, also to Mold Town Council, the Mold Food and Drink Festival, and all the shopkeepers in Mold and Buckley who all put posters up for us!
So, that’s done, and it’s on to the next adventures. I promised you some exciting news this week and I am indeed able to share two big things with you.
The two shawls I have designed for RiverKnits are going to be launched this weekend at Yarndale in Skipton! Here they are in all their glory; Agnes:
And Tiffany:
I will be there, on the RiverKnits stand (K10) during the weekend (10-12 and 2.30-4.30 both days), so please come and say hello if you’re going to Yarndale. I will also have a selection of my other designs with me there, both the samples and printed patterns, all of which can be made using RiverKnits yarns!
The second piece of exciting news I have is that I am one of the tutors at the Knit-Tea Retreat at Insole Court in Cardiff next month, October 22nd-23rd! I was really pleased to be invited to teach at this event – I went to one of their online retreats during lockdown and really enjoyed it. There are three other tutors and we will be offering a wide range of workshops. There are interviews with each of us on the Knit-Tea Retreat website so you can find out more about us and what we are offering, but in brief:
I will be teaching Möbius Knitting, Stacked Stitches and Cast-on/Cast-off. There will also be workshops on Beginner Crochet Amigurumi, Fun with Fibre and Intro to Drop Spinning with Angela Hart, Lino Printing with Bethan of Joy House Creations and Yoga for Crafters with Lisa Hassan-Scott! There will be a marketplace on the Sunday afternoon (where I’ll have a stand), and lots of tea and cake and opportunities for socialising with other knitters and crafters.
If this sounds like your cup of tea (see what I did there? 😉), have a look at the Knit-Tea Retreat website. Places are limited and you don’t want to miss out!
In the meantime, I need to finish printing out copies of patterns to take with me to Yarndale (I’ve just run out of A3 paper, so that’s something I’ll need to tackle first thing tomorrow), finish writing up the pattern for my secret knitting – it’s blocked out beautifully and I’m so pleased with it – and get it posted off to it’s destination and, at some point, finish the ironing. Have you noticed the word ‘finish’ is cropping up a lot here?! I’ve done most of the printing, about 85% of the writing up of the pattern and half of the ironing, but none of these jobs are done until they’re done – and finished!
Yesterday, as you can’t have failed to notice in the UK, was the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth. Even though I’ve found the media coverage of the past ten days somewhat overwhelming, we did watch the procession and the services on the tv. The precision and hours that went into making that happen were breathtaking, and the music was exceptional. It was wonderful to hear so many pieces that I know well and have sung myself over the years. There was a lot more of the events of the day covered than I was anticipating (though the previous days’ coverage should have given me a heads up!), but I could at least knit on the comfort of our sofa whilst dipping in and out.
Take care one and all, hold those you love close when you can, and come and say hi in Skipton if you’re there at the weekend! K x
P.S. I’m currently enjoying my use of the Oxford comma – if you know, you know!