The snow I showed you last week hung around and got added to occasionally during the week. I didn’t try moving my car until Thursday when things were just starting to melt a little, but as it had been tucked down the side of the house it still had four inches of snow on the roof! Not only that, but the snow was frozen on top and also frozen solid to the roof of the car. I am nothing if not determined however, and did get most of it off.
I had been due to travel to Welwyn Garden City on Friday for two workshops as part of the Wool-in Garden City Wool Festival on Saturday, but a lack of bookings meant the workshops were cancelled, so we gained an extra day at home and travelled on Saturday instead, leaving the snow behind and travelling into rain. (I will be running both the brioche workshops as Zoom workshops in January – and there will be in-person workshops as well in 2025, so watch this space!)
Despite Storm Bert making its entrance during our journey, we arrived safely and got set up in the lovely space that is the main hall of Oaklands College in Welwyn Garden City.
It was lovely to see Helen, the organiser of the festival, again and to catch up with a few other vendors who were setting up as well. Afterwards we were able to find our Premier Inn and relax with a rare glass of wine!
On Wool-in Garden City Wool Show day itself (Sunday) I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of footfall, as the stormy weather could well have made everyone want to stay at home, but many people did come, and it was so lovely to see some familiar faces amongst the visitors.
Here’s a quick spin around the main hall where the majority of vendors were, just before opening time:
One particular face at the show that was familiar to me, through the medium of telly, was Kellie Bright, who plays Linda Carter in EastEnders (Sue even got a selfie with her!). She was there with hundreds of crocheted squares that needed to be joined together into blankets. These blankets will be auctioned off to raise money for the charity Solving Kids’ Cancer UK, of which she is patron. The squares have been crocheted by folk from across the country who have sent them in, and what makes these blankets even more special is that each one will contain a ‘celebrity square’. I found this out when I asked Kellie why one particular plastic bag of squares had a piece of paper with the name ‘Danny Dyer’ showing through the side! Yes, Danny Dyer has crocheted a square for the charity blankets.
Kellie was there by invitation from Helen so that visitors (and vendors) could help with the mammoth task of joining the squares into blankets, either by crocheting them or sewing them. As we had a little quiet time during the afternoon, I offered to do some joining and was able to join two sections of blanket together that included a square from Tom Daley!
It was good to be able to contribute to this great cause in a practical way and it was lovely to see just how many people wanted to help. And, even if they’d never sewn or crocheted before, Kellie was giving clear instructions on what to do, so they could.
Sadly one person I was hoping to see didn’t come to the show. I still have the mitts and hat I knitted for Simon that he commissioned back in January. Maybe one day he’ll get in touch and I’ll be able to send them to him…
The journey home on Sunday night was just as wet as the journey there, if not more so at times, but we took it steadily and I was quite grateful for the roadworks on the M1 that meant everyone had to stick to a top speed of 50 (and sometimes 40), as that helped reduce the spray off the road a bit. We even treated ourselves to a proper stop with a vegan burger and chips once we got as far as Telford services – it felt almost extravagant!
Wool-in Garden City was our last show for 2024 and my next show will be in Blackpool, February 15-16, at the North West Winter Wool Festival, held at The Imperial Hotel! There will be 40 vendors including myself and the Bowland Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers will also be there. See you in Blackpool?
All the snow had gone by the time we got home, and the morning revealed that our lovely myrtle had not entirely coped with the weight of the snow on it for so many days. Hopefully more branches will grow to fill the gap that has been created.
With all the excitement of Wool-in Garden City, I had completely forgotten to say that I am taking part in Fasten Off Yarn-along once again this year! Over 90 designers are signed up and you can get 25% of many of their patterns by using the code FO2024 until the end of December 5th. It’s not just for hand knitters; crochet, Tunisian crochet and machine knitting is also included. This is why it’s a ‘yarn-along’, rather than a ‘knit-along’!
All of my self-published individual patterns are included in this discount period. Fasten Off Yarn-along (or Fasten Off YAL) is an off-Ravelry event, so all the patterns from all the designers can be accessed somewhere other than Ravelry. Mine are all on my Payhip store.
Fasten Off YAL is far more than just a pattern sale – there are bingo games and prizes to be won and all sorts of social stuff. Go to your favourite social media site and search for them – Instagram is particularly lively, but you can find them on other sites too and you can get all the information about the event from their website. There are also links to all the designers and their wonderful designs on the website along with great search features if there’s something specific you are looking for.
Now seems like a good time to remind you that I write a monthly newsletter for my subscribers. Subscribers get special offers in these monthly emails that are not available *anywhere else* and I will be making a very special offer in the December newsletter which is going out on Dec 1st. So now would be a really good time to sign up!
I have also done quite a lot of knitting on two different new designs this week. I’m hoping I’ll be able to show you some sneak peeks of at least one of them soon!
In the meantime, stay warm and dry if you can, and do something that makes you happy, even if it’s just breathing in some cool crisp late autumn air (when it’s not raining!). K x