I am delighted to be exhibiting at Yarndale once again.
Held at Skipton Auction Mart during the last weekend of September, Yarndale is one of the biggest shows in the UK.
Day tickets are £19.50 (including £2.50 booking fee), weekend tickets are £34.50 (including £2.50 booking fee). Under 16s and carers are free with an accompanying ticket-holding adult.
Day tickets have timed entry (between 10am and noon) and the 10am entry sells out first – so don’t wait too long if you want to spend the whole day!
Unusually today is not only blog day, but also the first of the month, which makes it newsletter day as well, so there will be quite some overlap in content between the two!
Yarndale was amazing, if a little chilly! If you came by the stand to say hello and have a browse, thank you so much. Customers said some lovely things about the samples on display and I heard a ‘C’est manifique’ from a group of French knitters which made me very happy. We also sold lots of patterns, kits and calendars during the weekend.
If you didn’t come to the show yourself, then here are a few pics to show you how the cattle pen (yes, that is what it usually is used for) was transformed over the course of three and a half hours on Friday afternoon:
My lovely wife Sue can be seen in one of the pics above having a very well earned sit-down after transporting most of the contents of our stand the entire length of the auction mart on the trolley (the car park was at the opposite end to where our stand was!) She was amazing and also held the fort for much of Saturday afternoon whilst I went to teach an Introduction to Two Colour Brioche Knitting workshop to ten intrepid knitters.
While I was at the stand later on Saturday looking for a pattern on the table, my badge caught on Tiffany (pinned across the front of the table) and snagged it quite badly. Nothing broke, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to fix it to look as if this had never happened!
I’m going to video the process which will hopefully encourage others to fix their own snagged knits.
We made some new friends as well as catching up with old ones – both other vendors and visitors to the show. I think one of the great things about yarn shows is that it’s a rare chance for most of the vendors see each other, so we make the most of catching up in snatched moments between setting up, or even when queueing for the loo!
I told you last week that I was racking my brains trying to work out how on earth I was going to put my banner up at Yarndale and that I eventually bought two mops with handles that unscrewed and had loops in the top. As you can see – the mop handles worked! Cable ties attached the banner to the metal mop handles and lots of string ties the mop handles to the metal rails of the pen (hidden behind the black sheets and Nevern Throw).
If you came by the stand you will have seen the little display of McIntosh yarns with the two designs that I have created with them. County Shawl was launched on Friday and I’m very excited about it. It uses the wonderful Donegal 4ply yarn in three colours. This semi-circular shawl may look complex but all the stitch patterns are slip stitch, knit and purl with a few little short rows to create the rows of bobbles, so it’s very achievable.
James McIntosh has put together three stunning colour-way choices for you as shown in the picture above. The grey and natural yarn pack also includes a gorgeous dark green which is shyly hiding behind the other two skeins. When you select your colour choices you can also choose to have a set of 3.75mm 150cm circular needles from Addi included in your kit. These needles are really nice to use and are very smooth.
Every kit includes the pattern and I get paid the full pattern price (£6) for every kit sold, which is rather splendid.
I am out and about with my designs again later this month. Ewe Felty Thing are hosting a ‘Designer Day‘ at their shop in Conwy on Saturday October 26 from 10-5, and I will be one of 5 designers taking part. It’s free to come along, so if you are anywhere near the North Wales coast, it would be lovely to see you! 26th October might seem like a long way off now, but it’s actually less than four weeks away!
I have been enjoying knitting my DK version of Into the Vortex and I have nearly finished Part 5 of the seven parts. That’s really good, as something exciting arrived in the post today and means I should be able to finish at least one project before starting a new piece of deadline knitting!
You know the routine now, I think. I’m not going to be able to tell you what it is or who it’s for, or show you my progress with it, but I did want to show you the yarn as the colours are so lovely and the shine from the Tencel content is gorgeous.
Speaking of deadline and commission knitting; keep an eye out for the new issue of The Knitter that comes out later this week as I believe it will include a new design from me!
I am very pleased to be exhibiting at the Wool-in Garden City Wool Show
Sunday 24th November, 10 – 4 pm
Oaklands College, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City AL8 6AH
I will also be teaching my two Brioche workshops the day before (Nov 23rd) at the Wool-in Garden City Pop-Up Shop in the Howard Centre – more details coming soon!
I am very excited to be exhibiting at Yarndale this year – and I’m teaching a workshop there too!
The Festival of Yarn and Woolly Creativity in the North.
Championing the brilliance and versatility of wool, this award-winning festival is a show for everyone interested in making. Over the last weekend of September Yarndale brings together a splendid variety of exhibitors with yarny stuff to sell and thousands of visitors, who come to browse, squish and buy yarn to make.
Day tickets are £17 (plus £2.50 booking fee), Weekend tickets £32 (plus £2.50 booking fee). Tickets for children under 16 and carers are free, but still need to be booked.
I am delighted to be exhibiting at the Pop Up Wool Show once more this year. It was my first yarn show and will always hold a special place in my heart! The lovely venue of Hulme Hall is in Port Sunlight and is very near the wonderful Lady Lever Art Gallery – why not visit both?!
Now in its 10th year, the Pop Up Wool Show has a selection of vendors selling everything from hand dyed yarns and fibres to felting kits and needles.
Entry is £4 per person and is available on the door or online here tickets
Wool@J13 was a great show last year (pic from last year’s show) and I am so pleased to be exhibiting with them again this year.
A celebration of all things woolly, just 25 mins from J13 of the M6 or a stone’s throw from the A51.
Wool@J13 2024 is set to show you all manner of all things wool, celebrating the diversity within this one word. Whether you are a knitter, crocheter, dyer, needle felter, sock maker or just plain curious, we have notions & potions of all shapes, sizes and colours just dyed and presented for you at Wool@J13 2024. Exhibitors will again be travelling from all over the country to The Heritage at Bishton in Staffordshire, where we have been invited to stage our 2024 show by the renowned Stafford Northcote family, former owners of neighbouring Bishton Hall from 1946 when it became the new home of St Bede’s School up until when the Hall was sold in 2018.
Here you can find all the information you need. Find details about the event, exhibitors, workshops, camping, the venue and much more! Tickets are available here
Day tickets online £5.50 (+ booking fee) or £7 on the gate
Weekend tickets online £10.50 (+ booking fee) or £12 on the gate.
A celebration of wool and fibre in North Wales. Highlighting the best producers, retailers and supporters of wool and fibre use. The exhibitors are hand picked and will be showing a wide variety of wool and fibre products. Individuals and groups who support and educate in fibre, and wool use will be present. All under cover in the Deiniol Centre, Bangor, LL57 1NW.
Free entry to public.
I am delighted to be exhibiting at this new festival of Welsh wool & fibre! I’ll have all my Welsh inspired and named designs with me, along with kits that use Welsh wool and much more!
I am so pleased to be exhibiting at Buxton Wool Gathering again in 2024.
Buxton Wool Gathering is a wool festival dedicated to the best of fibre and yarn, held in the gateway to the Peak District.
Whether you’re into spinning, felting, weaving, knitting, or crochet, there’s something for you. All in a stunning location with some of the friendliest, craftiest people around.
There are also tickets available for a ‘Quiet Hour’ on Sunday 9-10am (same price as a regular day ticket). These allow you to enter from 9am on Sunday morning. We have a limited number of these tickets and they’re intended for anybody who would prefer to avoid a large crowd – these tickets are also valid for the rest of the day so you could leave mid-morning and return in the afternoon (Sunday afternoon is generally quieter at yarn shows).
Here you can find all the information you need. Find details about the event, the exhibitors, Buxton, and the venue. You can also book tickets online. Tickets are £5 or £8 for a weekend ticket.
I am delighted to be exhibiting at Wonderwool Wales for the first time this year. Find me in Hall 3, Stand W16.
Wonderwool Wales is the premier Wool & Natural Fibre Festival in Wales and is held annually on the last weekend in April at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, Powys.
First held in 2006 to promote the market for Welsh wool and add value to product for small wool & fibre producers in Wales, the festival celebrates the green credentials of Welsh wool and its versatility as a material for creative crafts, designer clothes, home furnishings and more. Wonderwool Wales has grown year on year. It covers everything from the start to the end of the creative process – from exhibits of sheep, through raw and hand dyed fibres, yarn for knitting & crochet, embellishments, equipment, dyes and books to superb examples of finished textile art, craft, clothing and home furnishings.
The Festival was awarded The Best Event in the Mid Wales Tourism Awards 2019/2020. Wonderwool Wales has also been awarded Highly Commended several years running in the Let’s Knit British Knitting & Crochet Awards.
Here you can find all the information you need. Find details about the event, the exhibitors, the Wool Schools, and the venue.
Entry Tickets are £12 for the day or £22 for the whole weekend.
