Woolfest

So yesterday was the wonder that is Woolfest. We set off at about a quarter to nine, and although I was hoping to get there in about two hours, I forgot that in previous years I’ve been on a Saturday, Friday’s traffic was rather heavier and it was nearly half past eleven before we got there. But we plunged straight in, and arranged to meet for lunch at one.

The first couple of rows are where the animals are, including this gorgeous angora rabbit.

Manx Loaghtan primitive sheep.

Teeswater sheep.

Very small sheep – the ones at the back are adults, I didn’t catch the breed though.

Wensleydale sheep.

And the gorgeous alpacas. I love their haircuts.

After that you’re into the serious business of the day. Some random photos…..

That’s my pink Feather Duster shawl on the Artist’s Palette display on the Artisan Yarns stand – Anne borrowed it for the afternoon!

This skein winder from Michael Williams was a thing of wonder and beauty – there’s a dial at the back to count revolutions, so you know exactly how much yarn you have. Sadly at £500 it was a little pricy for me.

I did make a few purchases…..

Various cones of wool, linen and silk from Texere, for warping the loom.

I can’t remember which stalls these came from, but she had lots of lovely vintage knitting equipment, and baskets of many different colours of dk-ish weight wool for 50p per ball. These are to make a cushion for the conservatory, probably knitted.

L-R – two skeins of Artist’s Palette Pop Sox for weaving, a skein of AP Smoothie Sock, two skeins of Arucania cotton for weaving (£5 each from bluefaced.com), Lang Jawoll Magic for weaving, probably with a black warp, another ball of Zauberball to go with the one I bought from Baa Ram Ewe a while ago, and three skeins of undyed sock yarn (£10 for the three, again from bluefaced).

I was good and didn’t buy much spinning fibre, since I have so much already, but I picked up two bags of angora fluff, and some baby camel and silk from the lovely Freyalyn. There’s also a bag of Wensleydale curls which I might have a go at putting into woven fabric, and a skein of undyed silk and seacell from YarnAddict.

I know I have lots of buttons, but I couldn’t resist these beauties from Brimstone Buckles and Buttons.

Last but not least, I wanted a 12.5dpi heddle for my loom – Wingham hadn’t brought any, so I asked at Scottish Fibres who looked at me as though I was talking a foreign language, then when I pointed told me it was called a reed. I was somewhat confused, but assumed I’d got it wrong. I checked when I got home, and Wingham call them heddles on their website, and my books seem split between the two. It’s all very confusing.

I also wanted an assortment of stick shuttles in different lengths, but they were in very short supply, P&M and the Threshing Barn had both forgotten theirs, Wingham had some but they were very waterstained, Ashford had some but they weren’t for sale (wtf?) and Scottish Fibres only had 14” ones. Looks like I’ll have to order some online.

Overall it was a lovely day, but given the dent it’s made in my bank balance, it’s probably just as well it only comes round once a year!