Yarndale 2013

Yarndale, what can I say other than I loved it loved it loved it! At the sight of all the long queues to get there, I knew it was going to be great. In fact, when I finally got to the front of the line of traffic I was met with an exhausted car park attendant who looked fraught to say the least. Sadly he informed me that the car park was now full and I would have to find an alternative parking place!  Anyway, apart from the slow start, I finally arrived and it was worth the parking hassle. There was colour everywhere, a complete transformation from the usual Cattle Market. Strings of crochet bunting strung from everywhere, it was crazy!!!

An absolute riot of colour and yarn everywhere you looked! It was on the walls, hanging from the ceilings, in every conceivable nook and cranny, crochet, wool, pompoms, tassels, beads, buttons, flowers, the lot! And of course, the lovely Betty the Sheep, the mascot for Yarndale itself. 

Each stall was an Aladdin's Cave filled to bursting with such incredible displays of colourful skeins of yarn, I just wanted to touch them all, they were all sooooo soft. Row after row of stalls all offering something different. Everyone had put so much though and effort into their displays and everyone was so helpful and happy to spend time chatting about their products. 

I spotted these Attic24 crocheted houses and thought they were lovely. They were created by the talented 'hooker' at Little Tin Bird.  Her blog goes into detail about how she created these houses, I think they would be great as wall art, I know my daughter would love it in her bedroom.

Aside from all the lovely wool for sale, there was also the kind donators of some of this wool, including angora rabbits (soooo adorable and surprisingly MASSIVE!!) and also very cute alpaca's 

My daughter even managed to get her mitts on one of the baby bunnies, it was so soft and really snuggly, well, so she tells me, she wasn't letting go and so I didn't get to hold it for myself!

The alpaca's were incredibly gorgeous!

And the buttons, wow, I love buttons and there was a huge assortment of different types. I especially loved the ceramic ones and the bone ones. 

Right in the heart of all the stalls was the Knit & Natter Lounge, this is based on the cafe Lucy at Attic24 visits to drink frothy coffee's and crochet with like minded friends, I think every town should have one!!

Inside it was adorned with all the wonderful and colourful pieces created by Lucy at Attic24 and the lampshade from one of her recent posts was also there. I couldn't help feeling that her house must really be feeling a little less colourful without all her pieces of hooky magic brightening the place up!

Such inspiration everywhere I looked. These 3 blankets had to be some of my favourites, I couldn't even begin to imagine the length of time it must have taken to finish each piece. 

Aren't they incredible?

I wish I had the skill and patience to complete such a mammoth blanket, one day maybe!

I loved loved loved the colours, very close to nature I thought, almost autumnal don't you think?

All in all, it was a lovely day. There were so many people there and so many things to look at and try. My daughter enjoyed the kiddies corner and made herself a pompom monster! The hall with all the bunting looked amazing and the 'market stalls' with it's crocheted wares were brilliant, there are some really talented people out there. I can't wait for next year and hope it is blessed with such lovely weather as well. One thing I will remember to do though, will be to take the train!!