Yarndale

Two weeks ago the market town of Skipton, Yorkshire hosted its first woolly convention in the form of Yarndale. I've been really excited about going ever since Lucy at Attic24 announced it was happening a year ago.  Being fairly new to the yarn community, I've never attended anything like it before, so I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I'd managed to convince Hubby months in advance that it was going to be a fantastic day out & that we should definitely go.

Luckily for Hubby, he managed to get a "get out of jail free" card when I found out about a local bus trip that was being organised by Rebecca Mary Jane, who runs crochet classes from her studio in Doncaster. The thought of spending the day with some other crafty ladies was very appealling so I popped along to Rebecca's studio (swoon!) & booked my ticket. 

So, bright & early (8.10am) on Saturday 28th September Hubby dropped me off & we embarked on our Yarndale journey.  There were 14 of us on the minibus, I knew one lady from my Wednesday afternoon Knit & Natter group but the rest were complete strangers & they really couldn't have been more lovely. Rebecca brought out some bunting that she had crocheted to decorate the bus & we were on our way! The journey was only going to take us about an hour & a half but Rebecca came prepared - she offered us a choice of tea, hot chocolate or coffee (which she made to order using a thermos of hot water there & then on the bus) & also handed around a fabric-lined basket containing home-made pastries. They were delicious! I've never been on such a civilised bus ride!

We arrived at Yarndale just after the doors opened at 10am. The journey past the building to the car park had already got us excited as we saw the yarn decorations that had been put up in the trees & along the fences.

We made our way through to the "Hub", which was where we could get our programmes & were greeted by the wonderful sight of this amazing bunting.

There was also the most fantastic knitted picnic set out for everyone to look at.

In addition to that was a display of tea cosies, which had been entered into the tea cosy competition. 

So, it was time to start looking around!!! It was soooo busy. There were back-to-back people everywhere & it was difficult to get into some of the stalls but it was lovely to look around, getting inspiration from the yarns & displays that were there.  Everyone was in such good spirits & it felt great to feel like a part of some massive community with a common interest.  There were some really cute alpacas to look at/stroke, as well as some fluffy angora rabbits. I wonder how they felt being on display all day in such a busy, noisy place?!

Check out the tufty ears on this one!

I then HAD to make my way to the Knit & Natter lounge in the centre of the room. Now, I can't lie, I am a little bit in love with Attic24's Lucy & this was where she had taken up residence for the weekend. I had to meet her, say Hello & that I love her blog. I know I'm not the only one who loves her & there was a queue of people waiting to talk to her.  She was so lovely though & she took the time to speak to everyone - I bet her voice was failing her by the end of the weekend! She'd also brought along her blankets, cushions, wreaths etc that seemed so familiar as she's blogged about them all. Wow!

Soon it was time for lunch & I met up with Rebecca & a couple of the other ladies. As part of the "package", Rebecca had provided our lunch & she had given everybody their own brown paper bag containing homemade rolls with coronation chicken/ham & mustard, a homemade lemon cupcake, carton of juice, plum tomatoes,  crisps & grapes - it was delicious!  

After lunch I decided that I wanted to take a walk along the yarn-bombed park that I had read about so I took myself off in the glorious sunshine to see what the Skipton ladies had been up to.  There was bunting, decorated lampposts, some blanket-covered trees & some gorgeous ducks at the end by the canal, that Lucy had blogged about.

I had also been hoping to make it to Lucy's Open Studio (does this all give you the impression that I'm a bit of a stalker? I'm not, honest!) but I didn't get there in time. I did have a little wander around Skipton town though - definitely somewhere to take the family for a look methinks.  On the way back I decided to have a cappuccino in Coopers cafe & sat outside enjoying the weather & a bit of people-watching.

The minibus was due to leave about 5.15pm so I made my way back, taking the opportunity to take a photo of the beautiful landscape.





















































The bus journey home was as civilised as it was on the way - Rebecca brought out Pimms & lemonade as well as crispy snacks & olives which,  combined with a bit of crochet on the way home made for a fantastic way to round off a perfect day.

xxx