Yarndale

Crikey, that was a whirlwind of a weekend. 

The UK fibre community is something of a buzz about Yarndale. There's been lots written, some of it in anger and haste, but most people had a wonderful time.

Yes the parking situation wasn't great on Saturday, some of the traffic problems were beyond the control of the organisers, others are things that they need to work on, and I'm confident they will fix them for next year. Mostly because they'd already solved many of the issues by the Sunday.



As a stall holder I'm delighted they had a successful show, my decision about which shows I attend has to be made carefully. HilltopCloud is my full time job, and pays all my bills, I can't afford to be sentimental and go along to each and every show. You might only see me for 2 days at the festival, but in reality at least 4 days either side of the festival is taken up in preparation, and that's before I've made the stock to sell. So in reality the show has to generate a week of income, and if it can't do that then I've not had a good weekend. 

It was wonderful to be back in Yorkshire, I spent 10 years living in Sheffield, and returning to that part of the world made my heart ache a little bit. The accent, the hills, the people, it all makes me feel very at home.

After setting up on Friday the campervan was parked at the back of the auction mart carpark, with this view, rather wonderful isn't it?

The show itself is in the auction mart and uses the pens just like Woolfest, in fact the stall dimensions are nearly identical. The auction mart staff had done a great job of cleaning up the pens before we arrived, and the food was of typical auction mart quality, much appreciated by those of us who like a proper cup of tea!

Saturday passed in something of a blur, there were as many people there as I normally see at Woolfest. If you don't like crowds then it would have felt a bit uncomfortable. Sunday was much much quieter, which is the usual pattern for these events. If you like a quieter shopping experience then the second day is the one to plump for, and most stall holders usually have more than enough stock to still give you plenty of choice.



Yarndale marked the start of a busy few weeks for me. On Saturday I'll be at the All Wales Guilds meet up, then the weekend after I'm running a workshop for North Shropshire Guild, then comes Glasgow School of Yarn. Glasgow marks the end of my shows for the year, and it's a lovely smaller scale event to finish off with. They've also got a lovely selection of tutors running some great classes, a few are full, and most are approaching full but there are a few spaces left. 



There will be spaces in the Best of British club on offer later this week. I'll be announcing it on the mailing list only. If you're not a member then you can sign up at the bottom of this page.