Woolfest report, at last.

This was last Thursday evening at Cockermouth, just as we'd set up the stall, unpacked the tent, and had the panic-sticken phone call with Ma that meant we didn't have to drive back home and then back up to Woolfest that evening* I just love the view over the prosaic auction mart and carpark to the Lake District Hills to the south and east, and it had been such a beautiful drive up home.










I actually remembered to take a photograph of the stall before we were run over by hordes of ravening fibre-hunters. And we were - this is the best show I've ever done. I sold lots more yarn than normal, too.









*Now this was the panic. Mark and I had done everything and were casually wandering down to the bar for a drink before eating, when we came across a couple of boards and a table with a big sign on it with my name on. Eeek! Apparently, as a tutor, I got a display area/stall too. This had managed to go over my head completely, and of course I'd only brought a few bits and pieces up to titivate the selling stall. I ended up on the 'phone to my utterly wonderful mother as she wandered around my flat, collecting large storage boxes, smaller shoe-boxes of class samples, and things out of cupboards and on chairs. She turned up at 8.30 (!!!) on Friday morning, having set off about 6am, and she only stayed til after 11 because of the heat and crowds. What a star! The display stall looked great and I got lots of compliments.

Even better - Nancy Bush was next to me on her little stall, and recognised me as buying yarn (twined knitting) last year. Wow.

The bank behind the tent. The pups were good as gold, and when let out to maraud they only pottered around on this bank - or charged up and down madly, depending upon how they felt. We put the large borzoi-sized crate up in the transit van and left the van's doors open - they were much cooler in there than even the dogs on stalls, lying on concrete.



My three knitted sheep hats just before I abandoned them to their fate at the auction. To my delight the grey one won the best in show, and I have a lovely big red knitted rosette to show for it. I was presented with this in the middle of my class on Saturday. Actually, both days' drumcarding classes went extremely well, even though I had ten people on one day, twelve on the next, only an hour and six drumcarders (one of which really was past it) and extreme heat to contend with.


And I didn't buy too much. Some books, (especially pleased with Janet Arnold's book on historical underpinnings,and I got Nancy to sign her Estonian Lace book), a bit of fibre (a fleece to dye and sell, a fleece for me, some dyed alpaca from Denise, some dyed merino/tencel from CArol and Pete for which I think I'm trading a hat) and a few other bits and pieces. I meant to get some new knitting needles but that missed me completely.

My feet hurt for ages. It's still too hot here.