Quirkies Retail Shop (Yarndale Part II)





We hadn't thought before to knit and then dye!

After an exciting morning of dying various bits of wool we took off to shop and see the sights - all the market stalls were set in the sheep pens of the auction market.

And it felt a bit like being in a sheep pen - that is to say Yarndale expected 6,000 visitors over the 2 day weekend and on Saturday ALONE they had 12,000.  What a tremendous turnout!



There were  warm blooded animals



Angora rabbits

Llamas

 

and those of a more representative type . . .  a few sheep for CB to take home,



along with other critters to inspire future projects

Purchases made (how funny I didn't take any pictures of the wool or the stands!), we headed home.

 

Out to dinner at an appropriately named inn

 

a movie and working on projects completed our day!

 

EL working on notebooks for her class, progress on Dahlia for CD, CB tackling a new 'hooking' project and HW graciously making scissors keeps for charity sale.

 

Quirkes Hit Inaugural Yarndale in Skipton

With two of the quirkies following the blog of Lucy from Attic24 (see right),

these quirkies couldn't pass up the chance to be part of the Inaugural Yarndale event.
So dates were checked, plans made ... and plans improved (!)when CB discovered one unnamed Skipton Hotelier decided they'd had a better offer and cancelled our reservation without advising us.  CB always on the ball discovered & found somewhere new ; we were blessed with rental of a lovely cottage just off Coach street in the centre of town (all in all a better deal).

So tickets purchased and bags acquired and decorated, we packed up and 3 quirkies headed out of London to The North, picking up a 4th quirky at Derby where we stopped for lunch at The Queens Head.  Continuing North, we arrived safely in Skipton, HW navigated the small cobbled lane and found our accommodation at Sweeps Cottage in time for a spot of tea, a scout around town where we discovered ducks just at the bottom of our lane . . .

a lovely town and and a puppet show (admittedly some of the puppets were a bit scary).

 

Back to the cottage for a  'ping' dinner courtesy of M&S and the microwave - very delicious actually! And then a bit of planning for the morning with our bags all set to go.

 

We followed the Yarn Walk along the canal through Aireville Park were we found a few woolly surprises (and sadly at least one that was so loved it was taken -- the apples on the tree).  We found woolly ducks on the bridge, a flower forest where CB posted her own and much more.

did you spot the sheep behind the lamp post warmer?

Getting closer . . .

and then we arrived and overwhelmed with over 6,000 entries on bunting

see knitting needles?

and HB's honeycomb after much searching

 and inside the auction mart where yarns replaced sheep


couldn't believe the bunting!!!

CB's bunting in pride of place

 There was so much to see . . .



Bee Hunt - just for HW

Knitted Andalusian Food won hands down over British Picnic



and do - the four quirkies did a Sue Mackay & Jacki Bogg

 dying workshop

and then following a quick bite to eat, off to do some retail shopping (continued in next blog)

 

September - Harvest time?

It was terrific to be back together again today....even if the hostess did run out after only two of us had arrived!
Computers at work are wonderful when they work and a true pain in the b*tt when they don't.
Thank heavens for cups of tea and conversation to be caught up on, before we got on with "show and tell"

HT completed jam jar challenge

EL fabric and rope box about to undergo a design change

CB producing great work from charity shop wool find

HW working on scissor keepers

So there was plenty to get on with before lunch....

Three kinds of exotic bread...zuchini, pumpkin, sunflower seeds and cranberry plus olive bread

 

All washed down by yummy sweet potatoe and chorizo soup...

and for those who can resist everything except temptation....fruit 'n' jelly plus a smidgen slice of cake...

 

Well a girl needs to keep her strength up when there are projects galore that need working on.....

Whether its free motion quilting....

A cutting plan to be plotted out...

Sashiko blocks to be sashed together or clamshells that need pressing...

or a ladybug cushion to be rug hooked...

What a good job we had someone we could trust watching over the bread board, keeping everything safe in case anyone got peckish...

Now we don't give out prizes for achievement... but there are definite squeals of delight for projects finished and so today's honorary Ta-dah! award goes to EL for the wrapped rope basket and lid...

..LOOK! its even more colourful on the inside!!!

Now all I need to work out is how come AB kept everything she was doing out of range of the camera?