Woolfest stash

A few weeks ago I did something I've never done before. I went on a day trip, on a coach, with a gang of other woman, to a wool festival. Actually, that's many things I'd never done before. And in spite of really not seeing myself as a coach trip kind of person, I had a really fun day. Woolfest, held in a livestock auction house on the outskirts of Cockermouth in Cumbria, was, not surprisingly, a candy shop for wool botherers; a temple of fibre delights: aisle upon aisle of stalls selling yarn of all colours and all textures; tops and rovings and hanks of wool from Jacobs and Bluefaced Leicester and Gotlands and Herdwicks, from alpaca and even from camel; bats of gorgeous silks; buttons and fastenings galore; spinning wheels and spindles and looms. And so many inspirational beautiful works of craft and art: knits and felts and carved woods and ceramics. And pens of actual sheep and goats, resplendently horned; and demonstrations of shearing and weaving and spinning and - well, you get the picture!

I was very restrained on the yarn front, only coming home with three skeins - two of softest alpaca, both destined for socks - one mustard yellow and one soft brown - and one glorious pure silk in the brightest golden copper sunshine, which I think is going to be a shawl when it grows up. But I did buy an awful lot of raw wool - carded and prepared Black Welsh and Bluefaced Leicester and New Zealand Haunui; broken Merino tops; a bit of unwashed Shetland roo'd fleece; and a couple of little Ryeland rovings - and a handful of mixed silks. Oh, and a drop spindle. All part of my latest mission to learn how to spin, although I hope there'll be some needlefelt pictures coming out of all this as well. 

But that's all on hold, because it's way too warm at the moment for much in the way of woolly activity, and because I seem to be spending most of my spare time at the beach, making the most of the fantastic summer that's come upon us. Oh, ok, I have got a pair of lacy alpaca socks on the go: too small to cause any overheating, perfect for hot summer knitting!