What I did at Woolfest

Well you can't have a Woolfest without these guys as they put the "wool" into Woolfest . Take a look at those horns .last year I posted about Woolfest and said it had got better . Well this year it exceeded all expectations by about 3,000.000.000 miles . It was tremendous . I've never seen it as busy in all the three years I've been doing it. We almost doubled our takings from last year .

Everything was good about it the weather was kind , the people were so friendly . We had loads of Ravellers come to see us and we made loads of new friends .There was such a buzzz .

Woolfest was the first wool festival to happen in this country and up to now I think it's the best . The organisers get it just right .

This is what we started with . A freshly washed cattle pen ,at Mitchells Cattle Auction Mart in Cockermouth , and a pile of boxes .
It's starting to come together.
A bit more yarn.

Add some sock blockers and fibre.

And we're all ready for business.

This stall had lots of lovely baskets . I didn't succumb , though I could have done .

These believe it or not are rugs . They're stunning enough to put on the wall I think.

Lovely weaving looms on the Ashford stall .

Met some great people . Mr Yarnyard was there again in his kilt .

Woollybutterfly ( Sarah ) test drives an Ashford Joy spinning wheel .

Nicnots and Krafty Koala on their stall .

John and Juliet from Coldharbour Mill . They are organizing Fibrefest in Devon in August and we are going down for that .

Ambermoggie winding wool on the Kindred Knitters stall . They raised quite a bit of money for charity over the weekend , winding wool for people and having raffles .

This gentleman was making ....

Oak swills . A traditionally made basket using strips of oak . Again I resisted temptation . In fact I didn't buy much this year apart from a book and a couple of hanks of yarn . Nothing jumped out and grabbed me for some reason . I think I'm going to get a spinning chair with the money I didn't spend

Friday night we went to the Tattie Pot supper and Spin-in . A good time was had by all .

The highlight of my weekend was meeting this guy. He's Richard Ashford of Ashford Spinning Wheels . My wheels are Ashfords .He'd come over from New Zealand to attend the Fest . It was a pleasure to meet him.

Well that's Woolfest for another year . We start the agricultural shows on Saturday right through till September . We will fit Fibrefest in , in the middle of August . So if there are any people from the South West intending to go there please stop by the stall and say hello .

What I did on my holidays .

Hi Folks sorry about the lack of blogging this month but I've been so busy getting ready for Woolfest ( more on that tomorrow ). As the title says this blog is about the hols.

Again we went to Woodbury Salterton in Devon . We enjoyed it so much last year we went back for another look and as the weather wasn't as hot as last year we got out and about a bit more . I took my wheel and got a lot of spinning done . It was lovely spinning in the sunshine.

We met up with two knitting groups we had been in touch with on Ravelry but stupidly forgot to takes any pics or was it because we were nattering to much .Sorry ladies. Anyway we had a fab time , so much so we are going down again to Devon in August to do Fibrefest . It will take a lot of planning but we'll manage .
We went to a REAL craft fair in Bovey Tracey and had to actually queue for about half an hour to get in . It was great seeing so many crafters in one place . We stayed for about three hours .

Papa Bear talking to a wood carver.

Having a go at some stone carving.

This was fantastic . The dragonfly just balanced on the piece of wood .

A day out to Sidmouth. Though it was sunny and the sky was blue it was a cold wind.

Lyme Regis . We love this place and the weather is always good on the days we go . We made several visits.

The Harbour at Lyme Regis.

We found this lovely walk around the old part of the town .

And a little tiny mill tucked away behind the Main Street .

A visit to Chesil Beach . It was awesome . It just went on for miles and miles .

On one of our days out we followed a path by the River Otter to Otterton Mill . It's still a working flour mill and bakery . They have some great crafts there as well . This owl is made from chicken wire .

And these glass dragonflies looked fab with the sun on them .

This is the mill stream that turns the wheel .

This is where they ground the wheat to make flour. I've brought some home to make bread.

We couldn't go down to Devon and not go to Coldharbour Mill again . If you look back on my blog for last June you will see loads of pics and links from then . These are pics of the bits we missed last year.

Pap Bear looking at the steam engines that some times run the mill . It is a woollen mill and is mostly water driven . We had to go to pick up some yarn I'd ordered to dye for Woolfest.

As usual on my holiday blogs I leave you with a magnificent sunset this time over the river Exe.

Tomorrow you will read all about What I did at Woolfest .

Normal Service Will Be Resumed .

This quick post is just to say we are back from Devon . Normal service will be resumed in ten days time as I have a massive load of dyeing to do before Woolfest next week . If any of you readers are going please come and see me and make yourselves known .