30 June: Woolfest

As DH and I sat in the marquee extension to the Woolfest cafe, eating our sandwiches and listening to the rain hammering on the canvas above us, we began to think it was a really good idea to have brought our raincoats, but not such a good idea to have left them in the car.

There was more to see than last year, perhaps fewer animals, but this year there were llamas and alpacas as well as sheep and at least one rabbit. It was also much more crowded with visitors, hence the lack of photos.

I did lots of browsing, a bit of chatting, and some buying.

At the back is a peg loom - a simple but effective tool. Five minutes to get the hang of, and then it's down to materials and colour choices. It could be the solution to the lifetime supply of rug wool in my workroom.

Then at the front, on the left is some of The Yarn Yard's hand-dyed organic merino roving; when spun it will make exciting knitting yarn. I shall probably start spinning it tomorrow. And probably start knitting it on Monday.

Next is a hank of undyed sock wool, wool and nylon mixed - for me to dye myself.

Then 2 balls of Socka sock wool (thinking ahead to the winter here, folks), the peg loom instruction booklet, and at the front a small bag of expensive, but very attractive buttons (really good buttons can be quite hard to find, and can make a lot of difference to a cardigan or waistcoat), and lastly another row counter, for those times when I have 2 projects in progress at the same time.

There were lots of spinning wheels about, of course, but the one that I really fancied was the Majacraft Suzie - but at rather over £400, no way I can justify buying one of those. Especially as I already have 2 wheels. But what if I disposed of one, and then upgraded.......