Yarndale

It's almost a bit late in the day to be talking about Yarndale, as it was back at the end of September. But I had such a lovely weekend that I'm going to talk about it anyway :)

Yarndale was a two-day festival of knitting, crochet, yarn and creativity held in Skipton. Two friends and I travelled up on the Friday afternoon and, after finding our hotel near the Yarndale venue, we wandered into Skipton to enjoy the small market town in the wonderful late summer sunshine. 

As we walked though the park, we came across some fab yarnbombing. It was obvious that a lot of work had gone into creating these pieces and they were really lovely to see. 

We walked along the canal into Skipton and soon came across the irresistible scent of fresh fish and chips. It was so irresistible that we had to go and treat ourselves for lunch. We went to Bizzie Lizzie's restaurant and had a very nice meal of fish, chips and tartar sauce :) 

Skipton is a lovely little town, with a nice range of shops. We came across a lovely little charity shop full of lots of creative things, like gorgeous fabrics and buttons, and knitting and crochet things. I also found a gorgeous dress for just £7 which I *had* to buy. I'm wearing it now in fact, with my trusty leggings and cardigan combo! 

As the afternoon went on, we walked back to our hotel for the evening. We'd booked into the local Travelodge as it was extremely close to Skipton Auction Mart, the Yarndale venue. In all honesty, the Skipton Travelodge is tired and could do with a good refurbishing. But it was cheap enough for the three of us, and adequate for our needs. If Yarndale is held again next year I think we shall be looking at different accommodation, but it was fine for what it was. We had taken a stash of food for the evening and had a bit of a pyjama/crochet party in our room. 

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and went in search of breakfast before making our way to the auction mart. As we got inside the venue, the first thing you noticed was the bunting! Strings and strings of gorgeous crochet bunting! 

The bunting triangles had been sent from over 30 countries around the world, following a request from Lucy, one of the Yarndale organisers and writer of the fabulous 'attic24' blog. They received over 6,000 triangles (Lucy's Yarndale bunting story can be found here... http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2013/10/yarndale-2013-the-yarndale-bunting.html )Anyway, it looked amazing.  

We first made our way to the stall of the lovely Lisa, who's business, For The Love of Yarn, sells gorgeous fimo-handled crochet hooks, stitch markers and beautiful hand-dyed yarns. My friends, Lisa and I are on a couple of Facebook crochet groups together so it was lovely to meet her in person. 

After wandering around about half of the stalls, we made our way to the 'Knit and Natter lounge', hosted by Attic24's Lucy. This was a cosy area in the centre of the building, with plenty of space and chairs for people to sit and relax and do a bit of knitting or crochet too. Lucy had decorated the area with her crochet items. Any follower of her blog would recognise some of the blanket and cushions she had brought along, especially the blooming flower cushion. And the yarnbombed lamp was amazing! 

We sat and crocheted for a while, then after some lunch explored the rest of the stalls. All too soon it was time to leave Skipton and make the two hour journey back down south. 

We all had a fantastic time, and I'm really hoping the Yarndale team decide to repeat the event next year. It seemed to be a huge success and I know I'd love to go again.