And Finally….the third (and last) post showcasing just a tiny proportion of the wonderful weekend that was Yarndale 2014.

Today, it’s all about the people.

The warm, friendly, talented, generous and sharing stallholders that make Yarndale the success that it is.

180 stallholders embraced 6,000 yarn-mad ladies (and a couple of men!) with open arms for not just one, but two crafty days, most of whom were still smiling by end of play at 4.30pm on Sunday.

Most were there to sell an amazing variety of hand made goodies and supplies, but there were also a number of organizations spreading the word about their groups.

One such collaboration was the Skipton branch of The Embroiderer’s Guild. Their 3D map of the Yorkshire Dales National Park was outstanding and featured numerous different stitching styles. The ladies running the stall were eager to tell you all about their work and couldn’t have been friendlier. Obviously it highlighted the Tour de France route:)

There were several spinning demonstrations going on…

…and the lovely ladies from the Craven Guild of Lacemakers even let me loose with their bobbins!

Look at all those pins!

Plant Dyed Wools were demonstrating loom weaving with wool dyed and spun from their own rare breed sheep;

Big Wigs Angora brought along half a dozen of their rabbits to effectively demonstrate the rabbit-to-yarn chain. You have never felt anything so soft in your life as the fur of the Angora rabbit!

This is Rachel Coopey of Coop Knits signing copies of her books;

Gam Farm Rare Breeds also brought a few of their sheep to the show – this one was particularly friendly and loved all the petting;

As with many of the stalls, their wares were imaginatively laid out;

County Alpacas were very popular with their angel-faced creatures that stole the show;

Jackie Lunn Textiles created a very attractive display…..

 

…and her pin cushions were little works of art on their own!

Her wet-felted circles inspired my first efforts at needle felting shown in yesterday’s post here.

Kits were selling like hot cakes – these by Alula’s Garden were presented in a thoroughly original way;

The ladies at Tall Yarns were so helpful and enthusiastic about their clothes that I ended up trying nearly every design on! I was wearing a red linen dress on Sunday that I made and it just so happened that it worked very well with most of their designs.

The stall that gets my vote for the softest yarn in the most beautiful ice-cream shades is Mrs Moon – what an utter delight! Here is Roz from The Velvet Cow making a huge purchase for a new crocheted blanket for her bed.

For me, the most inspirational stall had to be H-anne-made.

Her textile art incorporated all kinds of mixed media collaged and stitched to a canvas frame.

Maps, music scores, pages from novels; these were all used to create a kind of ‘memory’ art. Her sketchbook itself was a fascinating insight to the way she works.

After spending Saturday having a good look at all 180 stalls, we went back on Sunday to purchase one of Anne’s lovely kits only to find that she had sold out!

This was yet another imaginative display to accessorize the Skein Queen’s stand;

Not only were TOFT showcasing their endearing line of amigurumi animals….

…but, like so many generous artisans, were giving away free patterns (and, in this case, an Alpaca pom pom) with their yarns;

Last, but by no means least, are these adorable needle felt sculptures by Jenny Barnett;

They are so lifelike it is uncanny – check her blog out for details of her workshops.

Well that, my Blogging Buddies, is it.

Yarn enthusiasts came from far and wide and put a sticker on their home town. When I placed mine, we seemed to have travelled the furthest in the UK! Our sticker is the green one outlined in black;

There is just one last photo I’d like to share with you…..

It had to be Lucy, didn’t it?

One of the founders of the yarnfest that is Yarndale, she is such a genuine, lovely and down to earth lady. She smiled from dawn ’til dusk all weekend, never once got fed up with photo requests and seemed truly interested in every single one of the individuals that queued up to meet her.

We waited until close to closing time on Saturday when the crowds had dissipated and then introduced ourselves.

We briefly discussed our plans for a sister event in the Blackmore Vale in the South West and Lucy asked if we would get in touch if we decide to go ahead as she is aware of a gap in the market for such a venue.

We would love to be affiliated with Yarndale and thought “Yarnvale” could be the southern equivalent in the Spring.

What do you reckon???