To start with: thankyou to everyone who came to Leeds Wool Festival last weekend. It was a brilliant show - busy, friendly, and happy. As you know, I love Armley Mills, so it was an absolute joy just to spend time there, but add to that the lovely atmosphere of the show and it was just a really good day out. Lots of people commented on my top hat - I bought it at
Leeds Steampunk Market at Armley Mills last year, and have decorated it with strips of silk fabric (the pink is hand dyed..
obvs).
There were lambs outside the front door (the one on the right is asleep, not dead).
Bunting marks the spot. Well, the road to the spot.
We were delighted to see people queuing in front of the entrance before we opened.
Inside there is a lot to look at - it's a bit of a maze in there.
I'm sure I said this in my
previous post about the mill, but I love how it's a proper ex-working mill, rather than a retro-fitted modern museum. It really is like a step back in time, and it's just wonderful. We were in the sewing room opposite all the Singers.
I took a few photos before we opened.. (if you're a vendor and you spot your stuff, please give me a shout so I can link to you).
I've no idea what they were talking about..
There was a lot of good stuff packed into a relatively small shopping area.
I remember who this stand belongs to - it's
The Knitting Goddess! I immediately snapped up one of her special Armley Mills project bags and put a WIP in it when I got home. I'll show it off properly soon. ;)
Oh, this is lovely
@wendiwooknits (that's her Instagram handle) with her amazing
Holyrood shawl (that link will take you to the Ravelry pattern page) in
Bedale 4ply, which is my baby yak/silk blend. It's soft enough in the skein but seeing and feeling it in this shawl was an absolute revelation - very inspiring, and it really suits Wendi too.
By the way - I've just dyed some more Bedale 4ply in these colours so I'll have six kits available soon (the yarn's still drying!).
I hope you feel inspired to visit Leeds Wool Festival next year - we had visitors from all over, as it's a great day out. Our next festival is Fibre East in July. It'll be our first time there so I've no idea what to expect, but I'm sure it'll be good. See you soon!
