It's been a week since our return from the Bakewell Wool Gathering. In that week I've been busy prepping for our last show of the season at Stitch Fest SW in Devon, managed to catch a horrible cold that went straight to my chest, and packed more boxes ahead of our move. So, this post is a little later than planned but I wanted to share our Bakewell Wool Gathering experience with you anyway.
I was so grateful to have been able to take Under an English Sky Yarns to the Bakewell Wool Gathering this year for two reasons...
1. A Trip Down Memory Lane
The first reason is that it was a bit of a nostalgic trip. We lived in Chesterfield for about 5 years, and it holds many happy memories for me. We were homeschooling, lived in a lovely house with magnificent views stretching over the countryside (see below), and we were part of a lovely church family.
It was a very happy time and therefore it holds a very special place in my heart. I was not dyeing yarn at that stage, but I was just starting to explore my work-from-home options and had just opened my Etsy shop.
Much of my current yarn inspiration is rooted to our gentle homeschooling days and seasonal living spent here. Bakewell was just a hop, skip and jump from our home and we often ventured out into the Derbyshire Dales. In fact, we would drive across the peaks every fortnight for a lovely homeschooling art class shared with a few other home educating families in Manchester.
I was so excited to have secured a place at this show and we relished the drive we took on Friday morning to Bakewell and just being back in a place so dear to my heart.
2. Its a Wrap!
The second reason that I was glad to have attended the Bakewell Wool Gathering, although I didn't know it at the time, is that it was the very final gathering to take place in Bakewell. Next year it will be held in Stafford. I'm glad that we got to exhibit at the final show. It was so well attended so thank you to everyone who came to support the show and popped by to say hi and for the hugs from some dear friends that I have met through blogging and knitting over the years. I can honestly say that the yarn community is simply a lovely one!
Come with me to Bakewell
We enjoyed our trip to Bakewell so much that I thought I would share it with you. So go grab a cup of tea (or coffee) and come along with us.
Bakewell is only an hour and half from Chester, so we had woke up on Friday morning, had a cooked breakfast and then started to gather all our show gear. This is just some of it!
Trevor is a master of getting everything to fit into the car and pretty soon we were on our way.
We opted to take every single back road we could find as it was just the most gorgeous sun-shiny day for a drive into the peaks.
We arrived just after lunch time so we thought that we would check into our B & B and grab some lunch before setting up. I had booked the loveliest little place called Gardeners Cottage, which was rather apt because as you may know, we are both avid gardeners.
We met our host who was so lovely. I do say that a lot, don't I? But I love that there are so many lovely people in the world because honestly, if you watch the news, you just don't see it!
We spent about 40 minutes chatting away about all sorts of things before we even got our bags through the door! We then walked into Bakewell to find some lunch. It was midafternoon by this point and the sun was highlighting the best the season has to offer...
After lunch we took a stroll through the familiar streets of Bakewell and walked back along the river. Lock Bridge has had all the locks removed! By the time we got back to the B & B I can tell you that we certainly did not feel like going to set up! It was cold and laziness was setting in but we grabbed a coffee and set off for Lady Manners School.
Once we were there it was fine. We got to say hello to our friends and once all the gridwalls were up we spent some time getting our stand looking great.
We are moving home in a few week's time so I haven't been able to decorate our home for the season. So, I thought that I would take advantage of this lovely autumn show and make sure my stand reflected all of autumns loveliness.
All my autumn leaves and pumpkins came out. After Yarndale we had decided that I need to display some of the books that inspired my yarns so we displayed them right in the middle of the yarn - I loved how it turned out.
Interestingly, we had so many people pick them up and page through the books, reminiscing about their childhoods. That is exactly what I want my yarn to do, take people back to a simpler time that reminds them of their happy memories. So mission achieved I guess!
In Other News
I have mentioned here before that I have stepped into the world of event organising and am organising a new wool festival which will be held in Blackpool in February 2025
We have now secured all our vendors and let me tell you we have some talented makers joining us in February. We are super excited about it.
Please do visit our website and sign up to our email list so that we can keep you in the loop for our Vendor Reveal list, Ticket Sales and for the launch of our blog.
All that will be coming over the next couple of weeks so there's a lot to look forward to!
That about wraps up this post. For those living in the South West I do hope that we will see you at Stitch Fest! You will find us in the Marquee stand 66.