This year we attended Yarndale for the very first time and boy...was it ever something special! I thought it would be rather nice to share our weekend with you.
We set off on Friday afternoon, a little later than we had planned because the cat decided that it was time to go walk-about and she absolutly refused to come inside. I knew that she wouldn't come inside for the neighbour who was going to check in on her over the weekend. We couldn't wait all afternoon, so I rang my daughter to see if she could come home for the weekend as the cat loves her and would most certainly come inside for her. Just as I was doing that, Miss Muggins decided that she would grace us with her presence and we were able to hit the road.
We made good time and so decided to drop off our bags at our Air B & B before going to the Auction Mart in Skipton.
We stayed in this beautiful little place in Linton which was about a 10 minute drive from Skipton. I'm so glad that we stayed here, it was a little oasis after a busy day at the show. We were able to cook our own food and enjoy a glass of wine whilst enjoying the peace and quite of the Yorkshire countryside.
After getting settled in and enjoying a cup of tea and slice of lemon drizzle cake, thoughtfully left for us by our host, we headed for Yarndale. I don't think we had anticipated just how big Yarndale is! HUGE! So I'm really pleased with how we navigated the show as a teeny-tiny business.
Setting up took us a lot longer than it usually does and this is down to the configuration of the stalls and the distance that you have to walk to get from the car to your stall. But we finished setting up about 30 minutes before they locked up the venue.
The good thing that we took away from this experience is that we have a whole lot of ideas on how to do it better next year! From transporting all our products to and from the venue and on designing and setting up my stall. My head is brimming with ideas for the next show, I just hope I have enough time to impliment them all (Bakewell is less than two weeks away!).
The show was busy as you can imagine. I hardly sat down at all. My back, feet and hips were crying out after Saturday. I finally remembered to take some photo's on Sunday afternoon when things were significantly quieter - another take-away from the show...take time to go and visit the other stalls and soak up the woolly loveliness!
You can have a quick look at our stall that we put together for Yarndale 2024 (new vlog is coming soon!)
What I loved best about Yarndale has to be the people we met! There are so many lovely, LOVELY people in the world.
We (my supportive husband and I) met the lovely Karen who hosts the podcast Stitches and Jacks and her equally lovely daughter Laura. The most delightful David aka the @yarnygoblin on Instagram and the lovely Miriam from @thediscreteunicorn on Instagram. Honestly, I could go on and on about all the lovely conversations I had!
Than there are the other vendors we met. I really feel like we are part of a very special community in the yarny world! We are making so many lovely friends. It is exactly what I thought it would be when I dreamed so many years ago of owning a creative business.
The next week and bit is packed with dyeing yarn and unpacking some great new products that we will be stocking her at Under An English Sky and bringing with us to the Bakewell Wool Gathering - I'm just waiting for a nice sunny morning to get some photographs done.
It's all very exciting as we are expanding our range to include lots of lovely new products to compliment our yarns.
Now, speaking of the Bakewell Wool Gathering, this will be the very last Gathering held in Bakewell! The organisers have had a few issues with the venue and have decided to relocate the show to Stafford from 2025. Of course this is all very exciting but if you have not had the chance of visiting Bakewell yet, now is the time to do it!
So please do come and support the show, enjoy exploring this lovely Peak District village and come and say hi to us!
Looking forward to meeting you there and having many more lovely converstations!
