On Friday afternoon, I was happy to spend a few hours at the Unravel festival of yarn in Farnham.  It was the first day of the weekend festival, and yet there were so many people there – it was lively and fun, and we both had a great time.  I wandered around looking at everything until I realised that I had only 40 minutes left to shop, and then I went a little wild.  Here is my complete haul:

Surprisingly, most of it was not yarn.  I bought Felicity Ford’s Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook, a book I had wanted for a long time.  We stopped and chatted at the BIPOC in Fiber booth, and were happy to purchase a canvas tote and pin to help show our support for diversity in the knitting community.

I bought three knitting bags from Pink Hazel.  One is a project bag, and the other two are needle holders – one for DPNs and one for interchangeable needles.  I asked Doug which one I should buy, and he said “Buy all three”.  This might be an indication of the the mess that my needles are currently in, or the fact that I can never find a particular needle when I need one.

I bought six skeins of Kettle Yarn Beyul DK, a blend of Baby Yak, Silk, and Ethical SW Merino,  in a lovely sandy grey shade.  I have a particular project in mind for this, of which more later.

I spent some time admiring the buttons at Textile Garden, and couldn’t resist buying these unusual ones:

I had a lovely time chatting with others. I was completely thrilled to meet Jeanette Sloan, who is not only a talented designer but is also charming and friendly.  (I love her latest book, Warm Hands, co-edited with Kate Davies.)  I spent some time with Jen and Jim Arnall-Culliford (that’s me and Jen below):

One of the best things about a yarn festival is that there are so many samples to try on and to fondle.  I particularly liked this cowl from The Little Grey Sheep:

(There is a pullover to match the cowl which is fantastic, and which Emma has already claimed an interest in.  Now that I’ve seen it in person, it has moved up my list.)

I was also thrilled to see a knitted sample of Olga Buraya-Kefelian’s shawl, Koko.  I was 80% decided to knit this shawl, and now that I have seen it in person, I like it even more:

I’d love to post more photos from the festival.  Unfortunately, I asked Doug to take on the role of photographer, and when I came home nearly all of the photos were of me handing over my credit card:

Doug apparently thought this was funny.

For his part, Doug seemed just as happy to wander around and chat with exhibitors.  Later that evening, when we arrived home, I discovered that Doug had bought me the really cool Flight of Stitch Markers from Coco Knits.  Also, wrapped up in a small package slipped among the other goodies, was a gorgeous sterling silver shawl pin, crafted by Lyn Roberts Design:

It is clear that I should always take Doug with me when I attend a yarn fair!

All these lovely knitting goodies, and I have a new project on my needles to boot:

I’ve had a nice, relaxing yarn-filled weekend.  I hope that you have as well.