Wonderwool Delights

The drive to Wonderwool is like a perfectly crafted sock. With clear roads that are twisty enough to keep you interested but not so complex they taken your full concentration it reminded me of knitting a simple patterned sock. Even the stretch of motorway could represent that small point when you wonder if you will ever finish it.

Anyway, we made great time through the lush scenery of Monmouth and the Brecon Beacons and arrived at our final destination about 10:30, just before the car park started becoming busy.

We proceeded to spend the morning looking at the lovely stalls and, I tried to cover both halls before purchasing anything. I was doing so well and then we went on to Fybrespates' stand. I already knew I was in trouble, based on Jeni's last blog post. Well, it was too difficult to resist and I purchased a beautiful batt containing merino, silk, mohair and sparkles. The colours reminded me of a landscape just as the starts setting. I am looking forward to spinning this as it will be my first batt and seems really airy.

I also purchased this lovely scrumptious roving. Aren't the colours great! I just love the amount of white left in it and hope I can do it justice. At the moment I plan to spin it as a single which should accentuate the splodges of colour although I am finding it difficult to image the finished yarn. (Sorry about the blur but the fibre is shy.)


Also in the hand dyed goodies range is this citrus roving from Kraftykoala. It is a merino/bamboo mix and I love the different way both fibres have taken up the dye. Also, it is not a colour I would normally buy but I am definately falling for coral colours. Maybe this has something to do with summer?


Seen, admired but not purchased from was Spindle Frog, Artistis Palette and several other indie dyers. Unfortunately, with limited funds I had to pass up the tempations on offer from a wide range of stalls. I was specifically looking for spinning goodness so tried to stay away from the temptations of pre-spun yarn. However, a certain special something from The Natural Dye Studio was purchased by Elizabeth and I.

As if the above was not enough to keep a girl happy, I also managed to get the following:

100g of BFL fleece, scoured but still recognisable.
A big bag of Alpaca in oatmeal, caramel and chocolate.
A Manx fleece.
100g grey Gotland top (my cat loved this, she smelt it and then rubbed her cheek against it - and I though it was only me!)


The later came from Hedgehog Equipment who also allowed us to try their range of Majacraft spinning wheels. It was the first time Elizabeth had used a spinning wheel and declared it was more fun than a drop spindle. Soon my conversion will be complete and I will have enabled my Enabler!

I will say that the BFL, Alpaca, Gotland and Manx is due to be shared with my friend Jess as she could not make it to Wonderwool this year.

I made two other purchases. The first was planned (sort of) and comprises of an Earthues five day starter kit from Debbie at DT Crafts. Why Earthues? During our lovely conversation Debbie mentioned that the outcome with natural dyes is less predictable. This statement finally made my mind up for me. More and more, society seems to relish uniformity and the idea of working with something that is quirky really appeals. I'll just have to see how I get on.

My final purchase of the day was not in my plans but I have wanted one for ages. Yes, it is the regulation Patons & Baldwins beehive woolholder and it is scrummy.

I shall post about other things that caught my eye later.