My Yarndale 2015

Yarndale 2015, wow, what an incredible weekend. Golden sunshine, glorious countryside, a building full to the rafters with the most amazing talent (and yarn) and over seven thousand excited visitors from all over the UK and abroad. It was mind blowingly wonderful to be a part of it, and I am still a little bit in awe of it all.

Last week, well I was pretty much good for nothing, wandering around town in a daze with an exhausted look in my eyes and a stupid grin on my face. Sorry to anyone who tried to talk to me about Yarndale last week, I probably made no sense whatsoever. This week however, my bounce is back and I'm excited to share some of my Yarndale 2015 experience with you all.

I thought it might be fun to share not only the weekend's yarn-infested carry-on, but also something of the bigger picture. I want to give you a glimpse at the way I am personally involved in Yarndale preparations and to show you a bit of what I get up to in the weeks and months prior to the festival.

Last time I was here chatting, you may remember me talking briefly about the yarn bombing that I do during the week leading up to Yarndale. It's a lot of fun to bring this creative element to our local park, and I thought you might like to see a few more pictures.

We (three 'bombers this year) carefully secure the panels at the top and bottom using cable ties, then we stitch a seam up the back. As they are only in situ for five days they survive the elements pretty well and bring a lot of happiness to the community here. After Yarndale has been and gone, they are carefully unstitched, taken down and stored away so that we can re-use them the following year.

We have twenty five crochet panels in total, some made by me, some made by good friends here in my town, and some made by generous, creative ladies who follow along with Yarndale on Facebook.

I absolutely love the way the colours look against the backdrop of green grass, they are just so happy and cheerful. Want to see some more?

Here you go..........

 

You can walk from the train station to the Yarndale venue via the park, so these crochet-covered posts serve as a fun and practical way to show our walking visitors the route to the festival.

As a team of five, it takes us most of the year to organise what has become a pretty sizeable festival. During the week leading up to Yarndale the work is intense and we spend long hours up at the auction mart getting everything ready. From my point of view that generally means decorating the place with crochet, crochet and more crochet! The magnificent crochet bunting which was made for the first festival in 2013 is looking as wonderful and inspiring as ever. We string this up on the Wednesday before the Yarndale weekend and as soon as it's in place it makes everyone feel excited. You can read more about the bunting story on my blog here.

We also set up a pop up shop for the weekend, selling printed bags, tea towels and calendars. The bags are particularly popular with visitors and feature pictures of the yarny sheep that we make to advertise the festival.

This year Yarndale was part of an exhibition in the local museum gallery, and it was especially lovely to be able to display our woolly sheep family there. On the left is Betty who was knitted in 2013 by members of the knit and natter group. Last year Betty was joined by Bert with his colourful pom pom fleece. And this year - there were twins!

My friend Carole and I made the Yarndale twin lambs earlier this year. Carole knitted the bodies.....

....then I set about decorating the girlie lamb (nicknamed Belle) with crochet flowers.

The crocheting of lamb body bits took up a good few weeks of my studio time back in the Spring....

....but I really enjoyed the challenge of making faces, eyes, lamb ears and loopy  top-knots!

Legs and tails too. Eventually everything came together.....

....and Belle and Billy were ready for their photo shoot. Baaaaaaaaa!!!!!

Oh  just feast your eyes on all that colourful hooky goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You may remember the Mandala Project from Yarndale 2014, which was the result of crocheters from all around the world joining together to be a part of this stunning, visual celebration of yarn and crochet. More than a thousand people contributed to this project from 49 different countries. Last year when we displayed the mandalas, we hung them high up above the heads of the crowds where they could be seen from all across the building. Although they looked stunning, I did feel it was a shame that the detail of each individual piece of crochet couldn't be appreciated. This year, around 500 of the mandalas were displayed in the museum gallery where they were much admired throughout the summer months. We were able to take the remaining collection and attach them to large white boards, making a really beautiful display for Yarndale 2015....

.....awwww, they really did look wonderful. We found a light, bright space near the café to install the display, perfect for visitors to get right up close to the mandalas.

Here are some more pictures.....

Last year I managed to photograph every single mandala I received, uploading the images to Pinterest so that I could give credit to each and every one of the 1,182 people who contributed to this project. Please do go and have a look if you haven't already seen them....

Yarndale on Pinterest

So once the weeks and weeks of preparation are all behind us, what do I actually get to do during the weekend itself? Well......I get to chatter of course!!! I get to hang out in this funny little bit of the auction mart which is filled with animals for much of the year, and I get to meet the most wonderful, friendly people. There I am in the above picture look, working hard at making my corner look a bit more colourful and not quite so drab. The auction mart is very rustic (and that's putting it kindly) but we do out best to make it welcoming and inspiring.

This year I was thrilled to have my very lovely friend Christine with me at Yarndale. Christine is a blogger and knitter who loves making socks and is responsible for inspiring many hundreds of her followers to follow in her footsteps and make socks too. She loves knitted socks as much as I love crochet blankets, we are both a little on the bonkers side it has to be said, we make a good pair! Earlier this year, Christine launched a charity project called The Yarndale Sock Line which you can read about on her blog here.

The resulting Yarndale Sock Line was a stunning, woolly success with a total of 75 pairs of socks sent to Christine. Each and every sock has been knitted with love, and is now ready to be gifted to someone in need of a little handmade warmth and love. Fabulous stuff.

Here is my little colourful corner at Yarndale where I stood for much of the weekend. Hundreds and hundreds of visitors come to find me here in my funny little makeshift space, to say hello, to tell me stories of their crochet journey, to give me hugs and celebrate a shared love of crochet. It's fun and intense and wonderful and exhausting and humbling and emotional and inspirational to meet so many people in such a short space of time and hear so many different stories. So many happy faces, so much love for colour and crochet. Thank you to everyone who took the time and effort to come and find me and say hello. You made my weekend a truly incredible one.

As well as sharing my patch with Christine, I was also lucky enough to have the fabulous Wool Warehouse team with me. They travelled up to Yorkshire with a van full of yarn and worked their socks off showing off my blankets to visitors all weekend. It was really great to see so many lovely crocheters (and would-be-crocheters) make the decision to embark on their own blanket journey, inspired by my creations. Made me feel a little bit melty with gratitude and emotion to tell the truth. Thank you, thank you to everyone who bought an Attic24 yarn pack to take home, you made me very, very happy.

So what more can I tell you about Yarndale 2015? I can tell you that around 7,000 visitors came to the festival during the two days. There were 195 talented exhibitors under this roof, selling, demonstrating, enabling and inspiring the crowds who flocked down the aisles. There was every type of yarny thing you could imagine, and even some that you couldn't even possibly imagine. There were knitters, crocheters, spinners, dyers, felters, braiders, stitchers, lacemakers, designers, producers, artisans, teachers, animals. There was yarn, buttons, books, haberdashery, artwork, knitwear, vintage ephemera, jewellery, hats, bags, kits, patterns, equipment, fibre, fluff, yarn, yarn, yarn and more yarn. There was so much of everything, all so beautifully displayed, a riot of colour and texture and a feast of creativity. The air buzzed with excitement, it hummed with happiness. There were meetings, greetings, get togethers and reunions, and the whole weekend was dominated by Friendship and filled to the brim with Inspiration.

And did I mention that the sun shone? The weather was glorious and much of the socialising took place on the grass outside.

     

It was absolutely brilliant to hear of so many meet-ups happening throughout the weekend, with groups of yarn enthusiasts using Yarndale as an opportunity to get together with friends. Lots of social media groups came together (Instagram gals in the above pics) and many long-time online friends got to meet each other for the first time. The social aspect of having yarn as a hobby is something I love very, very much, and Yarndale celebrates this on so many wonderful levels.

The weekend was a complete buzz from start to finish, and even though I was personally completely and utterly shattered, the feeling of having been to a really cracking good party has stayed with me ever since. It is one of the very best things to be at the centre of so much friendliness and shared happiness, and I am so, so, so grateful and proud to be a part of this unique festival.

I realised when I was putting this post together that I've still got The Flowers to show you. I took lots of pictures of this project which really do need to be in a post of their own I think....it's just too amazing to cram in at the end here.

Now I've noticed that there have been some terrific write-ups online about Yarndale 2015, with both visitors and exhibitors sharing their experiences. If you have time, do take a look as there are lots of lovely photos to see (I didn't have time to photograph the exhibitor stands unfortunately), and the blog posts make for great reading. If you've written a blog post about Yarndale and I've not listed it here, please feel free to leave me a comment and I'll add you in to the list.

Pink Milk 

Crafternoon Treats 

Agrarian Artisan 

Tin Can Knits 

Kelanjo 

Sew Sensational

Woolly Adventures 

Texture Knit

The Little Room of Rachell 

Linda's Crafty Corner 

Spin City UK 

Midwinter Yarns 

Fidgetymitts

These two videos made by visitors to Yarndale 2015 are also really lovely and give a beautiful impression of the festival....

Just Another Crafty Stuff 

Helpful Mum 

I'm sorry if this post has turned out a bit on the long side, I had rather a lot to chat about! I will share lots more pictures of the Flowers for Memories project very soon.

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ps in the interest of honesty and clarity and disclosure and all that kind of thing, Yarndale is a for-profit organisation and I am one of the five organisers. You can find more details on the website www.yarndale.co.uk

x

 

 

 

Comments

[Mama]

Everything looks beautiful as always!
I really do not mean at all to be a naysayer in any way, really, but when I see all of the gorgeous mandalas you have posted, I can't help but think if I am the only one to be wondering if any of them were inspired by the gentle and generous-spirited Wink of A Creative Being. I would like to hope that somewhere she is seeing them too. I know that so many of us associate them with her at this point!

[Barbara Harrison]

I wrote a little bit on my blog about Yarndale and my next blog post is a photo of a wreath I have made using your wonderful crochet patterns.It is busybusybeejay.blogspot.com

[Angela-Southern USA]

Congratulations to you and all that worked so hard to put such an advent together! I s-ooooo wish I could have crossed the pond to attend! It's wonderful to see the bunting and mandalas again, I didn't spot mine so I guess it's at the museum. This years sheep twins are fabulous!I look forward to seeing and hearing all about the flowers for memories, maybe I'll spot mine it those. Thanks Lucy for sharing!xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Rebecca]

thank you from a person across the sea who couldn't go to your yarndale, but got to experience it from the computer. Love, love, ALL your pictures. A lot of hard work on your part and others, pat yourself on the back. Amazing colors, yarn etc. thank you

[Laura from beautiful West Michigan]

Thanks, Lucy for sharing Yarndale to us in the US. We missed you SO much but totally understood that you needed to be busy offline and then just be UNbusy to recover.

[Ann]

Thank you Lucy for this wonderful post and the amazing photos. Just wish I could have come too!

[Ali Dufty]

Loved reading our Yarndale post - it looked like a whole bunch of fun !!!Well done for all your effort in organizing such a riot of colour. Really good to see it all 'come together'.!I'm quite dizzy !
Your little lambs are an adorable addition too.x :)

[Victoria - ECY]

Love this post! We were vendors, and we had an amazing weekend - Yarndale gets talked about an awful lot when we're at other shows; it has quickly become much-loved and talked about. I love how the organising team put in so much effort (this is not always the case), and I love the things like you having proper seating areas, exhibitor toilets, etc.
Anyway, I didn't actually get time to look around because we were so busy, so I'm relying on blog posts to see what I missed!
I blogged about our Yarndale prep which I was working on from March onwwards: http://ecyblog.com/2015/09/02/yarndale-news/
And once I finish unpacking and updating the website, I'll do a post-show blog post.
Thanks again to all the organisers!

[Gingercats mum]

Loved the whole experience once again and seeing all the results of each year's community project brings back warm memories of creating. It is such fun to get involved with the appeals then to look through the displays in the oft-vain hope of finding ones own creation/s. I did find at least 2 of my flowers this time and gave Christine some socks. The bunting continues to make me gasp each year, as do the crowds!! And to look closely at the mandalas was a treat.
Thanks to you and the team, not just the team of six but all your many helpers. Everthing there was so bright, inspiring and joyful. x

[CECILIA SCHEPELER R.]

Precioso!!!!

[Penny]

Thank you for sharing Yarndale 2015. Wished I could have attended but reading your blog is the next best thing. I felt like I was there seeing all the fabulous exhibits. Yarndale is a wondeful contribution to the community and you deserve as much recognition for your hard work as is possible. Cuddos for a job well done.

[Sigi G]

Thank you for sharing. Loved the little 'twin' sheep. Wow - really appreciate all the work that went into this Yarndale 2015!! An exciting week, for sure!

[Hélène Berthou]

J'adore tout, I love everything you do and post, you're amazing ! Merci !

[Nancy Swank]

Love, love, love all the photos! Thanks for sharing them - it felt like I was there!

[Sharon Izzard]

What a fantastic insight into Yarndale and what an honour to play such an important part in such a well loved event. I am unable to come but I love to read about everyone's adventures at Yarndale :-)

[Jo]

I had a great time at Yarndale and enjoyed reading your post about how Yarndale was for you, very interesting hearing about what goes on behind the scenes. I'm just hoping that I manage to get there again next year, I had to miss the first one as it was the weekend my son was moving in to his uni accommodation and next year will be my daughter's turn, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't clash with Yarndale. My blog post is here:-
http://www.jo-throughthekeyhole.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/yarndale-2015.html

[Ely]

Congratulation Lucy! Good job :)

[Vanessa]

Lucy, I'm always in awe of how much you manage to pack in, especially with three children. Seriously, I just don't think I could do it....and I can only imagine how pooped you were after the weekend. I can imagine you being bombarded non stop all weekend at the show. Both exhilerating, yet totally exhausting! Lot's of frothy coffees and a bit of down time for you now I think are in order! I would love to get my act together to travel up for a yarndale experience, although I'd be way too shy to say 'hello'! ha ha!

So glad Yarndale is such a success. I totally love how yarn can bring so many together with a shared passion. So much joy and colour xxxxxx

[Robin Summers]

I had to come back and show you this blanket that reminded me of you and the family on the beaches with beach huts that you have shared with us. I am definitely going to make it for sure! The inspiration was the beaches in Cornwall. Even if you don't make it I hope you will at least look at it. : )I will go back and look at the rules at the bottom of the tutorial and if I am allowed I can send you the pattern. If not it is 3 pounds and some change.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/a-day-at-the-beach-2

[Tiny Lautenschutz]

I have recently discovered your wonderful blog. But this is totally amazing what I see displayed here! I love visiting England. Perhaps it is time to find my way to Yarndale and experience this outpour of colour but most of all love.

[Linda]

A great write up about Yarndale Lucy, I had such a lovely day and I can see just how much hard work goes into it to make it such a resounding success. I was sorry not to see you in the Knit and natter lounge this year but managed a quick chat with Christine. Can't wait for next year. :) xx Thank you for listing my blog x

[Jane Allan]

Attending Yarndale is in my bucket list. I have begun a saving plan to get me there. The saving might have to take a while as I'm in Queensland Australia. In the meantime I have your beautiful photos and links to keep me motivated. Thank you so much for the chance to peak into this wonderful affair.

[carolyn jackson]

Thank you lucy, lovely to see so much of yarndale from so faraway. Pleased my bunting,mandala and flowers were there even thogh i cant be there myself. A great credit to you all who work so hard. Your blog is my favourite. Thanks again, carolyn.

[Carol]

I've been waiting for this post! Since I hadn't seen a new post this past week...I KNEW it was Yarndale - and I started waiting to read this post. Thank you. I was NOT disappointed!
Oh! How I wish I could be there....I so wish I could be one of those who met you and gave you a hug for all the inspiration and joy you have given me!
One of the first "real" projects I did was your large Blooming Cushion. - and I've been so proud of it.
Because of you, I LOVE color, color and more color in my crochet! I have been inspired by you to keep working harder and harder to improve my own crochet skills. You and Dedri (Look at What I Made) have posted tutorials that helped beginners like me crochet projects that are listed for Intermediate - and beyond!

Thank you, Lucy. You are still my favorite blog. If I don't see a new post, I worry about you. I feel as if you are a dear friend - even though we've never met! I so wish we could meet at Coopers for a cuppa and chat and hook together for a bit.
Maybe by next year I'll win a lottery or something and be able to afford a trip to England - and Yarndale! - and maybe just a bit of a jaunt around Skipton which seems such a lovely little town.
Thank you, dear friend!

[Robin Summers]

Oh Luce, I always look forward to your Yarndale posts. The yarn bombings on the park posts are awesome. My fave of those has to be the underwater fish with the air bubbles. Just love it! The twin sheep this year are just absolutely precious. A lovely little twist but still sticking to the Yarndale mascot. :) I just have to start saving so I can make it to Yarndale so I can oogle all the yarny goodness. I have a huge case of the wanties where that is concerned. So to tame the wanties a bit I ran over to the warehouse and bought the Sunny (logcabin style) blanket pack you have lined up for the next CAL. Now those colors take my breath away!! tons of love to you and the family!! xxxxxxx
Robin from the USA