We had a fabulous holiday and I really don't know were to begin to tell you all about it.Maybe at the beginning !! We sat in the fully loaded van and we knew we wanted to go to Wingham Wools on our way back home but apart from that no idea !! So we flipped a coin as to go North or South, and we got North and then another for East or West ,and we got East. So we ambled along , stopping a night here and there & then on to Leyburn where there was a Farmers Market going on so of course we stopped for goodies and I started chatting to a lovely elderly couple and admired their woollies (as you do !! )and they said they came to Leyburn every year at this time and their woollies were made locally out of Wensleydale yarn and it was sold in a shop nearby. We had stayed on a farm in the area before and had booked there for a couple of nights and low and behold our hosts were great friends of the owner of this shop and it was this
Sheep Shop. So of course I HAD to go, and I spent a lovely few hours there and the lady was called Anne (she is one of the owners )and couldn't have been more helpful. If you are ever in the area I recommend you go and pay them a visit.
So there, I bought some 4ply and a couple of patterns but I am not totally sure if I will make either. I think the lacey one might be a bit granny-ish ? Okay I am one , but still !! Kath says she liked both but I will have a look to see if another pattern appeals to me more.Love the colour though.
Of course I had to by some fleece ; its amazing how long the fleece is . I nearly bought a whole unclean fleece but decided that I would treat myself to some combed clean tops and just a little bag of washed fleece . They do mail order so I will definitely buy more fleece off them in time.
We then went on to Whitby as it's another area we love and we had the wettest day of our hols ; so wet that we said if it rained the next day we would move on. I needed a new waterproof coat as mine was letting the rain in,so Tony bought me one of those long riding type ones which I love and have been after for a while. Well that must have done the trick as the next day was glorious and we awoke with a stunning view from our van overlooking Whitby , a total surprise as we had arrived in such a bad mist we couldn't even see the fence in front of us. We had a lovely day wandering around Whitby where I went on someone's recommendation ;-) to here
Bobbins There were a lot of yummy yarns there , a LOT of Colinette which of course I didn't bother looking at as I live so near their mill, so I bought some Rowan Tapestry but they didn't have a copy of the Rowan book so I will have to find that else where to knit it to the pattern I want . After buying the Rowan I then saw some of the new Sirdar yarn which is called Sublime and boy it is and so soft. I was half wishing I had bought that instead and they had some lovely classy patterns to go with it also but I resisted as I knew there was one other thing I had in mind to buy.
So on we went after spending a lovely few days in and around Whitby ,walking and just relaxing. We decided to go to
Wingham Wool Work a day or so earlier than planned to check out their wheels. I had been offered a couple of second hand Traditional ones but I really wanted a Traveller as it would be so much easier to take to Guild meetings etc . I had to make an appointment to see them as they are only open to the public on Sunday and Monday so we had the full tour and the place to ourselves. What an amazing place, sheer heaven for any one into spinning, felting etc I have never seen so many different types of fleece in one place . There was a shed full of natural fleeces , a shed full of dyed fleeces and a shed full of rainbow dyed . They showed us the carding room and other stuff which they normally can't show as when they are open its sheer bedlam there, which I can believe as the sheds are packed with so much stuff there is no room to move . You pick what fleece you want , weigh it and label it and take it to the till where they then check it. I really had to stop myself from just jumping in until we had been able to strike a deal re buying a wheel . Oh and I nearly forgot you can try and spin a small sample of your chosen fleece there before you decide which one you want to buy . So we finally got to see the wheels and the Kromski's did look good and Alan was full of praise for them also but it was a smaller wheel again but I did try both before keeping to my original choice of an Ashford Traveller. I was just so excited and we came out laden with a wheel , a separate Lazy Kate (a Krosmski one as they didn't rate the Ashford one )I know the Traveller already has one but they reckon this works better , we'll see. A Kromski Niddy Noddy , a pair of small hand carders , a bag of white Bluefaced Leicter, a small bag of Black Welsh (out of loyalty ) and a small bag of soya fiber.
I can't praise Ruth and Alan enough and I learnt so much in the few hours we were there and I will be back in the very near future. Check them out if you are going to Ali Pali as they will be there as well as the Sheep Shop I think.
We then drove to a farm near Buxton that we stayed at before and that afternoon set about putting the wheel together only to find that we were missing two parts, the tension knob and the adjusting knob. I was near to tears as I was tired and emotional by now but we phoned and spoke to Ruth and she said it was very unusual for there to be any missing parts and I thought 'why me? ' . She said she would speak to their supplier and took my address and said she would be in touch. So I went to bed not a very happy bunny. I had this lovely wheel which we had finished putting together but couldn't use.
We carried on with our holiday and I was determined not to let it get me down; its amazing how things like this can still get to me, stupid I know , wish I could handle things better and not get so upset.
Well we eventually came home after stopping a night at Kath and Barry's and Emily seemed to have changed again ; she truly is a joy to us all and we had such fun with her. Surprise, surprise when we arrived home amongst all of the mail was a parcel from Wingham's and a starter kit to get me going until they get the proper lacquered parts to send to me; I was over the moon and was so grateful to them. It restores your faith in folks when things like this happen. So I have been spinning , spinning, spinning and I love my wheel ; she is smooth, she is quiet and my spinning is getting so much better . I guess that's the difference after using a battered old one to having a new one; not that I am against a second hand one as I was able to spin on the other and to be fair with all that was going on before we went away I didn't get much spinning done on it and also I have now learnt how important it is to get the fleece well prepared before spinning and getting the draft right.
Well blogger is playing up with me at the moment. I wrote this post two days ago and tried adding more photos but it won't let me for some reason . I have FO to show also. I have finished Ella 2 but I have had a clitch with my Colinette jumper. The BLUE one, told you I am doomed with anything blue I knit !! I am running out of yarn to finish the hood,so I phoned Colinette and I was in luck they had one last skein of it (it's a one off yarn they made and only sold in the shop )So I will frog a bit of it and hope it blends otherwise I will end up with a funky , stripey hood LOL . Must try and catch up with all you bloggers soon too, not enough hours in the day .
