Countdown to Yarndale 2014

Yarndale, a festival of wool and craft in Skipton, North Yorkshire, had its inaugural show in 2013. Sadly I couldn't make it because of back pain on the day. My godmother went, though, and enthused about the range of stalls and sellers there; handspun and dyed yarns that you wouldn't find in your local yarn shop; and the general happy ambience that surrounded this gathering of lovely, crafty people.

This year Yarndale is back on 27 and 28th September. The date is down in my diary and I'm hoping on making an outing of it with my parents. Skipton is a town I've never been to - or at least if I went as a young child I don't remember it! I grew up in industrial South Yorkshire and we rarely had a trip to the Yorkshire Dales. Skipton is now on my radar as home to one of the best yarn shops I've never been to - Purl and Jane - and I'm hoping that local real ale pubs will keep my dad interested whilst mum accompanies me yarn shopping.

Last year Yarndale had a great achievement of receiving knitted bunting from all over the world to adorn the venue. In fact, the bunting organiser, Lucy of Attic 24 blog fame, received 582 parcels, including from St Helena island and Brunei. Not the countries that would first spring to mind when you think of knitting.

The bunting will be hanging again at this year's Yarndale to celebrate another festival of woolly delights.

Photo courtesy of the Yarndale website.

The Welcome to Yorkshire website has lots of useful information on things to do in Skipton. It would be a shame to travel all the way to Skipton without seeing all the sights it has to offer. It's also useful to have a back up plan for non-knitty friends/partners who are coming along to Yarndale for the ride. Here's my pick of what to do when your shopping bags are full:

1. See a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio at the Craven Museum and Gallery. It's free to get into the museum, located in the town hall, where on display is one of the 50 surviving copies of Shakespeare's First Folio in the British Isles.
2. Look round the 900-year-old Skipton Castle. No wheelchair access though so this will probably be a no-no for me, although the teashop apparently is accessible.
3. Afternoon tea out in the Dales at the The Devonshire Arms. This hotel is on my bucket list of places to stay in the UK, with a spa treatment thrown in of course. In September I'd like to recce the joint and enjoy some Yorkshire grub before heading home after Yarndale.

Let me know if you're planning to go to Yarndale this year.