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Whether a vendor or a visitor at EYF you will all have had your own experience of this unique & innovative yarn festival created by Jo & Mica. Or maybe you were unable to attend & have enjoyed a vicarious EYF experience via various social media sites. The EYF vibe is simply magical. This is more than just a place to purchase yarn, albeit there was an amazing selection of yarn from an incredible line up in the knitting world. Four days of workshops provided a fantastic opportunity to develop skills from sought after tutors. A knit night meet up prior to the festival, a ceilidh & dinner, a podcast lounge, a companion magazine – these are just some of the additional extras that really set this festival aside.
Meeting up with knitting friends, new & old, putting faces to online knitting names & weary knitters sat whiling away time, resting their feet, knitting a row or two & embracing their neighbour into the knitting conversation like greeting a long lost buddy. This yarn festival celebrates the depth & breath of the knitting community & everybody within it.
I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to be part of the pop-up market again this year, and humbled by the response I have received. Thank you so much to everyone who made it over to my stand to say hello, to new & returning customers & to the amazing feedback on my new products, especially the Dorset Button earrings that went down very well. There are more designs to be released soon! I also briefly got to say hello and catch up with knitwear designers, podcasters, hand-dyers, wool shop & mill owners whom I’ve got to know and meet at various events throughout the infancy of TJFrog. Spending so many hours tucked away making things it’s wonderful to get out to meet the people who are supporting my little creative venture & those who’ve inspired me along the way.
Being next to Aileen of Aileen Clark Crafts in the pop up market meant temptation to spend money was very close! Buys included this delightful textile trinket box for my sea themed guest bedroom, that overlooks the sea, as well as a seascape scene mouse mat for Hubby & a pressie for a relative that I cannot yet reveal!
There’s been a wonderful selection of ‘flash your EYF stash’ photos on Ravelry & Instagram. I now know what I meant to buy & didn’t! Should have had a list. I had so many lists on the go for my appearance in the pop-up market, I didn’t get round to writing a shopping list for myself. Nevertheless I am extremely pleased with my purchases and I’m sure an opportunity will present itself for me to buy all those other things!
I’ve had my eye on The Bletchley Collection for far too long, so I enjoyed making my way over to the Eden Cottage Yarns stand & getting my hands on a copy. The Milburn 4 ply Bluefaced Leicester & Silk mix is beautiful and so I found myself purchasing enough yarn to make both the Hut 8 Cardigan in Damson and the Colossus Tank Top in Harvest Gold, both amazing rich colours!
And how could I resist this little pack of yarnlings!
I treated myself to a PomPom subscription, and am so looking forward to indulging some time in this! A visit to the Kate Davies stand resulted in the purchase of a skein of Macallum (raspberry red) Buachille as I have all the other colours, so really needed to complete the set! And having modelled for Kate during Shetland Wool Week 2012 I loved having an opportunity to say a quick hello to her again. Wearing my Doodler I got to chat to Stephen West about Iceland & his incredibly fun pre-launch Doodler video, Baby You’re A Knitter. I also received one of his purple ribbon Style Awards ‘For Awesomeness in Knitting.’ Brilliant!
The Buffalo Wool Co all the way from Texas had a really interesting stand & selection of goodies. Well I’ve never knitted with bison before so a purchase had to be made!
And something for my feet . . .
. . . a Joes Toes slipper kit. This is a great concept where you get to pick each component part so you make up your own colour mix. I opted for green tops, grey bottoms & purple thread!
And for my Dorset Buttons yarns, I can finally justify a yarn swift & found a beautiful oak handmade one from The Knitting Gift Shop. As a bonus it comes complete as a yarn holder too. I haven’t unpacked it yet but this is going to make a big difference to me.
The sell out Dorset Button workshop in aid of the Teapot Trust saw many beautiful Dorset Buttons being made. The hour and a half flew by, and I thoroughly enjoyed passing on this traditional craft in such a vibrant & collaborative setting.
Photo courtesy of Elena Lange, one of the workshop attendees, seen here in her stunning Brioche Cowl.
Finally, the stalwart of the weekend – my Hubby. TJFrog at EYF 2016 would not have happened without him. He did an incredible job looking after my stand when I was away with the workshop & doing my shopping!
He had to leave early on the Saturday and only when he was airside at Edinburgh Airport did he realise he had taken my car keys with him! Thank you to security at the Airport who let him back out, the security at the Corn Exchange who got a message to me & the taxi driver who brought my keys back to me! Oh, how the end of EYF2016 could have turned out so differently for TJFrog!
Bye for now.
