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Monday 13 March 2017

Tales from Edinburgh

Hi Everyone
The only subject I can talk about today is - Edinburgh. More specifically, my visit to Edinburgh Yarn Festival on Saturday. I had a lovely time and will get into the detail over the next few days. I'm not sure if I can make it last all week (will definitely try !) but there's enough material for a few days ! Today, I'm giving a general overview of the visit.
Edinburgh is around a two hour drive from my home in Morpeth, Northumberland. The journey is a very pretty one and when we left on Saturday the weather was lovely - a bright and almost sunny day. As we approached Edinburgh the clouds gathered but it felt warmish in the sun. The hills and rural views throughout the journey are very special - so the journey was a pleasure. I also managed to make good progress on my current knit project which helps pass the time as a passenger - didn't feel like two hours at all !
I had planned a little 'wish list ' for potential purchases as well as booths I wanted to visit - so felt my day was prepared. I had a map of the venue and my check list of places to visit. I could have spent lots of time at every single booth but did make a 'bee line' for my chosen highlights. I eventually purchased five different packages of stash and felt happy but quite restrained ! A few skeins of yarn, some buttons and a couple of bags of fibres found their way into my bag. Each purchase was considered and I didn't buy anything until I'd been around everything once. I also bumped into a couple of people I know as well as some You Tubers that I watch (almost feel like I know them too !) the whole atmosphere was lovely.
I had also joined the Blacker Yarns Podcast 'knit along' which had been organised online prior to the Festival. The Podcast Lounge was a specific room organised for sitting around, knitting, eating and chatting as well as talking all things 'podcast'. The room was buzzing with excitement and full of people. The Blacker Yarns booth was also in the podcast lounge itself.  The knit along project was to knit and then wear an item using Blacker Yarns on the day and get a discount on any purchases. I joined this activity several weeks ago and wore my knitted item ( a scarf )and purchased a couple of skeins of beautiful yarn. You can check out the details of the Podcast Lounge - http://www.edinyarnfest.com/blacker-yarns-podcast-lounge-2017/ if you're interested.

I will go into more detail over the next few days re my purchases and what I plan to do with them but here is a quick look at some of my purchases :
                      
There's another larger purchase which would not fit into my photo - will reveal this one tomorrow !

Generally, I saw some lovely things  and could have bought so much more (funds permitting) but I am very pleased with my stuff. I have specific plans for each item which pleases me too. Often, I come home from a show and have a bag of stuff which is lovely but doesn't have a plan attached and therefore often gets left unused - for years !

For food, we had taken a 'pack lunch' and found a little corner of the main hall to eat it - there were a few others 'picnicking', which was great too !Little chats and a coffee stand next to our spot made lunch a lovely treat too. The atmosphere was great with everyone seeming to be having a good time.

When our visit was over, it was back to the car (parked quite close to the venue) and back into the hills, heading for home. I've been talking and thinking about the day every since - it was such a lovely treat. I'm inspired by many of the things I saw and will look forward to using my purchases over the next few months. I'm already looking forward to next year. Big 'thank you' to my lovely husband for driving and enjoying my day too ! (even though he had/has a severe head cold)

Thanks for calling in today. Back with more detail tomorrow.

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