Woolfest at last

I've always wanted to go to Woolfest, right from when it started 10 years ago, but living in the South East made it an unrealistic proposition even though we know and love The Lakes so well, however ........ This year our holiday (which has to fit around DH's work schedule) was due to start on Saturday  28th June, we were going to The Lakes so that DH can finish walking the Wainwrights (only 11 of the 214 left) and, bless him, he suggested we travel up a day early so that I could go to Woolfest at last. 

So on Saturday, after driving for an hour down the smallest, steepest country roads and across the Honister pass to drop him off so he could walk,  I carried on and finally arrived at Mitchell's Livestock Centre in Cockermouth....... Woolfest

The sights, sounds and smells were all that I had hoped, the sheep were baa-ing, and smelling of, well, sheep. The swallows swooped around the roof of the barn and everywhere people were oohing and ahing about the animals, the yarn, the equipment and the demonstrations.

I didn't buy a lot, but just being there was wonderful.  

Some reduced Araucania Ranco called to me - 

I didn't mind that at wasn't a neat skein, after all it wouldn't take long to become a ball ready to be Song of the Sea that seemed to made for the yarn

And then watching so many stall holders drop spindling it suddenly occurred to me, two weeks in an apartment without Hugo Pussycat to attack the fluff would be an ideal opportunity to practice spindling and hopefully master Ply on the Fly (which I have been intending to do for ages) so a quick visit to Wingham Wool Works stand provided the solution and though I wouldn't say I've mastered it, I do have some plied yarn already 

Not what you'd call consistent but it is plied, and practice can only make perfect, I hope.  The only thing is the wooden floor in the apartment does rather give the game away when I prove why the craft is called 'drop' spindling!