A couple of weekends ago we made our annual pilgrimage to Woolfest, held at Cockermouth in Cumbria.  It was a day of sunshine and showers but that didn’t seem to deter the army of wool lovers and craftspeople who flocked to Mitchell’s Lakeland Livestock Centre.

One of the big attractions of Woolfest every year is the presence of so many animals – rare breed sheep, goats, alpacas and angora rabbits.  We very much enjoy the parade of breeds in the main ring and are always amazed at the dedication and commitment of the breeders and handlers, who are only too happy to chat to visitors.

This year we really enjoyed Cathy Cassie’s shearing demonstration, marvelling at both her technique and her ability to give a really interesting and informative running commentary whilst grappling with an excitable Herdy!

This year my haul of fibre-goodies was relatively small – some lovely mini skeins from both Baa Ram Ewe and The Little Grey Sheep, enough John Arbon Harvest Hues 4ply to make Isabell Kraemer’s Reagan, and a hank of glorious Alpaca Silk Lace from Ainsworth & Prin (good to see one of my fellow C&G Hand Knit Textiles students putting all her knowledge and skills to such good effect!)  Roll on Woolfest 2017!