Wonderwool Wales

Last weekend I visited Wonderwool Wales with my daughter Rachael.. meeting lovely friends (more later) while we were there :)  I've only been to Wonderwool once before about 4 years ago, I was amazed to see how much it has grown!  It was at least twice the size..  I actually had a bit of a panic at one point wondering how on earth we were going to manage to see everything in one day - thank goodness we were there early!  

I did take photos.. but most of you will know how forgetful of my camera I can be, there was soooo much more that I should of taken photos of!

Let start with fur babies :)

Gorgeous bunnies :)

Alpacas - I think the one on the left must of liked rolling in the straw
he was covered in it all day :)

Love the dreads :)

Gotland

Shetland

There were many amazing and beautiful stalls..  I didn't take photo's of many :(  But here is what I've got..

Lovely life sized wool sheep :)

Paul and Mandy of ClassicCarder having a
quiet moment

Loved this giant drop spindle :)
It must of been 4 foot tall!

And the beautiful Zara of InnerSpiral
happily spinning :)

InnerSpiral hats.. gorgeously felted and crochet creations

I just love the display!  So clever using branches/sticks to display the hats

These events are such a great opportunity to meet folks you know via the internet, and also to catch up with old friends.  I had been waiting to meet Zara of InnerSpiral for ages.. we have chatted via email for quite some time, it was lovely to meet face to face.  I had a visit with Paul and Mandy at ClassicCarder :)  they are always good fun.

I also met the lady responsible for all of my woolly madness.. Debbie at MulberryDyer, and would you believe I forgot to take a photo!  It was about 11 or 12 years ago that I went to Debbie to learn to spin on a drop spindle.. this was part of my educational museum work.  I spent a wonderful day with Debbie and her partner John, up to my eyes in fleeces and fibres.. and completely fell in love with it.  Felting was of course mentioned and when I got home I started to research and dabble.. you know where it went from there! :)

One of the MAIN reasons for attending Wonderwool this year was to meet my wonderful darling friend HEATHER.. who was coming to stay for a few days!  I was SO excited to finally meet this lovely lady, we have been internet friends for years.  Heather was with Pearl.. a UK felter whom I did not know before.. who is quite lovely and instantly became a friend :)  

I had been worrying about finding Heather.. we'd both agreed to wear our brightly coloured felt coats so we stood out :)  Turned out I needn't of worried.  Driving to the show took almost 2.5 hours from our house, about half an hour before we arrived I noticed I had had a car driving behind me for a while.. it was raining hard, roads were twisty and driving conditions not at all pleasant, so I was going a little under the speed limit. Passing through a village we picked up a couple more cars behind so I decided to pull in and let everyone pass me by.  I was rather surprised when the car behind also pulled in, I thought this most odd and drove off as soon as the other cars had passed.  Well this car kept on going the same way we were.  There were 2 possibilities.. Heather was in the car behind, or it was an unmarked police car.. even though I knew I hadn't done anything other than travel at 50 rather than 60mph in heavy rain,  I was really hoping it was Heather. When we stopped at the turn in for the Royal Welsh Showground my mind was put at rest, looking in my rearview I saw big happy faces and waving hands ... Heather and Pearl :) we met before we'd even got there lol.  

I don't have a photo of the girls at the show, which is a real shame.. This was taken on Monday morning just as we were getting ready for our first play day

My lovely treasures brought back from Wonderwool.. including Heather :)