Unravel Festival of Knitting 2016

Last Friday, after a walk around the centre of Farnham (exploring the town's history and architecture), I headed to Farnham Maltings to visit Unravel: an annual "festival of knitting" which also celebrates crochet and other fiber arts.

As any regular reader of my blog could tell you, I am not the world's best knitter (or crocheter). I've made a couple of big projects like my Sky Blanket and my Granny Square Blanket but I mostly stick to very small, simple things like basic scarves and plain squares for patchwork blankets.

But I'd been to the textile-themed Thread festival at the Maltings a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, so when an old friend said she was visiting Unravel and did I fancy coming along? Well, a day of nattering and tea and cake and lots and lots of yarn seemed like a pretty good plan to me.

There was a lot of beautiful yarn for sale, plus books and patterns and kits and knitting/crochet accessories and loads more crafty goodness. The whole building was jam-packed with stalls, but here are just a few that caught my eye.

The Little Grey Sheep had such a fabulous selection of colours! Passion for their product was something that radiated from every seller at the festival, and this family farm was no exception. They have a flock of sheep which they shear themselves, the fibre is washed and spun within the UK and then returned to the farm where it's hand-dyed in all those lovely colours.

Charming kits and patterns for your dog, from Redhound for Dogs. You'd be knitting the coats for the dog, of course, as I'm not sure even the most talented of pups could master knitting. 

(Do excuse these slightly blurry photos, my camera was struggling a little with the lighting!)

Fabulous pompom yarn (handmade in Chile) from Añañuca. How much fun would this be to knit with?? 

Needle felted awesomeness by Jenny Barnett. I love that little sign: You CAN make these.

 

Spin City had roving and other spinning supplies in some magical colours! And sparkles, too! Even the product names are magical: Mermaid's Hair, Cinderella's Slippers, Nebula.

Cute and quirky faux taxidermy and other knitted animal fun from Sincerely Louise. I especially love the triceratops and the little mole door stop.

More beautiful yarn in delicious colours, this time from John Arbon Textiles.

 

 

Finally, beautiful patterns and kits by Jane Crowfoot.

The flower blanket on the top right is called Frida's Flowers, and has been designed for a "crochet along" with yarn company Stylecraft. Kits to make the blanket will be available from March, and the free patterns will be published in instalments over 4 months, starting from early April.

I really don't need to start another project (especially one as big as a blanket) but I have to admit to being very tempted by this one!

The Farnham Heritage Trail

Last week I took a trip to Farnham to visit knitting festival Unravel. I was meeting a friend at 1pm to explore the festival, but I wanted to make the most of my Nice Day Out so I got an early train to give myself some time to explore the town itself.

On my previous visit to Farnham (for the textile festival Thread) I picked up a couple of tourism leaflets, including a guide to the Farnham Heritage Trail. I love it when towns have trails like this. A ready-made walking route round a new place, with lots of interesting things to see and fun facts to discover along the way? Yes please!

Farnham is a very pretty place, with a lot of interesting old buildings...

 

 

... little courtyards...

 

... ghost signs...

 

 

... plus lots of nice doors! (You know I like a nice door).

 

I sadly didn't have time to follow the whole trail (or to visit the local castle) as my train was rather delayed in the morning (boo) but I was lucky with the weather. It was a lovely, sunny morning - perfect for a walk around town!

I loved the weathervane of the Golden Hinde on the top of the Town Hall Buildings, and the quirky arcade of shops of shops below.

 

 

 

Who could resist the charm of these old almshouses? (Again, I am a sucker for quirky doors).

 

 

I also visited a peaceful little park, built on the site of a former open-air swimming baths.

 

 

Those circular marks in the bricks were made with pennies, by generations of children queuing up to swim.

They're exactly the sort of detail that you'd miss if you were just strolling by, but they're so evocative of what the baths would have been like when they were in use. A teeny glimpse into the past! Delightful.

I'll be blogging about my visit to Unravel itself later this week, so brace yourselves for lots of photos of lovely yarn :)