As soon as we walked into the hall, the girls were whisked off for a lesson in felt ball making.

With the girls otherwise occupied, it left us free to watch the spinning lesson,

to appreciate the displays,

to add another bunting example to my inspiration, (this one is sewn straight onto blanket squares and was made by the amazing Alanah who put the whole festival together),

to partake in a bit of retail therapy,

to search for the perfect buttons,

and to touch, smell and discuss the wool with the spinner/dyer/ felter/shearer.

I bought that pink hand dyed, hand spun wool in the top of the basket. It has a sparkle through it and is totally divine.

There were granny square lessons, (the woman on the right won that felted shawl in the raffle),

and gorgeous examples of woolly crafts like this nest.

We all loved the whole festival. It had such a warm, community feel to it. It was wonderful to be able to discuss all things wool with people who wanted and cared to discuss it.

And it was great to be able to ask the silly questions I've been thinking about with no one to ask. Yes, crochet uses about 20% more wool than knitting and yes, some painted wool patterns are better suited to crochet because they have wider blocks of colour. I also found a spinning teacher which is a bit exciting.

I've come home with some beautiful wool to add to the stash and a thought that I might have to beg Alanah to make an exception and let me be part of it next year.