We had such a blast last weekend at the East Anglia Yarn Festival. We set up on Friday, leaving the shop looking as though it had been burgled, and were really pleased with our larger stand. Mandy kept me company on Saturday, which was the busiest of the two days, and I was joined by my sister, Alex on the Sunday. And then I spent the whole of Monday putting everything back into the shop! I have to say that I was pretty tired by the end of Monday. But it was totally worth it. I get a real high from being on the stand – a proper sense of pride in what we have created, and it was so nice to be able to present the shop to people who have not yet come across it. It was crazy busy on the Saturday, so much so that Mandy and I felt as if we were dancing all day and both had very sore legs and backs at the end of it. On the Sunday it was all a little bit more laid back and there was more time to chat with both customers and other vendors.
One of the most fun things about the Festival is seeing what amazing knits people are wearing as they wander around. My absolute favourite was a colour work sweater, in dark green and cream in a pattern called the Leafhopper Sweater by Meredith Willmott. People were draped in gorgeous shawls and wearing astonishing sweaters – very necessary on the first day as it was freezing cold in the venue, less so on the second when they put the heating on. My sister said that she was feeling left out because she didn’t realise that wearing your knits was a thing, so I lent her my Go Go Dynamo Shawl which she rocked. Mandy was also wearing her neon blue and pink Go Go Dynamo on the Saturday, draped over her bright pink Dustland Sweater – a real ad for Stephen West. I was wearing a Love Note on the first day and my Manou by Isabel Kraemer on the second.
As a general retailer it is hard to guess what will interest people at the Festival given that I personally see such events as the best opportunity to see all the lovely independent dyers who are out there. We took examples of almost all our stock, although we could not squeeze the West Yorkshire Spinners in (other than the Colour Lab DK that made up the Dustland Shawl kits we were promoting). As last year the Flowery Scarf Kit was a best seller and sold out. But one of the things that people were most drawn to was the Knitting for Olive – they loved seeing it and squishing it (and even buying it). They also loved the John Arbon yarns that I had – and I need to give a big thank you the The Mercerie who sent several people my way to buy some of it for their wonderful crochet blankets. The Shift Cowl was a great success and I nearly sold out of the Edition 3 yarn that goes into it, so that was pleasing too. Hardly anyone could resist squeezing the Qing Fibre yarn and I even sold some of my own hand dyed yarn which was gratifying.
In the quiet times we chatted to our immediate neighbours, the lovely Jo.Knit.Sew, Quack Yarn, Henny Penny Makes and Yarn Whisperer. It is a great thing about events like this that you get to meet other retailers as well as customers, to exchange stories and ideas. It is always good to be talk to others who are in the same or similar situations and can be quite inspiring. Obviously we popped around to all the vendors we know locally, including Fibreworkshop, Blue Fern Yarns and Ellie of Crafthouse Magic, just to say hello and admire their wares. I did try to buy Jenn of Fibreworkshop’s book on the Norfolk Horn Sheep, but she had sold out! She promises me that she has some more at home as I am really looking forward to reading it.
Sadly, I was too busy to do a proper walk around the venue and did not even have time to make any purchases other than some slightly cheeky stitch markers from Tom Dyson Woodworking. I am planning to stock some of his lovely wooden items in the shop, in particular the portable yarn butlers which really caught my eye. Oh, and I also picked up a Dungeons and Dragons candle in the shape of a multi-sided die from Morningstar Makes to amuse a family member. It was probably just as well for my purse that I was not able to pick up any more yarn, but I am sorry nevertheless. I was gazing longingly at the shimmery muted colours of Camels yarn, for example and loved the sparkly yarn that Eden Cottage Yarns was selling.
I was also too busy to take photos. But if you did not come to the Festival and want to get a sense of what it was like, there were several vloggers there, videoing the stands and talking about the products. Here are some links to a couple I have seen, Knits by AJ and Amora, both of which are very nice about our stand, so I am grateful to them. Most of all, however, I am grateful to Laura and her amazing team of people who organised the festival and made it run so smoothly. I am very much looking forward to returning next year – I believe that the dates are 21 and 22 March 2026 and I hope that you will come too!