Getting excited about Edinburgh Yarn Festival

For those of you that have read my last blog post you my remember that I said that I was heading off to Scotlands Trade Fair at the end of January.

After a lot of hard work and stress I got there and it went fantastically well. 

I am now making new stock for stockists across Scotland and one in England, and there are one or two rather exciting things in the pipeline too. 

So, it's been very crazy busy at Weft Blown HQ as I've been busy getting these orders organised and also getting my new designs set-up too which include these new cushions, scarves and cowl.

They will be in stock from April in my shop and online so do watch out for them.

As well as getting all the things woven over the past couple of months I've also been sorting out a new venture for Weft Blown as I am now a supplier of Louët spinning wheels and looms.

My first spinning wheel was a second hand Louët S10 and it was great to learn on as it was so easy to use. Over the past few years I've also had a Louët Junior Drum Carder and Bobbin winder and then at the end of last year I got my brand new Louët Delta floor loom.

Having used them over time I've been very impressed with the build quality of Louët but also of how they have been designed to make it easier for the user to spin or weave on. It's for this reason that I decided to become a dealer.

To help with adding another string to my business bow, my husband Rob is now helping out with the Louët side of things. He has already done a little bit of weaving and has now learned to spin too, even if his perfectionist ways makes him get frustrated with it at times. It's great to have him help out now as I feel the pressure has lifted off a bit of having to run everything myself and means I can now talk to him about looms and wheels and he's starting to understand it all. 

So, this means that what I'm bringing with me to my stand at Edinburgh Yarn Festival is a bit changed from last year. I will still be bringing a selection of my handwoven products to show, including my clouds and badges. I'll also be more than happy to talk to anyone about the weaving and spinning classes that I run.

Rob is coming to help out this year too as we're bringing our new range of Louët wheels and looms. We've not got the full range of wheels and table looms as we're still waiting on parts of our order to come.

We will have:
a Louët Klik table loom warped up that you can have a play on
the Louët S10 Concept Spinning Wheel which is fab to spin on and we're bringing the double treadle 3 spoke and 5 spoke wheels with Irish and Scotch Tension
a Louët S17 Spinning Wheel
the Louët Victoria S95 beech and S96 oak model which are very cute and dinky
Louët Classic and Louët Junior Standard Drumcarders with their cute spinning animals on the drums

You'll be able to have a shot on any of these wheels and if you order any Louët product at the show but we don't have it in stock we will ship it to you with free delivery afterwards (this applies to all products apart from floor looms due to the nature of their delivery).

Rob and I want to make sure that anyone who wants to have a go on these wheels and loom get a chance so we will have them out on the stall and just ask us if you want to have a try on them. We'll have fibre and yarn ready to go too. Also, if you want to talk to us about any of the other Louët products including floor looms then just ask.

The other reason I'm really excited about EYF is getting the chance to meet everyone and squish lots of yarn. I've already bought yarn in the past from quite a few of the vendors for weaving, including Old Maiden Aunt yarns, Midwinter Yarns, Jamiesons of Shetland, Blacker Yarns, New Lanark, Wollmeise, Whistlebare Yarns and the new Buchaille Yarn by Kate Davies. I'm really looking forward to seeing them all again.

This year I will be making a bee-line for Ripples Craft not just to see the lovely Helen and my weaving friend Dorothy but to eye up some yarn for future projects.

I can't wait to see The Border Tarts lovely indigo dyed yarns which I'd love to see how they weave up.

Easyknits is another one of my favourites and I use their yarn for knitting but I think their gradient packs of yarn will be great for weaving with too.

John Arbons Paint by Numbers range is also another I want to have a closer look at this year as I didn't get the chance to properly last year. 

Buffalo Wool Co will be another stop as how can anyone resist the chance to see what buffalo yarn is like, especially if they've got their mini skeins.

Finally, I can't wait to see my old EYF friend Once A Sheep as she'll have with her the new Ashford Sample-It rigid heddle loom and the new Vari-Dent rigid heddle reeds which do look a lot of fun.

I will also be checking out all the other stalls and it doesn't mean that any of the ones that I haven't mentioned aren't of interest as they create great yarns that are great for weaving with.

If you're at EYF and want any help on what yarns to weave with then do stop by my stand and I'm always happy to have a chat about yarns and weaving.

Our stand is F4 and we're next to the Tour of British Fleece which looks like a great project all about spinning and working with British Fleece.

So do come along and say hi and I promise to be back to blog afterwards how it all went.