Monday 25th March

Hello friends, welcome to the day late Sunday Sock. It was such an exciting and tiring weekend for me that yesterday instead of writing I was sleeping and trying to let my poor bones and muscles recover. Why you may ask was I so exhausted? Well, all day Saturday I was with Yvonne at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival. We had an amazing time, surrounded by colour, fellow crafters and more beautiful knits than I could shake a stick at.
It all kicked off for me on Friday when hubby and I went to Edinburgh Airport to meet Yvonne

She and I have been online friends for many years but this was our first time meeting IRL and the first time she has been to Scotland. Home we came and she met our fur family. For dinner, we had Cullen Skink, a gorgeous creamy smoked haddock soup, which is a traditional Scottish dish. After lots of chatting and some wine, it was time for bed as we had a big day ahead.

Saturday morning dawned fine, fair and sunny and we headed to get the bus to EYF. I had chosen to take the bus as it would allow Yvonne to see some of the beautiful city that is Edinburgh. We are very lucky as from the next village we could get a bus which took us all the way to the festival. Once there, we put coats in the cloakroom and then it was lift off. I tried so hard to take photos but seriously it was so busy and there was so much to see and so many people to talk to that it was hard to remember which stall was which and who was who. I did get some though and here they are.

This was just a fraction of what was on show. We spent over two hours just wandering about taking in the sights and sounds.
at half past 2, we headed to the Ripplescrafts stand where we met up with some Ravelry friends and then headed out to the marquee for a seat and some refreshments.

Lots of show and tell and coffee and cake happened and then we were off again. Back into the marketplace. But on the way, we bumped into these guys and just had to stop for a photo.

Sarah also had her photo taken

So, what did I buy? The answer is not a lot. I was so overwhelmed by the choices available that I instead collected a lot of business cards so I can peruse at leisure and make more informed choices rather than impulse purchases. I was seduced however at the Jamieson of Shetland stall by this

Six wee balls of Spindrift in the most gorgeous colours. This kit came with a scarf pattern but I think I am going to make a shawl with it.
Then, a last minute purchase just as we were getting ready to leave.

I have two skeins of Wollmeise, one in orange and one in lemon and I thought this gradient set would blend in well to make another Sorrento shawl.

My last gain was a gift from Yvonne. She bought me this beautiful little tin of stitch markers.

 Homeward bound we met some lovely ladies from Sweden with whom we chatted for a while. Once home it was more Scottish food for dinner as we treated Yvonne to stovies and her first taste of haggis. This she declared was delicious.

I came home to a couple of surprise packages which had come whilst I was out. The first was a box containing 4 Gouda kinds of cheese and some Stroopwaffles which Yvonne had posted before she left The Netherlands as a gift for us. The second was this gorgeous Peter Rabbit project bag I had ordered as a special order from Rachael at Sew Ray Me.

I ordered this to house the projects I do with my Beatrix Potter mystery box yarns and was blown away by the finished item.
I can highly recommend these project bags as they are just so beautifully made with love sewn in.

Sunday saw us return to the airport to say goodbye to Yvonne. I do hope that she enjoyed her flying visit as we thoroughly enjoyed having her here and hope we will meet again soon.

That is it for this week, normal posting will resume next Sunday with hopefully some finished objects and some new cast ons.

To all who were visiting EYF from all over the world, haste ye back, to the organisers, volunteers, stallholders, Corn Exchange staff and everyone involved a huge thank you for all your hard work, see you next year.

Happy crafting

Mary