Another lovely weekend at Wonderwool Wales

Given that I have exhibited at over twenty shows a year for the last nine years, you'd think that it would all have become a little dull by now. Most certainly not the case, and this weekend in Wales was no exception. 

In the early days of TOFT I travelled the country towing a pop-up trailer shop filled with cardigans and scarves and attending every country show and game fair in the land. It was only with the movement towards a craft revival that guided TOFT away from ready-to-wear and towards yarns and knitting kits. Shows are the best way to rapidly design, test and market your ideas to customers. The success of TOFT has been built on taking my ideas and hauling myself around the UK with a big smile for everyone who walks towards my stand to take a closer look. 

Following the hard work in the early part of this year for the whole team it seems it's holiday season here in the office. As a result it was with a snigger that I took my Dad (Rob) to the first 'yarny' event of his life this weekend. Now don't be mistaken, over the last few years he has helped drive vans into knitting and stitching show venues, and even tried his hand (unsuccessfully I might add) at pom-pom display earlier this year, but never has he stood on a TOFT trade stand to see just how busy it gets. We called ourselves the 'B' team as I had very little voice left after the first few hours of Saturday morning. 

We took two lovely alpacas (Oscar and Kleef) with us, and as ever they melted the hearts of thousands. Dad did a stirling job on the stand and sold plenty of alpacas even if he didn't quite manage to get any yarn into a tote bag! 

Wonderwool Wales is a fabulous show: great food, nice setting and hundreds of truly independent exhibitors. I would recommend to all. 

Meet my Menagerie: Richard the Pig

Richard is one of two pigs in Edward's Menagerie. 

You'd think that working on an alpaca farm would be enough to satisfy my love of animals. Wrong. It's been fantastic the way becoming the mum of a toddler and designing Edward's Menagerie has given me the perfect excuse for numerous trips to farms, zoos and even just pet shops...

One of my favourite days out is a trip up to Harrogate for The Great Yorkshire Show. This year I hope to take Edward for the first time to peer over the pens with me at the biggest pigs I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure that he will be as excited as I am to meet all the different breeds of pig, sheep, goats and cow. In fact I am white excited now just thinking about it! When I first started developing TOFT back in 2006 I hauled my trailer full of handknits around every single agricultural show there was in the UK: the Royal Welsh, Bakewell, Newark and Notts, Royal Bath and West. You name it and I have sold alpaca knitwear there at some point in the last eight years. Camping in all weathers on a showground surrounded by partying young farmers was testing, but for me it felt like such a treat to get up very early, beg a coffee from the just-stirring food vendors, and head off to enjoying it with a large white pig. 

The 'meet my menagerie' campaign is a 50 day countdown to the official launch of my Edward's Menagerie book.  The Edward's Menagerie paperback can be ordered HERE.

Meet my Menagerie: Penelope the Bear

Penelope began her life as a reindeer. No world of lie, the brownbear that is now very popular was originally an ill-conceived first attempt at a reindeer pattern.  With two floppy antlers strapped to her head she lasted around 48hours before I cut them off, pulled back the nose back to the colour change and crocheted my first bear. 

Cutesy teddy bears aren't my thing, but this is a strong lady who likes to wear designer shoes. She is a character that I admire, and is one of many successful female characters in Edward's Menagerie. I'm not sure a brown bear would ever have landed in the collection if it wasn't for the happy mistake, and sometimes that's how the best ones come-about.

The 'meet my menagerie' campaign is a 50 day countdown to the official launch of my Edward's Menagerie book.  The Edward's Menagerie paperback can be ordered HERE.