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When it’s cold and dreary outside, there’s nothing more I want to do than squish yarn, and this Sunday I got to do exactly that at the Nottingham Yarn Expo 2019…

I spent waaaaaaay too much this year, but the selection of delicious yarns was way too much for me to handle.

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My Instagram feed has been full of #NottinghamYarnExpo hashtags from all my favourite yarn brands. After drooling over most of the yarns online, it was great to see everyone under one roof and deposit my life savings into these great small businesses.

Mad Scientist Yarns have some exquisite science experiments for sale, and it was great to see their almost Breaking Bad-themed stand filled to the brim with a great selection of DK and Aran yarns. Everyone had sock yarns but I’ve never made a pair of socks before, so anyone selling a ‘chunkier’ yarn definitely had my attention.

From Michelle and Rob, the lovely owners of this yarn brand, I bought “Deconstructed” and “Bioluminescence” and with my purchase, a percentage went to the Badger Trust which help to protect the badger population in the UK. So I was happy with my purchase and hopefully so were the badgers!

I did intend to limit myself to a strict budget at the expo but knew I had a few “must buy” items. One of those being a sock ruler, which I ended up purchasing from Yarnistry and the other being these little yarn cozies from All’s Wool that Ends Wool.

Why a sock ruler you might ask? Well, I really want to learn how to make socks, either crochet or knit, but sizings intimidate me! At least having this great little ruler will help me make comfy socks and getting the heel in the right place! Maybe at the next expo I’ll be shopping for super skinny sock yarn, but not yet…

While lost in the sea of woolly delights, I came across Dusty and her dimples! Dusty is such a great lady who had so many great, brightly coloured yarns and her stand was HUGE! Dusty Dimples even does a large selection of DK weight yarns so I was right at home!

She gave me some advice too that I didn’t know. Apparently the longer the colour within the yarn, the more it’ll stripe- so speckly yarn will knit or crochet up speckly! So 3 hanks of speckly yarn made it into my basket and I made a new friend- as fate would have it, Dusty and I live near each other- so hopefully a collaboration will be in the making!

I bought 2 hanks of “Wow Things” and 1 of “Nefarious” which all look similar so I’m hoping they’ll knit up well together!

If you’re a subscriber to the blog or Facebook group you might have noticed that lately I’ve been churning out a fair few hat patterns- namely the Orlando and Harajuku hats, and what does every great hat need? A great pom pom! The Fibre Fox had some beautiful ones on her stand made by The Crafty Bird to compliment her own hand dyed yarn. I was so drawn to “Empowered” with the Deep Violet pom pom and “Fairy Dust” with a white Aqua-tipped pom pom that I couldn’t decide which to get, so both made it into my bag. No regrets whatsoever.

PS- how awesome is it that both makers have woodland-themed names and are collaborating together?!

Once my bag was filled to the brim, I pottered around trying to hold back, and came across sock yarn heaven in Claire Nettleship’s stand. She gave me some great advice for starting my first pair of socks and told me to not be afraid. I’ve even got the name of an apparently idiot-proof sock pattern… so hopefully I don’t end up being an idiot!

When I master socks I will definitely be visiting Claire’s stand more often because her colourful collection was absolutely marvellous!

PS- the sock pattern was called Winwick Mum Sock-a-long– so watch this space to see if I am in fact, an idiot!

All in all, I had a wonderful day out, and even the rain didn’t dampen my spirit and although I’m keeping my yarns stashed away until Christmas (because I can justify these purchases if they’re Christmas presents for myself!) they already bring me so much happiness!

Yarn definitely sparks joy in this household!

PS- you might have also spotted a little Christmas cracker in one of these photos. This is a little something that I picked up from Cuddlebums for my friend Lorena to ship to her for Christmas in Australia. So I have no idea what it is, but hopefully she’ll let me know soon!