Utopia II......

So. to continue on where I left off last time (yes, we're still at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, although by the end of this post, you may be inclined to call it the 'Edinburgh Yawn Festival' but only if you have absolutely no interest in anything woolly-related whatsoever!) we arrive at the booth of one of my favourite designers.....

here she is in the flesh (in case you didn't know, Belinda's other claim to fame was for being on Big Brother a while back). I love all of her designs. They're made with her own brand of yarn which is so soft and sumptious and comes in some great colours.

I love this cardi coat, so beautifully made.

and her range of wraps were stunning too. 

 Delightful little things from a local Edinburgh shop 'Be Inspired Fibres'. 

 This is the ultimate in woollen luxury - I'd give my eye-teeth for some of this in my stash!Sigh...!

The owners of this booth were two young ladies who came all the way from Germany and who call themselves 'Dye For Yarn'. Again, some fabulous yarn in really great colours.

 ....and of course, we can't forget about the crocheters although I can't actually remember whose booth these colourful objects belonged to!

Next we take a look at what the Shetland Isles have to offer and of course, well would you look at that, there are some sheep on that hat! Knitted with the lovely wool offered up by Jamieson & Smith - the best in Shetland Wool luxury.

 Clara Parkes (oops, sorry, namedropping again!) signing copies of her latest book.

 Westknits and Ysolda's lovely booth. I just missed out on a class with Stephen West but maybe just as well. I hear he was encouraging everyone to use lime green mohair! He's very off-the-wall!

A lovely button and accessory display from The Textile Garden.

 Forgive me, lady but I couldn't resist sneaking up behind you to take a pic of your hair. It was fabulous (it actually looked like someone had knitted it too!)

More Jamiesons of Shetland....check out that shade card!

 I bought my only yarny purchase from here - a beautiful hank of the softest alpaca and merino undyed yarn. I'm keeping it for something special for myself, hopefully.

Another favourite booth. You could buy the kits to make these garments but if you wanted to buy the dress off-the-peg it was going to cost you the price of a small car!! Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way criticising the prices, I can appreciate just how much time, effort and energy must go into designing and making knitwear. I'm in total awe of the people who choose to make their living this way and I bow to their skill and knowledge, so much so that I skulked away from the festival thinking I couldn't really knit or crochet at all!

  Hold on, nearly at the finish line, just another little pic of some really woolly sheep....

.....and my very restrained purchases. The wooden buttons are HUGE and so nice to look at, I bet it's ages before I get around to using them.
Phew, thanks for sticking with me if you're reading this. Hope it wasn't too awful for you to get to the end!
You'll be glad to know that the yarn festival only occurs every two years so no more 'woolly' stuff for a while, oh, except here's a little pic of the 'Bella Wrap' I made from one of Belinda's patterns....

but it's not a patch on the glorious objects she had on show and made with much cheaper yarn (Drops Eskimo to be exact). I'm almost embarassed to show it to you! Keeps me warm though and I'll never wear it out in public so no worries there!

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Thanks for visiting and leaving those ever-so-precious comments. I value each and every one.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ps I am not affiliated in any way with The Edinburgh Yarn Festival or any of the exhibitors - I just loved showing them off to you. 

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pps My new header is attributed to a lovely lady called Hannah who can be found

here. Take a look, she has really pretty stuff!