This weekend saw me away off to Inverness for the Highland Wool and Textile Fair.  This is the second year the event has been held, and it was very enjoyable.  It is a relaxed affair, with fewer folk than some of the events I do, but that means I have more time to chat to folk.  That also means that I came home completely hoarse!  Or perhaps that was singing at the top of my voice all the way home in Mungo to accompany Paolo Nutini .....

I spent a lovely evening on Friday in the company of Dorothy Stewart, a weaver who is also a very good friend.  So on Saturday morning, bright and early, we headed over to The Bishop's Palace in Inverness to set up for the day.  In no time at all we'd licked the stand into shape, and even had time for coffee before the crowds arrived:

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Anne Marie Foot, who has been the organiser of this event, has built up a good team around her, and so it is with tremendous excitement that I can tell you she is organising an even bigger event in the Highlands next year:

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The Highland Wool Festival will be held at Dingwall Mart on the 24th May 2014.   It is wonderful to have an event right on my doorstep (well, okay, 2 1/2 hours drive away, but close enough).  The website for the event is just being finalised and Anne Marie hopes it will go live early in November.

In the meantime, I have a few post cards promoting the event which will give you a £1 off the entry fee to the event, so if you place an order in the near future you may be lucky enough to have one of these cards popped into your package.  Here is what Anne Marie says about the planned event:

"A major objective would be to make the Festival as inclusive as possible.  Schools across the region are being approached to take part in a knitting competition and the results will be announced on the day.  The workshops will cover a wide range of different techniques and skill levels.  I hope there should be something for everyone."

Having seen how Anne Marie works, I know this will be a well organised event.  As soon as I know the website is live I'll post more news here.  In the meantime, mark your diaries!  24th May 2014.