BritYarn's first blog post

Morning everyone 
As promised BritYarn's first blog post can be found Here

Isla
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A new journey

Hello everyone.  I hope the sun is shining where you are!  In my last post I mentioned that I was starting a new business hence why I had been quiet.  I thought I would share with you what I am doing and what that means for Isla of Axholme.  

My new venture is an online wool shop called BritYarn.  It hasn't opened yet but everyday I am ticking things of my list and getting a step closer.  BritYarn will specialise and only sell wool grown in Great Britain with the aim of promoting and supporting British businesses.  If you are interested in knitting, crochet or weaving it would be great to continue chatting over on Twitter @brityarn and on Instagram again as BritYarn.  If social media is not your thing I will also be writing a BritYarn blog (I will post a link here to my first BritYarn post).

A lot of my posts here were knitting and wool related and in the future they will appear in BritYarn's blog.  Unfortunately this means that there will be spells when Isla of Axholme goes quiet.  I hope to continue sharing what books I have been reading and my travels but at the moment I am not doing much of either!

Until next time
Isla
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Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2015

Hello!  I am still here.......  those that follow my old Twitter account  are aware that I am in the middle of launching my new business. Of course its woolly related and things have been super busy.  I will tell you more on my next post but if you want to find out more now you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @BritYarn.  

Anyway Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2015 (EYF15) was brilliant!  Myself and my best friend traveled up by train (1st class no less) on the Friday morning, dropped our bags off and spent the afternoon exploring some of the sights of Edinburgh.  We walked around the castle area, said hello to Greyfriars Bobby, popped into several vintage shops and had a coffee in the tea rooms where J K Rowling allegedly wrote Harry Potter (interesting toilets).
We spent the evening with fellow knitting friends (some we had met before others we knew through Ravelry and Twitter) in a gin bar!  






After fuelling up on a grand breakfast we headed to the Corn Exchange where EYF was being held.  The market hall was buzzing when we walked in!  It was really busy and in my usual style I got carried away looking and purchasing and forget to take any photos!  As we were there for two days we did take our time and took several breaks during the course of the day in the Podcaster Lounge hosted by Louise of the Knit British podcast and blog.  Over the course of the weekend Louise had arranged a really interesting lineup including guest spots.  Unfortunately I seemed to miss them all but I did get to squish her British wool samples!

Louise in the Podcaster Lounge

After a day spent shopping we had the evening party to look forward to hosted by Felicity Ford of KNITSONIK.  Felicity gave a interesting talk on knitting and her new book The Standard Colourwork Sourcebook.  She even gave us a tune on her accordion which was accompanied by a flock of sheep (sounds of not in person!).  Following that there was door prizes (I won one!!) and a quiz.

Sunday was a day of learning and relaxing.  I attended a colourwork workshop held by the famous Hazel Tindall where I started a wrist warmer.  I am pleased to say that I finished it on the train journey home. Several weeks later I continue to look at it with pride!  A little light shopping was done in the afternoon but the majority of the afternoon was spent chatting to friends in the Podcaster Lounge.

It was an amazing weekend and I am pleased to say that the organisers have announced dates for next year 18-19th March 2016 with classes starting on the 17th March.

Hazel Tindall

My purchases