[Greenerlife]

Me, the other half and Sprocket the dog are booked in and raedy!  eally looking forward to it.  sadly it appears that most of you are going on Friday and I shall not be there until Saturday, but I will look out for anyone on Saturday wearing a badge! 

[Fleecewife]

I'm just back but I didn't see anyone from here, not even Sallyintnorth 
 
I was really disappointed because there were SO many people that I was overwhelmed and quickly exhausted so we left.   I did get just one little Turkish spindle    from the wood turning man and another ceramic bowl for yarn, but I forgot to go back for another spindle from Spindlers2 and for some gorgeous deep red silk to spin.  The stall which has all sorts of buttons was so popular that I couldn't get to the front to see everything.    Ah well 
 
My OH fell in love with the Herdwicks all over again but I went for the Teeswaters - what a coat 

[jaykay]

Hmmm, that doesn't bode very well for tomorrow, which is usually even busier 

[Rosemary]

My OH fell in love with the Herdwicks all over again but I went for the Teeswaters - what a coat 

We've got Teeswaters coming to the Festival this year 

[Mammyshaz]

Leaving early to arrive for opening tomorrow  a bit worried it will be too busy to enjoy  emptied boot so have plenty of room for goodies 

[SallyintNorth]

So sorry to have missed you Fleecewife  .  Turns out that what the organisers call the 'back door', whilst you can see what they mean when you look at it on the map, is not how people arriving see things - so a lot of folk were looking for me at what they thought was the back door between 12 and 1 but didn't find me.

I think it gets a bit less overwhelming around lunchtime as people go off to eat, and stays more manageable through the afternoon as by then some folk have left, some are chilling, chatting, having cuppas, etc.  But it's a busy place, and no mistake.

I am completely in love  with Teeswaters - and BH says we can get some!    .  Just have to source some from somewhere TB free...

I also met my first ever Haldane Hebridean spinning wheel in the flesh - and was smitten.  Such a teeny little wheel, but a 'man size' performance.  (A bit like my treasured Rappard Wee Peggy.)  I shan't be letting one of those sell on eBay for not much money again... 

[Anke]

Well after to very sick goats this week I was just too  to go. OH was relieved...
 
But I found last year (on the Saturday) that it was really (almost too) busy as I don't do crowds very well either, I think probably the organisers are becoming a victim of their own success...

[Greenerlife]

I loved it!  Very inspiring.

[Mammyshaz]

First timer. Thoroughly enjoyed it  busy but not pushy so manageable . Stallholders were fantastic  Learned lots from many of them and came away with an almost empty purse 

Loved the felting demo and itching to start my kit    should have checked out patterns for wool quantity as I'm a novice and would have loved to buy some of the wool on offer to start knitting but had no idea what amount I would need   
Never mind, will be more prepared next time 

Finally bought some acid dye too. So my acquired fleece for help shearing ( thank you  ) will be getting some rainbow dye testing before being spun     

[Clarebelle]

My mum and I went on the friday and we couldn't believe how busy it was. Like fleecewife said, it made it really hard to get a good look at the stalls as you just couldn't get in there! But saying that, it was a great day and I came away with lots project bits. Didn't spot any tAS badges though

[jaykay]

On Saturday, in the half-hour before our door volunteering, say between 10.30 and 11, it really was throng - hard to get about and look at stalls.

By the time we got off the door and had eaten, it was perhaps 1, and whilst by no means quiet, wasn't as bad as earlier. As Sally says, by that time some folk have left, some are sitting nattering, some are eating......

Somehow the crowds didn't prevent me doing some serious spending........