Behind the Scenes at Unravel - Plus A Look at a Few of My Favorites!

Hello lovelies,

I've just come back from a weekend at unravel...autumn, filled to the brim with joy. It was exactly what my soul needed. I was there to help and learn from the wonderful people at Garthenor (Jonny & Sally, THANK YOU!), and enjoyed the experience immensely. Take a look:

Why was this weekend so good? Well, because... those are my people. In this week's newsletter, I said this: "It feels like arriving, getting to talk yarny goodness all day with wonderful customers like you, and it feels like home when you settle down for a dinner with other vendors after a day at the show. My people. And I'm so grateful to have met them."

I know that I will cherish the memories and feelings from the weekend for weeks and weeks to come.

In addition to my little behind-the-scenes video above, I thought it would also be fun to share a few favorite vendors that I spent some time with and that make fabulous things!

First up...

Hide & Hammer

I met Nu from Hide & Hammer a couple years ago at Talking Stitches, a virtual trade show for the knitting industry, and meeting her in person now at unravel was everything. She's kind and funny and an incredible business woman - and her work... oh my word, her work.

She's a trained saddler (she used to make horsebridles for Olympic competition horses!) and transforms leather and canvas into the most magical shapes. The craftsmanship is unlike anything I've ever seen in the knitting circuit. It's unreal.

Saturday morning, before the show opened, I passed by her booth and saw something that I could not get out of my head. It was perfect. It was more me than me. And later that day, I went over and got it:

The most perfect crossbody bucket bag to replace my old one. I know that I will cherish this for years and years.

I'm also very, very much in love with the baskets she debuted at unravel - they're not on the Hide & Hammer website just yet, but keep an eye on their Instagram!

Telling Yarns

A few weeks ago, Beth from Telling Yarns reached out to me, and when we realized we were both going to be at unravel, it quickly became clear we had to meet. "Based on our family farm in Bedfordshire, sourced throughout Britain. Hand-dyed colours inspired by Literature, captured on British heritage wools that support you in creating heirlooms." - sounds very, very much right up our alley, doesn't it?

And ohhhh, her yarns did NOT disappoint. First of all, she has a fantastic non-superwash custom spun yarn - a blend of BFL, Romney, Masham and Zwartbles that comes in Fingering and DK weight and is woolly and toothy and soft at the same time. Secondly, she dyes the most incredible colors (and gentle speckles!) on it. Getting speckled / multicolored yarn on non-superwash is not easy, and she does that masterfully.

Beth was so kind to gift me a skein of the DK weight in Seasmoke - it's going into our Making Stories stash because I'm very sure we'll have a design with this yarn in the magazine rather sooner than later!

The Raw Wool Company

It's always a delight to discover a completely unknown-to-me yarn company that does something extraordinary, and it's even more fabulous when the person behind the booth (or table, in this case) is kind and open. Anton from The Raw Wool Company is just that.

He inherited the family farm not too long ago where they raise a herd of Wensleydales, and if you've ever come across a pure Wensleydale yarn (or even a blend) you know that it has an incredible shine and lustre to it. Worsted spun and undyed, Anton's yarns are a testament to the beauty of fibre. I got a mini skein set just because (I might just stare at it and admire it!) and I can't wait to see what he does with The Raw Wool Company in the next years.

Thank you so much for following along on this journey behind the scenes of Unravel! I hope you enjoyed the little glimpses of my journey!