Well, I have finally steeled myself to sit down and write about my road trip to Cornwall - it seems like ages ago! I am going to do a series of posts outlining the journey, places of interest that I visited and a bit about the people that I visited - well, rather alot about the people I visited!
Here goes...............I had decided that as I was going to be driving such a great distance that it would be a good idea to make the actual driving/journey as much a part of my holiday as actually being where I was intending to go, so after much plotting and planning I left Glasgow that Monday morning at 8am and by 11am I was sipping coffee and admiring the ducks at my favourite service station (I know - it's very sad to have a favourite service station) which has the most amazing farm shop. I had decided that I was going to take a wee detour through Wales as I was not on any deadline to get to Coventry. It was horrible weather and driving on the motorway was hellish so when I got to the Chester turnoff I was really happy. I was even happier when I crossed the border into Wales and the sun started shining! I drove through the most beautiful countryside and within an hour or two I had reached my destination. I approached the door, my heart pounding with anticipation and what lay beyond did not dissappoint! The HQ of Colinette yarns in Welshpool - Textile Alchemy!
It is such a beautiful shop - I was overwhelmed by the choice of texture and colour on offer and the staff were so friendly and welcoming. I have been making corsages out of Colinettes Grafitti yarn in a couple of colours and I wanted to buy a selection of different colours to try. It is so hard to choose between all the colours as they are all magnificent, so I ended up buying one of each colour. Luckily there is a large sale section in the shop so many of them were reduced because of some perceived flaw - not that I could see any!
There are an abundance of knitted samples showing off the different yarns - I spent a very happy hour there just admiring it all! It is a great place to visit - I would recommend it to anyone. What is also good is that it is situated next to the Steam Railway which has a lovely cafe on the platform selling Fairtrade coffee so there are plenty of distractions for companions not interested in yarny goodness. Welshpool itself is also very pretty and not too far away with plenty of shops and cafes to enjoy.
( You can see the full set of photos I took in the shop on Flickr)
I left with a smile on my face and a bag full of the most wonderful yarn with great names like Lobster Pinch, Vatican Pie and Morello Mash!
Within a a couple of hours I had reached my destination - my friends Ness and Marks cottage just outside Coventry. I had just enough time to dump my stuff before being whisked off to a local pub for dinner and a double celebration! Ness had just found out that morning that she had secured funding from Arts Council England for the play she has written and Mark has just recently been promoted to Associate Dean of the School of Art and Design at Coventry University AND his Phd thesis was being published as a book! Ness and Mark are two of the hardest working people I know and they deserve every success! I am very flattered that Ness has asked me to design the costumes for her show and it is great to be able to do something like this again as I have not done any theatre or costume work for several years and really miss it! Ness and I met at Art School where we were both doing Degrees' in Theatre Design. Ness has always wanted to write and now finally, 20 odd years later, she has realised that ambition. It hasn't been easy and I admire her determination - Well Done Ness! If you happen to be in the Coventry area on the 2nd, 3rd or 4th Oct come and see the play - it's worth the effort!
PS I have just updated my etsy shop! Go and take a peekx
Did you break out into a sweat of panic when confronted by all that beautiful wool? I think I would have had a nervous breakdown or just launched myself into a big pile and made yarn angels!
Well done to your friends too!
Lx
Posted by: my baboo | September 29, 2008 at 03:27 PM
Looks like a fantastic trip. I had no idea you'd opened an Etsy shop & am so glad to see you there!
Posted by: ambika | September 29, 2008 at 05:50 PM
all that yarn..... i may have blanked out for a few moments if i had been there :)
my fieldy needlecases have arrived - how on earth am i supposed to part with them as Christmas gifts?
so, so pretty and beautifully made - thank you x
speak soon
t x
Posted by: tracy | September 29, 2008 at 07:54 PM
what a beautiful shop - so abundant! Cx
Posted by: caireen | September 29, 2008 at 08:19 PM
Oh My Wow!!!!
All those beautiful colours.
What a shop.
Posted by: Gigibird | October 02, 2008 at 04:10 PM