Never in my life have I seen so many colourful, yarn-crazy, creative and incredibly HAPPY people in one place in my entire life. The Wollfest (yarn festival) Hamburg happened on September 3 and 4 in a (for this festival) new venue.It all starts as most festival start: with a long long queue.

Already here you could have extended your project list with a thousand new ideas, as there were so many incredible shawls, sweaters, jackets, skirts, suits and even knit bikes rolling by, that you needn’t have bought a ticket to get your creativity boost then and there. I met people from all parts of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and even one person from New Zealand. Yeah, why not? (And here I thought MY way there was a long one).

I bought my ticket on pre-sale and decided not to sign up for any of the 30 plus workshops held during that weekend as I was there only for one day and mainly to meet my fabulous test-knitters and members of my group on Ravelry.

The doors opened. Soundtrack on: Queen / I want it ALL 🙂

Once through the entrance door the crowd split up to discover the two large rooms filled with woolly wonders and quench their initial thirst for yarns and inspiration, before wandering off to attend the workshops, get a hand massage or sit in the yard and knit with old and new friends.

I wish I had more arms. And more patience. I’d love to try this!

With all this yarn and all the lovely designs it was really hard to keep my wallet in my pocket and not going crazy on buying yarns (aaaaaaarrrrrrrrgh), but more than enough people left the show heavily laden with beautiful fluffy treasures. The only downside was that the space was really crammed with people (and HOT) for most of the Saturday, so that it wasn’t easy to get to all the stalls and as the day was almost over I wondered what people were going to see the next day, as almost everything was sold out already.

I had a hard time deciding what to take home with me. The choice of yarns was simply too much. My near undoing was this incredible dyer from Hungary, Bilum. As you know I’m crazy about colours and these yarns didn’t only come in SO MANY YUMMY COLOURS that I almost drowned in my own drool, but they also fulfill all your yarn dreams. They have everything from simple merino to silk and cashmere.

Here is my loot for the day. I’m very proud and, to be honest, quite amazed with myself to having resisted any further temptation  But this one glitters :)) It will have to lie in my shelf and be adored for a while before the perfect design idea for it comes my way.

I must say, I should probably have read up on the exhibitors beforehand, but I was happy just to see the lovely yarns and get some ideas and in touch with some dyers for cooperation. I didn’t really think there would be so many crazy crafters out there, but seeing the happy mood that everyone was in it didn’t really surprise me, either. I’m glad that we all are equally crazy in some aspects 🙂 Thank you, ladies, for a great time in Hamburg! This will definitely be only the first of many times!

Thank you to the six brave women who organized this crazy, wonderful Wollfest!