We had almost reached our summer destination; East Anglia, albeit a good 2 months later than we’d planned, so what would it matter if we dawdled in Weedon Bec for a week. Theres a lot of opportunity for creativity here, and I had friends close by, so with us bagging a mooring in full sun, ie good solar power, and no need to run the generator..
…Eric took the opportunity to return home, to do some essential house maintenance, leaving me to play. There is a brilliant quilting shop in Weedon called the Bramble Patch. It stocks even more fabric than I have in my stash back home. Inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee, I bought myself a little pattern, some coordinated fabric to make a summer sunhat. This sewing machine rarely gets used on the boat, and even though it’s the tiniest of models I was debating whether or not it earnt its storage space. Its won a reprieve for now.
Weedon also has a creative hub housed in the Depot. The Depot was built during the Napoleonic war by George III to house the English ordinance, (gunpowder) in a more central location away from the south coast, in case Napoleon invaded.
Nowadays the historic warehouses, which have seen a variety of military use right up until the 1980s are home to antique warehouses, offices, classic car showrooms and bike showrooms, book stores and cafes.
But my favourite is the Riverknits studio. Home to Becky and Marcus, who have created an artisan yarn brand, which they dye themselves. They regularly hold open days and knit and natters, and the week I was there there they hosted a mini yarn festival with a host of other independant yarnies. I met up with friends and we were in our element.
And yes I bought wool and a book.
Weedon Bec is a great place for a boats to stop. It’s simple and non fussy, but there’s 2 good convenience stores, a revolution outdoor laundrette, a variety of eateries, but sadly no dedicated boating facilities such and water, bins or fuel. But there’s plenty of mooring, and the neighbours are cute
Even Louie the sidecar dog in my header photo has his own website http://louiethesidecardog.com/
Edward’s Menagerie has grown in numbers and there are now over 200 furry friends who regularly make an appearance at yarn festivals and craft shows. I knew that I was in for treat.
Toft is situated in a purpose built barn studio and welcomes visitors with a hot drink. 
Everything at Toft is beautifully presented, including the coffee, and we indulged in a piece of spicy pumpkin cake as well. Then we were set to shop. Deciding what we could bear to leave behind or more to the point, how much we could afford to bring home. Jo is going to crochet some presents and I bought a gift for Heather. 
Heather has already made several of the Menagerie so Leanne the Chameleon will be an addition to her family. 
There’s a walking trail around the farm where we were able to see the alpaca.
Although Heather and I both think that this is a llama not an Alpaca.
We were going to Fibre East; a 2 day extravaganza and shopping paradise for yarnies like us. We have a thriving and exciting independant fibre industry in this country and although it might not be going to make many millionaires, it makes a lot of people very happy. Sadly commercial sheep farmers have a hard time making money out of selling fleece due to the cost of shearing etc, and a lot of the yarn we see in shops is imported acrylic. Which I hasten to add has it’s place in the knitters world, it’s cheap cheerful and accessible. But if you are prepared to pay a bit more, you can get soft easycare woollen blends. But still being commercially dyed the colours are precise neat and tidy. 
The past 20 years and the advent of online sales has seen small independent companies, often kitchen table affairs grow, preparing, spinning and dying fleece and fibres in an array of colours way beyond the rainbow. And as knitting is now a hobby craft done for primarily for pleasure not just to keep the family warm and clothed, using exquisite quality materials just adds to the pleasure. And yarnies are sociable people, we ply our craft in small social groups, where we “knit and natter,” we join guilds to learn and help teach our skills to others and we recognise that we are healthier, happier and more content when we are immersed in fabulous fibre. 
Both Heather and I dye spin knit crochet and play with felt. Heather also weaves. And for us acquiring “stash” is an important part of the enjoyment. We’ll often buy a skein purely because the colour shouts buy me buy me. And because handproduced yarns and fibres aren’t cheap we rarely buy enough for a big garment so they sit in a colour candy box waiting for just the right pattern. And this weekend lived up to our expectations. Not only did we meet friends from around the country, including Martina from narrowboat Burnt Oak, and several sellers who work from their narrowboats. 
Heather also met friends who combine their hobbies, who are glass lamp workers as well, like she is.
We were very restrained this weekend knowing that storage on a narrowboat is limited and I am trying to work on a one in one out principle, and that Heather was on course to have enough fibre to add a layer of insulation in the house. We both came home happy.
Eric eventually found safe harbour a couple of miles upstream. Close enough for him to be easily cruise back into Newark to collect me when I returned from my jaunt.