A great day out!

What a great day I have had! Given the impromptu heatwave we are currently having in the UK, me and Mr Bunny decided to make the most of it and have a day out to the Lake District. We love the Lakes and usually go to all the touristy places, like Windermere and Keswick, but today we decided to visit some places we haven't been to before, some of them very crafty indeed!

First stop was The Alpaca Centre at Penrith where we got to go and look at the alpacas and miniature donkeys. Next we took a gorgeous drive up to Caldbeck (more about that later). Our final stop, before a rather scenic drive home, was to the beautiful town of Cockermouth where there is a lovely little art shop and plenty of ethnic and handmade shops!

So, onto the main topic of today's post! The village of Caldbeck is north of the A66 between Penrith and Keswick. The drive, once you leave the motorway, is beautiful and the village has a couple of cute crafty type shops as well as a pub.

The main purpose of our visit to Caldbeck was to visit The Woolclip. I first became aware of them at Woolfest as they are the fantastic organisers and had a big presence there. It is a co-operative of women who have skills in knitting, crochet, spinning, felting and other textile crafts. You can find out more about them on their website www.woolclip.com

The shop is situated at Priests Mill, an old water mill, and it shares the building with a fabulous cafe, silversmith and collectables shop. The setting is gorgeous, right next to the river, and they have even yarn bombed the trees! Mr Bunny is now demanding a crocheted spiders web for the house!

The shop is amazing. The original mill features have been maintained and the it has a welcoming and friendly feel about it. You can buy ready made items, such as shawls and socks, as well as the materials to make your own. There is a great range of hand spun and dyed wool in all weights, tops for felting, hooks and needles (some handmade), buttons, drop spindles, books and all manner of other fripperies!

Obviously, I couldn't go all that way and leave empty handed! I bought some beautiful hand dyed kid mohair in purple and turquoise, some 'smidgens' of hand spun yarn and tops for felting, that may come in handy for my textiles course, and the pattern for the spiders web!

It really is a great place to visit. It has great quality items and promotes wool and the handmade. I love the way that like minded women have come together, supporting each other, to create something so wonderful and beautiful and that really does need to be supported!