I wrote just last time that the reason we went to Spain was to go to art museums. Reader, this is a bald-faced lie. The real reason we went to Spain is for yarn. And so on our third full day in Spain we went to Love Yarn Madrid (site might not be updated as they prep for the next year, but they have an Instagram).

We are of course yarn people around here. We wanted to make the most of our time at the festival so we woke up early with the goal of getting there right when it opened. This didn’t quite happen but we weren’t far off the mark, and would have been on the mark probably if I had figured out the Spanish metro system better. I told you I would write about this later, but after finally navigating our way through the metro station and on to a train we had a lovely ride and got to enjoy the real sea of humanity that rides the Madrid metro. There was a guy who was riding holding a whole yerba mate setup in his hands, including a gourd and a thermos with more hot water, and another guy playing panpipes for cash but the guy I wanted to tell you about is a whole different guy playing the accordion, which marked like the second accordion I had ever seen played in real life, having been lucky enough to see a Weird Al concert at the Kennedy Center last year. That was great. So was this guy. But eventually the metro served its purpose, having delivered us to the Pabellón de Cristal and thus to the yarn festival itself.

This was of course a yarn festival and not a sheep and wool festival, so sheep were only there in spirit, but it was a really good festival. There was a great deal of enthusiasm and it was really well run and had a pretty excellent array of food trucks out back to satiate our baser desires (though on that note, I always thought it was a little overblown when Italians would get upset at American intpretations of Italian food, except here they had a Mexican food truck from which we got nachos, and man, like, I get it now). The first thing we did on arrival was to buy a tote bag and go to the coat check and then it was off to the races. We went through every single vendor stall to figure out scope out the selection, which again was really good. A lot of your standard yarns you see everywhere but there were some cool Spanish brands and my super amazing wife of course prefers the brands that are not only quality but have some history.

While she was deciding what yarns she wanted to buy we checked out some of the other sites. The funnest thing they had going on was a “Yarn Olympiad.” The idea there was a series of competition of standard yarn skills, such as yarn ball winding which is a fun idea. The competition was fierce and the prizes delightful. They had that throughout the day. They also had a yarn fashion show which I don’t recall seeing at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. The particular show (they had a couple) that we stopped and watched featured the work of Midori Hirose, a designer I had not heard of but with which my super amazing wife was familiar. They had the models walk the little runway with the designs and then eventually Midori herself came out which, you know, amazing to be in the midst of yarn stardom.

Having seen the sites and carefully considered which moves to make, it was time to buy stuff. The biggest single purchase was that my super amazing wife got enough yarn from a Bolivian brand for a sweater. Before we arrived we were not expecting to find so yarn sellers hailing from former Spanish colonies, but in retrospect it made perfect sense and the reason you come to a yarn festival in Madrid is to be exposed to a whole new segment of the yarn world you hadn’t through much about. The yarn from Bolivia is made from baby llama wool and man, so soft. Those baby llamas know what they’re doing. Unusually, I also got some yarn. It is unusual because I don’t knit, but my super amazing wife said she would make me a hat which is extremely kind of her. The brand is Xolla, and I thought it was cool because the wool they use is from Ripollesa sheep which, according to their website, is one of the three native Catalan sheep breeds, and all are endangered. So good to support! My super amazing wife wasn’t originally going to get any from that brand but then saw mine and totally got jealous and got enough to make herself a scarf. Her final yarn I think was of some alpaca wool, and she got enough to make some socks.

Exhausted at this point from all the yarn shopping and fashion shows and crowds, but resplendent with natural fiber purchases, we head on out and boarded the train back into central Madrid. Love Yarn Madrid is apparently one of the newer yarn festivals, but the organizers really knew what they were doing and there was a wide selection of vendors that we normally wouldn’t have run across. It was cool to get some yarn tied to sheep so particular to Spain along with more exotic fibers from overseas. I am sure we’ll go back someday.