WONDERWOOL WALES FESTIVAL

Can you feel the buzz in the air… it’s the event you’ve been waiting for: Wonderwool Wales! After a hearty Welsh breakfast, we’ll drive to the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells to take part in this premier wool festival all weekend. We have come to know a number of the specialty vendors at this festival along with the larger businesses that showcase the stellar variety of Welsh wool products. Your ticket gets you into the event both days. The festival boasts excellent food trucks to help maintain your shopping energy. Sunday afternoon, we’ll gather in the lounge for an interactive and fun hour to learn a few tips on the Welsh language, perhaps a song as well, while we enjoy traditional Welsh cakes.

Our motto for the weekend: go forth and conquer fiber! 

ABERYSTWYTH

Today we will depart Hay-on-Wye for our boutique hotel located near the dramatic Devil’s Bridge Waterfalls, which we’ll have time to explore before we begin Part 1 of our workshop choices: Tapestry Weaving or Art Embroidered Wet Felting. Our boutique lodging keeps us cozy with plenty of room to gather for evening knit sessions.

ABERYSTWYTH

This morning we will wrap up Part 2 of our workshops. After an enjoyable lunch we will hop on a one-hour steam train ride on the Vale of Rheidol Steam Railway through a picturesque valley with plenty of time to explore Aberystwyth in the afternoon. Walk along the seaside promenade and grab some fish and chips for lunch. While there you can choose to visit the Ceredigion Museum, browse the shops, or head to the end of the promenade to ride the Funicular to the top of the cliff for spectacular views.  There is a little cafe up top as well. We'll gather for our bus ride back up the valley to our hotel.

PEMBROKESHIRE COAST

We will continue to explore the special fiber places of Wales. Today, we’ll meet shepherdess Sue Ullrich at Pure Welsh Wool and her mixed flock of wonderful wool breeds before traveling on to the National Wool Museum. We then arrive at our home for the next 3 nights on the expansive and picturesque Pembrokeshire Coast. 

Our accommodation has quiet views of both Cardigan Bay and the River Teifi; a short walk brings us to a gem of a beach, Poppit Sands. We can enjoy outdoor knitting sessions along the waterfront if the weather allows. 

PEMBROKESHIRE COAST

We will continue our treasure hunt for all things Welsh-wool with a visit at Garthenor Organic company to learn about their mission for sustainable wool.The hard-working family behind Garthenor have been instrumental in Organic Wool standards to produce spectacular organic yarns. 

St Davids is the smallest city in Britain with a population of 1,600 - you may ask why it is considered a city at all!  After all, you can walk around the center in 10 minutes!  But the key to city-hood in the UK is having a Cathedral, and St Davids Cathedral has been a place of pilgrimage for 800 years. Today we will be joined by local Blue Badge Guide, Marion Davies, who will guide us through St Davids and its iconic cathedral, pointing out bits of local history and guiding us to the best galleries and cafes which populate this little gem.  

CARDIFF

On our bus ride back to Cardiff we will stretch our legs at the National Botanic Garden of Wales where spring will be in full bloom. Our plan comes full circle today as we find one more castle to explore, Kidwelly Castle, a Norman castle overlooking the River Gwendraeth.  There we will learn all about Princess Gwenllian, a Welsh princess who stood up to the Normans invading her land.  When we arrive in Cardiff we will check into our hotel, finalize our packing for departure tomorrow, and then meet for our final dinner together.

HOMEWARD BOUND

You will journey from Cardiff City Centre where you can catch a dragon taxi ride to the Cardiff airport or a train ride to Heathrow.  A fond Hwyl Fawr goodbye to all.  

Liz lives with her family on a smallholding in the Cambrian mountains in Wales.  A keen knitter since childhood, she remembers watching her mother spin yarn from the family sheep, and she now keeps her own small flock of Shetland sheep to indulge her passion for all things woolly. Liz is also a keen hill walker, and loves to escape to her beloved mountains, seeking inspiration amongst the colours and textures of the wild upland landscape of mid-Wales. A linguist and Latin America specialist by training, Liz previously spent many years studying and travelling in southern Chile, where she was bewitched by the alchemy that rural women could perform with some roughly-spun wool and a few leaves in a dye pot over a wood fire. It was here that Liz learnt to weave, and now settled back home in Wales, she teaches weaving, whilst also running wildwoven, a woolly fair trade business, providing opportunities for rural women in Chile to supply highly-textured, hand spun yarns to discerning weavers and fibre artists.

 Audrey lives in Hancock, NH -- a small, quintessential New England town -- with her family.  In addition to a wild and wacky multi-generational household of people and pets, Audrey manages her small farm, Meka Farm, which includes raising a small flock of sheep for fiber and meat as well as pigs and various types of poultry.  Audrey is excited to be part of the Rowan Tree Travel team and  combining her loves for travel and handwork with her backgrounds in non-profit work and teaching.  Her Ukrainian-born grandmother taught her how to knit when she was about seven-years old and Audrey continues to knit and create for friends and family while also encouraging her teen son to knit.  You can keep up with Audrey and her knitting, sheep and farm adventures on Instagram: @mekafarm or at www.mekafarm.com