One of the things I love about Norway is that knitting is totally cool - so many people do it, there are yarn stores everywhere, and also good Norwegian yarn is a dream to work with and really affordable. It seems like each town has their own festival - Oslo Garn Fest was a few weeks ago, Bergen was last week, and Trondheim has its own TRDstrikk event early November. And so, how could I miss out on something so quintessentially norsk?? Off I went to Orkanger to see what all the fuss was about.

Wooly rating (out of five sheep)

Accessibility 🐑🐑
The festival was in Orkanger, 40-odd kilometres from Trondheim. I was lucky enough to go in the car with a friend, so arriving was no problem. I know there are buses to get from Trondheim to Orkanger, but honestly I think I would have struggled to find the venue if I was alone. Also, for some reason, the yarn market house was 1.5km away from the main centre, and there was a shuttle bus going back and forth. In theory, great! In practice... ehh. The driver had to take a lunch break (which wasn't announced anywhere) meaning people were stranded at the yarn market house for an extra hour or so. There are worse places to be, but it was a small building and quite busy, with very few seats available. 

Information 🐑🐑
The website was full of great information! What was on offer, who was exhibiting, the program for the weekend... Aaaaaaand none of that was really available on the day. We had to ask in the hotel reception where to pick up our entrance bands (it wasn't obvious), we had to ask about the shuttle bus from the main centre to the yarn market, we had to wander around to find out anything about the "exhibitions". I say we - I mean my Norwegian friend because my Norwegian is still really crap. There was even a knitting cinema (for the non-knitters, it's a movie showing with the lights dimmed less than usual so you can see your stitches) and no one had any idea what movie it was meant to be...

Basic services (food, drink etc) 🐑🐑
There was only really one food option in the hotel where this was held, and that was a really sad looking salad bar that was overpriced for what was essentially some wilted lettuce and croutons. We went across the road to the big mall and had enormous chicken and bacon sandwiches with garlic sauce and a mountain of fries instead, for the same price... There didn't seem to be enough seats for everyone at the "knitting cafe" aka. the hotel lobby with lots of sofas, and I think if people hadn't been taking any of the workshops then it would have been really crowded. The toilets were very nice though. I always appreciate nice toilets.

Activities offered 🐑🐑🐑
The number of activities was decent! There was a yarn market, a knitting cafe, workshops, exhibitions... And for those staying for the whole weekend there were things like evening concert, morning yoga... I got a strong feeling it was quantity over quality. We popped in to see one of the exhibitions, which was basically a few things laid out on a table. Oh. The other two weren't available to see because workshops were taking part in those rooms. I didn't attend any of the workshops, purely because there was nothing WOW offered, and also because they were all in Norwegian and I reiterate: my Norwegian isn't great yet. I did however see some Instagram stories, and the spinning course in particular looked awesome. The knitting cafe was basically knitting in the hotel lobby on a nice sofa... and I can do that at home on a slightly less comfortable sofa. The yarn market was really great! Quite busy, but beautiful little building and really nice stands. Overall, I would have focused on fewer activities and things to do, but really pump up the volume and make them amazing. There was also meant to be a train journey on Sunday with knitting in caves, but it was cancelled. Disappointing!

Yarn market 🐑🐑🐑🐑
Yes! Yes yes yes! This was amazing. There were many dyers and sellers that were new to me, so I got the chance to expand my yarn horizons. The venue was a little crowded as it was quite small, but it was bright and airy, and felt quite cosy. The selection was really good too - you could pick up anything from hand dyed yarn, commercial yarn, stitch markets and notions, spinning fibre, old traditional Norwegian wool, knitting kits with the pattern included... The only reason it doesn't get 5 sheep is that I wish there were more vendors and that the yarn market was easier to get to from the main centre.

Value for money 🐑
 Something I heard quite often throughout the course of the day was "well... what did I actually pay for?" and sadly, that's kinda true. I paid 250kr for the Saturday pass, though some of the other attendees had bought the weekend pass for 450kr and didn't deem there enough to do to come back on Sunday. The best part of the whole thing was the yarn market, and entry alone would have cost 50kr. I basically paid 200kr extra to sit on a sofa and knit? Not worth it, sorry. I did have a really nice time knitting and chatting with people, but I could have done it for free in a cafe in the city.

Would I go again? 🐑
If it's organised the same as it was in 2018, probably not. If the train/caves event is available next year, I would turn up only for that, and pay for entrance to the yarn market separately.