Monday, August 18, 2008

What a Wild Woolly Weekend!

No pics. I'm such a slacker that way.
Dawn and I went to Allegan to the Michigan Fiber Festival! Whoa! is the least I can say. We were so overwhelmed with wool fumes, drunked up on the rovings, raw fleeces, yarns, what else can I say.
We left at 7:20 a.m. and arrived in Allegan at 11:20. Snuck into the festival on Friday afternoon and shopped until 4. Saturday we shopped from 9:30 until we ran out of money at 2. We couldn't believe the number of booths full of woolly goodness. We learned so much just checking out what each vendor carried. Wool, from most every breed of sheep. Different breeds have different attributes, some soft as baby butts, some coarser and more durable for rugs or shoes and that doesn't even count the alpaca, llama, goat, rabbit, dog an cat hair that can be spun into yarn. There was also silk, flax, cotton, bamboo, what a selection.
There was also fiber tools--spinning wheels, drop spindles, carding combs, drum carders, dyes, knitting needles and crochet hooks, tatting shuttles.
Not very many already made goods though. This was a festival for the craftsperson; for those who spin, knit crochet, felt, bead and such. And that was all in the first barn.
In the second barn was even more! More yarn, more rovings, for tools of the trades, just more!
On Saturday there were demonstrations of sheep herding with dogs and sheep sheering.
Over in the third and fourth barns were the animals. Sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas. Some were being shown for fleece quality, almost all had stock for sale. And the variety of sizes and colors of sheep and fleece; white, brown, rich chocolate brown, butterscotch, black, spotted, blotchy, friendly and shy, male and female, shorn and full and woolly. What a weekend!
We left all the critters there even though many wanted to sell to us.
We found some great bargains on yarn and beautiful rovings.
And what did I get? A drop spindle kit--decorated bag, drop spindle, 6 rovings and leaflets on how to use the drop spindle and a hat pattern; a 1/17 pound dye sucker skein of yarn, purples; 4 skeins of mill ends Socks That Rock and an 8 oz. roving of undyed merino; and a spotted ball of roving in blues and greens; 36 oz of spun alpaca that can be knit on the machine; and another spindle, lighter than the first.
What will I do this week? Finish up some volunteer duties, knit some swatches, spin some yarn, pick tomatoes, spin some yarn, knit some swatches--you get the idea.