Baa Ram Ewe

While it didn't look promising when we headed out Saturday morning for the festival, it turned out to be not too bad. It was a wee bit muggy when we finally made it to the fairground. In fact, it was too muggy to hang out in the over crowded vendor areas for a long period of time, but that was OK. I found all of the things I really wanted in the barn where the musty, earthy smells didn't attract the larger crowds.


He looks hot, too, don't you think? The critters waiting for their stylists were panting. The newly fleeced were wearing blankets.


This fellow was getting annoyed with me trying to take his photo. What he seemed to want was to be left alone to eat.

This freshly sheared Blue Faced Leicester was sweet.

And so was this little Pygora goat. These goats have beautiful fleece and groovy little beards. I can't believe I just wrote groovy, but really, it fits. That beard would look just as good on a beatnik. This one was nibbling on the handle of my camera.

I didn't buy much, but did get what I wanted. I only went $18 over my budget. It was the tussah silk that done me in.

And this little beauty. It's a Trindle. I took all the different beads for a spin, but liked the weight of these green beads best. From what I gather, the weight of the beads helps determine the thickness of the yarn you'll spin. On the ride home, I was spinning a sample piece of tussah silk that the vendor gave me in the car. For people looking to get into this little art form (hello, Rose), I can highly recommend the Trindle drop spindle. Though I like my Louet spindle well enough, this one has stolen my heart. Silk isn't the easiest thing in the world to spin, but I got an evenly spun fingering weight yarn from this while fiddling around in the car. Amazing. This spindle spins forever (a plus) and didn't "drop" once. I can't say the same about my Louet.

Though one would think I would stock up on fiber at a fiber festival, I held back. I thought some of the prices were over the top for mill spun yarns and most of the hand spun was insanely priced. Why buy something there that I can get from the women I know who own stores? I have relationships with them and a deep interest in their success. As for the hand spun? Well, I can do that myself and have no burning need to spend $100 for 34 yards of anything. What I save these days is now dubbed as my early retirement fund.

The tussah silk in the photo above isn't represented well by this picture, but take a look at the 15.8 ounces of the alpaca/silk blend I scored. I know it looks like a pile of worms in a sort of a dirty dishwater blond color...


but look here at what happens when the light hits it just so. The shine. The softness. The magic.

Be still my little spinner's heart.