This past Saturday and Sunday, the annual A Wool Gathering
fiber festival was held in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
One of the vendors was the Upper Valley Fiber Guild,
of which I am a member. Many of us put our wares in
the booth (2 spaces)to hopefully sell, plus worked the
booth either to run it or demonstrate our skill(s).
Most of my 3-hour shift I was sitting outside the booth,
in shade and a nice breeze, demonstrating spinning with
my Ashford Traveller. I love doing this! People were
fascinated with the process, and just loved watching.
And plenty stopped by to ask questions about it,
or to try it out. Fiber festivals are a great place
to try before you buy! Anyway, of course there were kids
who were fascinated with the process,but it were told
"look,don't touch" by the parent/grandparent while
they or I explained what I was doing. Every time I
demo -- like at the Darke County Fair last month --we get
pretty much the same reactions. Peope justlove to
see the "old" type equipment in action!
After my stint in the booth, DH and I sat down at
the shelter and ate the lunch we packed.
Then, it was on to SHOP SHOP SHOP
Top left in the picture are three balls of fiber: pink,
brown, and a little white mixed in. (Sorry the one looks
flat; it got a little squished on the way home.) Fiber
content is BFL cross. I'd bought one ball earlier this
year at the Upper Valley Fiber Fest
http://uppervalleyfiberfest.org
at Valhalla Acres' booth.
Once I started spinning it, I realize I should have
gotten more. So I went to her booth at WG and she had
three more!! I don't have a particular
project in mind yet; guess I'll see how much yardage
results before deciding on a pattern.
In the left of the picture are two more balls of
fiber from her booth, 60% BFLX and 40% mohair.
Pretty sure this will be a lacy scarf for me when
spun/plied.
Next to that are two skeins of 100% Merino sock yarn,
but the color is a little darker than shown. I don't
recall the name of the vendor. Interesting that
all of the yarn in her booth is from Russia; the vendor
had bought the stock from someone else who was
going out of business. Wish I'd bought more .....
Bought a pattern from Ewe and I Originals, that is
a cabled Christmas stocking. I love cables, and
even though we probably will only use it for
decoration, I have to knit it! So pretty.
Then we have a bright, sunny yellow hank of sock
yarn from Fiber Optic Yarns. All the socks I've
made for myself so far are DARK. So DH helped me
choose this one; he's got great taste.
It's a batik, called Good Morning Sunshine!
80% superwash merino, 20% nylon.
Above that are 3 standard bobbins for my wheel.
A friend of mine gave me a bag with several
balls of hand-dyed fiber in them, to spin for
her. Oh, last year she bought two balls of
fiber from Valhalla Acres and had me spin it,
likes the way I spin, and wants me to do
more for her.
She went to that booth at WG and found there
were more of the ones I'd spun for her,
plus bought a couple balls in another
colorway. So I'm going to be busy for a
while, spinning for my friend and for myself,
hence the need for more bobbins. DH is
going to stain the bobbins for me, same
color as my wheel and other bobbins (we still
have a can of that particular color).
A bottle of Eucalan wool wash in "eucalyptus" scent.
At the last UVFF I bought a bottle of unscented,
and really don't like it. Think I'll blend
both, and have two bottles eucalyptus.
The unscented is half-empty, so won't dilute
the eucalyptus too much.
Last but not least: the current issue of
Wild Fibers magazine. I love it, and one
day may just subscribe (been saying
that for the past four years lol)
We left mid-afternoon. Stopped at Taco
Bell for dinner -- it's a tradition we
started 4 years ago.
Then, I tucked away the $40 I didn't spend,
to add to over the months to spend at our
next fiber festival.
