I had a class in needle felting that afternoon. I made a hat from alpaca fiber and everyone at the festival loved it (everyone at home called it a pimp hat and laughed at it! This is why I leave home ...).After my class, we shopped until they shut down the place at 7 p.m. Then we had dinner at a little hole in the wall place and checked in at the America's Best Value motel. The name says it all. It provided clean lodging -- that's all. But for $50/night, I didn't feel cheated.
On Saturday, we watched some 4-H kids and their mentors shearing sheep. 
This picture shows a sheep standing out in the crowd after being shorn. They look pretty silly sitting up on their bottoms and having their winter coats taken off. 
These are Suffolk, so they aren't really good wool sheep, but they're the same type Ally and I raised in 4-H. 
One sheep apparently got fed up with the whole thing and decided to take his new look and make a run for it.
This picture shows a sheep standing out in the crowd after being shorn. They look pretty silly sitting up on their bottoms and having their winter coats taken off. 
These are Suffolk, so they aren't really good wool sheep, but they're the same type Ally and I raised in 4-H. 
One sheep apparently got fed up with the whole thing and decided to take his new look and make a run for it. Lynne and I shopped all morning. 
Here we see Lynne looking cold while she examines the goodies. It was both chilly and rainy, but that didn't stop us. (Although I did feel compelled to buy a snuggly black alpaca ruana.)
Here we see Lynne looking cold while she examines the goodies. It was both chilly and rainy, but that didn't stop us. (Although I did feel compelled to buy a snuggly black alpaca ruana.) In the afternoon, I had a class in spinning angora. We were given samples of four types of angora fur to spin and compare: giant, french, english and satin. 
The instructor also gave a demonstration of how to harvest fur from a very matted English angora that she gave away at the end of the class. I was really tempted to put my name in the hat, but I knew Jeff would be unhappy with that decision. In the end, he went to a lady who was expecting to receive five other angoras from her sister and had plenty of room on her farm for him. 
When Carol got done shearing the poor bunny, there wasn't much left for the lucky winner to take home!
The instructor also gave a demonstration of how to harvest fur from a very matted English angora that she gave away at the end of the class. I was really tempted to put my name in the hat, but I knew Jeff would be unhappy with that decision. In the end, he went to a lady who was expecting to receive five other angoras from her sister and had plenty of room on her farm for him. 
When Carol got done shearing the poor bunny, there wasn't much left for the lucky winner to take home!
Here is the only extant picture of an actual "Pushme-Pullyou." 
And I got another cute shot of this alpaca giving a kiss to a passerby. Did I mention that I LOVE alpacas?Another highlight was the guy who was signing and selling his book: "Cast On, Bet's Off." OMG. Talk about swarmy ... He was striking up conversations with anyone who came near his booth and regaling them with the plot of his book. Apparently, it involves a crime-solving married couple who own a yarn shop -- just like he and his wife do -- and he kept insisting that it was "steamy." The murder was done with a pair of Addi Turbos. I took pity on him and bought a copy and he signed it for me.
At bedtime, when I read the first page to Lynne, we absolutely fell off the bed with laughter. His description of the hero husband was exactly like himself -- only better. What Narcissistic garbage! When I read the back cover, all was revealed. He formerly wrote for the "Power Rangers." Now there's a show known for it's top notch dialogue. We decided the only reason the guy was signing the things was to prevent us from returning it to him (or giving it to anyone else!).
On the positive side, we saw a lot of great booths and lots of wonderful yarn and fiber. Two stores in particular stood out in my mind: 
The Trading Post and Maple Creek Farm (which is pictured above). I can't put my finger on what made these stores different -- they just seemed to have yarn and fiber that made me go "Ah" and want to roll around in it. 
Of course, Weaver's Loft had a gorgeous display of Barb's hand-dyed yarn too. What eye candy!
The Trading Post and Maple Creek Farm (which is pictured above). I can't put my finger on what made these stores different -- they just seemed to have yarn and fiber that made me go "Ah" and want to roll around in it. 
Of course, Weaver's Loft had a gorgeous display of Barb's hand-dyed yarn too. What eye candy!
I ended up buying two small niddy-noddys, and several small amounts of luxury fibers like Suri Alpaca, Camel/Silk, and SW Merino/Sea Cell. All in all, I didn't break the bank. One look at my fiber stash and you know that I don't need ANY more fiber. At all. 
No comments:
Post a Comment