Maryland Sheep and Wool 2006 - Spinning edition
alpaca chillin' at the festivalWell, needless to say, I found that and then some...
My first purchase of the day came pretty much a half hour to 45 minutes after I got there and looks like this.
One pound of blue-faced leicester roving bought from Haltwhistle Fibre in the main building (whose owner is retiring - this was the last year for them at sheep and wool). It came from a guy like this in England.
The roving is super soft and I just want to rub my hands over it all day! Even Isaac agreed that it is super soft. And it's in my current favorite color - brown! This roving might have to wait until I can get my hands on a wheel though because I really want to spin it into a nice consistent skein of yarn, which would take eons with a drop spindle.Before I could inflict anymore harm on my credit card, Isaac was done with the first sheep dog demo and was starving, so he bought a lamb sausage from the boys scouts and he ate it in the shade. That's when I discovered that I really, really do not like lamb sausage from the boy scouts. It had a really bad taste to me. I don't quite understand why.
After the lamb sausage break, I went back to the main building and discovered the Little Barn. Apparently I was not the only one.
Beginning of the line
End of the lineLuckily when I checked out the line was only 2 people deep, but I saw at least 20 people in line at various times during the day (this is where I saw one of the girls from woolarina.com). Once I got over the size of the line, I ventured into the booth. Holee cow! No wonder the line was so long!!! There was an abundance of fiber for spinning in addition to some cheap yarn. The booth was jam packed with goodness. I managed to come away with a lot and all for 50 bucks!
This is not really the best picture ever (not to mention that it is upside down), but it will have to do. Clockwise from the top, we have one bag of blue and orange 90% wool, 10% silk combed top (I have big plans for this color combo), white ecospun (there are 2 more bags not in this picture), recycled denim and cotton and finally, yak! The yak is probably as soft as the blue-faced leicester and I just couldn't resist getting it (again, it's brown). I think the Little Barn just may become one of my primary spinning fiber suppliers and a must visit booth for future festivals. (Do you like how I say supplier, like I purchase vast quantities of fiber all the time? Oh wait, I did this weekend - but really, I don't normally.)The next stop was in the main building also. I went back to the Carolina Homepsun booth to buy some dyed merino roving I had seen there earlier (just now while looking up the link for Carlina Homspun, I realized that they are in San Francisco - when we move to Berkeley eventually I know where to get my fiber fix!)
Isn't it pretty? It was a tough call between the colorway I bought and this one:
I think I might try something like this when I am experimenting for dye-o-rama. Saturday night I realized I could have picked up something like this for my backtack 3 partner too, but wasn't thinking about anyone but myself all day apparently!My last spinning fiber purchase of the day was from The Fold - located a couple of towns away from where I grew up! If only I had known about spinning back then...
'Glitz' (I don't really like that name, but I don't know what else to call it) for spinning. I'm interested to see how this will turn out.On Sunday, I only had a slight desire to go back. Today though, reading some of the blogs of the girls from knit happens and their MDSW experience really makes me want to go back!!! Just goes to show you that everyone's experience is different.
On the agenda for tomorrow: the yarn I bought! (A much, much shorter post than today's, I promise)
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