So, we went to the Sheep to Shawl festival on Saturday.
I hadn't been in several years.
I wish I had tons of fun pictures, and stories to share.
There were 4 vendors.
Two yarn/fiber. One of which was all lovely, natural handspun. The other was WAY overpriced indie dyed. Way overpriced. Like, more expensive than Voolenvine yarns high end bases, but not as interestingly colored. No.
She also had a ton of gorgeous fiber, priced three times higher than anyone I've ever seen selling.
Like, for example, she wanted $35 for 2 ounces of merino. Hah. I can get merino on Etsy for around 5 or 6 bucks an ounce.
She was nice, and some of her yarn was soft and nice, but boring.
One vendor had beautful hand made jewelry from Peru, and she and her hubby work with a few families in Peru, paying them above fair trade wages for their work, funneling 100% of the proceeds back to the families. So my sweetie picked me out some nice earrings and a collar style necklace which I adore.
There was also a soap vendor, who tried to tell me that there were no chemicals in his soap. I had to remind him that water we drink and the air we breathe are chemicals, and he protested.
I laughed at him and walked away, because science.
We went inside and there were some folks spinning on wheels. All of them were over 60, and spinning thin, straight yarn. As rad as that is, and as cool as it is to spin, no one was doing anything exotic or artsy. There were some amazing rag hookers making incredibly artful rag rugs, from strips of extremely soft felt fabric. That was delightful.
Some women were weaving on different kinds of looms, and one woman winked at me, and told me she was Persian, and was making a rug. I kind of had to giggle.
She was really beautiful too.
Another lady had this amazing loom set up, made entirely of copper pipes. So steampunk, and so DIY and so much love for that lady! She was a hoot, and I want to hang out with her and take a class.
One woman was working on an inkle loom, using cards on her warp threads. It was really interesting to watch.
There were a small handful of ladies weaving baskets from pine needles. They were delightful.
There were several Alpacas, Angora goats, and a few sheep.
Most everyone was extremely friendly, which I find to be expected in the fiber community. It's overall, just packed with open, beautiful souls.
I showed a young boy how to use a drop spindle. His dad kept trying to mansplain it, even though the boy could see how I was doing it, and the dad had never seen a spindle, let alone ever looked up how to use one. The boy was about 10 years old, and already good at eyerolling his dads antics.
All in all, I wish there had been more vendors to choose from, but we had a nice time.
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