I was going to take pictures at the festival, but when I got there I found out we left the memory card at home! So all I have is pictures of my finds!
My absolute two favorite booths were Tess Yarns http://www.tessyarns.com/ , whose website does them absolutely NO justice. They had some of the most beautiful yarn I have ever seen! Gorgeous luxury fibers, silk and merino and cashmere oh my! In the most stunningly vibrant colors. I wanted everything, but the one thing I couldn't live without was a skein (200yds) of the Cultured Wool/Silk in a color that looks like spun spring! It looks to be about a heavy-worsted weight. It will be a luxurious scarf for ME to go with my new Bittersweet Orange canvas peacoat for fall :) I really really wanted the silk boucle too, but at $30-50/skein I had to refrain.
Here's my silk and wool!
Next I bought some interesting fiber to play with on my drop spindle. I don't feel quite comfortable enough with it to buy a lot of anything, but I like trying out different fibers and textures. Soon I hope to learn how to ply, but I may need to get/borrow a wheel.
From Misty Mountain Farm http://www.mistymountainfarm.com/ (the text on their site doesn't show up well for me). I got some Merino-Tencel roving that is softer than silk, but may be hard to spin. It has a lovely metalic sheen to it. I got dark teal and silver:
And I got some very affordable angora-wool-silk blend dyed and combed top from Wild Meadow Angora www.wildmeadowangora.com
Hopefully I can spin this separately and ply them together:
We then went and viewed all the differnt kinds of sheep, and went on a quest for Lamb, Lemonade, and Llamas. While I stood in line for Lemondade (the line for lamb was way too long), Joe went off and found the Llamas! (and Alpacas). There were at least 6 long-necked domedaries at the festival, and we were happy to see their cute furry faces :).
While walking back in the direction of the car after visiting the llamas, The Brooks Farm tent caught my eye.. and held it for the next 15 mins or so. It would have been longer if Joe wasn't starving and bored. They had some of the most beautiful colorways I have ever seen! And the yarns themselves were amazing! Mostly mohair and blends, which I don't usually like, but I fell in love with one :) The tent was suitably crowded, and once I had decided on my treasure (a $35 400yd hank of mohair and wool/silk called Harmony) it took me another 10 minutes to check out. They're stuff was totally worth the wait though, I wish I could have spent a lot more time and money in their shop! Too bad they're in Texas! Good thing you can now order online! http://brooksfarmyarn.com/cart/
Overall a successfull trip, without breaking the bank :) I will be dreaming about Brooks Farm and Tess Yarns for days to come though!
5 comments:
Ooooh. I was looking at that green Cultured Silk/Wool too! The colors were wonderful in Tess's booth, but the crowd was so thick that I didn't get to take my time. If I had, I'd probably would have had to take out a second mortgage on my home :P Thanks for sharing your pictures!
Okay, I'm tallying the reasons for which I envy you:
1) You're blog looks a hell of lot cooler than mine.
2) Green yarn
3) Orange peacoat
4) Brooks farm
5) Fresh squeezed lemonade
6) Roving, and the balls to make such a purchase. I believe that my drop spindle is possessed and intent on destroying my sanity. I refuse to make nice purchases for it.
I think that's all for now. I'm leaving out the bit of having clothes being too BIG for you b/c it's not blog relevant. Now I must go do something that boosts my self empowerment....like terrorize the evil children playing in my yard.
You soo found my favorite two booths from my first sheep and wool festival last year. Both Tess and Brooks are great! This year I added The Fiber Company to my list. They had a yarn called the Road to China that was a blend of yak, camel, cashmere, silk, and soy for $24/80yards. Oh,my! I know Tess' will be at Stiches East this coming November, so save your pennies.
My husband went with me to the festival, and I too was surprised at how much fun he dad. Funny stories over on my blog.
Hi niice reading your blog
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