yes sir, yes sir, three bags full

I finally got the chance to go to a sheep and fiber event last weekend, the Waynesburg Sheep and Fiber fest in beautiful Waynesburg, Greeene County, Pennsylvania. It's just an hour's drive from home so I got some savings out of the credit union and took off around 10 AM on Saturday.

It was a beautiful day, a little muggy and warm, but still nice. And the very first thing I saw? Baby alpacas.





It really doesn't get much cuter than that.

Right next to the alpacas were some pygora and angora goats.





I also met some people from Ravelry.



That's Beth with her friends, of course I forgot their names because I can barely remember my own name half the time. We found each other because I was also wearing my red "disagree" shirt.

The event wasn't huge, it was perfect for my crowd-hating ways and I suffered no anxiety meltdowns or panics. There was a sheep-to-shawl contest...




(I can't believe this was made in one day.)




Interesting things for sale, and for free...




Herding demonstrations...



PUPPIES! Enjoyed by young and old alike!







Hey, look! It's that incredible baker from the Vanilla Icing blog and her husband!



And of course, there were sheep.



And more puppies, getting their lunch. SO cute. More cute than I could stand.



Here was a lamb cooking demonstration. I couldn't look. I am not a fan of lamb or mutton, and I am definitely a fan of the living critters. No judgment, it's just not for me.


There was also a sheep shearing demonstration.




Poor sheepie looks like she wishes it was all over.


I stayed long enough to see the announcement of the winner of the sheep to shawl contest. In case you're not familiar with these things, they basically start with a group of people and a sheep. The sheep is sheared, they card and spin the fiber, then use that spun fiber to weave a shawl, all between nine in the morning and about one in the afternoon. Here are the completed shawls, worn by the weavers.








Amd this one was the winner-you can't see it in the photo but it had crystal beads through it. Just beautiful.


I ended up buying some fiber, some yarn, a very light top-whorl drop spindle, and a vintage national geographic mag from 1988 that had a great article in it about wool. All in all it was a terrific event and I can't wait to go back next year.


The whole haul


Icelandic Roving from Aboundingful Farm.


Flying Fibers Wensleydale


Batts from Columbus Park Fiber and Quilting. (No website yet!)


Bitsy Knits sock fiber...


And sock yarn-very nice quality, too.


And the drop spindle, also from Bitsy Knits, with handpainted alpaca roving from Royal Meadow Farm.

It seems like many of the vendors didn't have a web presence. It was nice to get the chance to try out some unknowns and also, always a joy to actually touch, feel and smell the fiber before taking it home. I was THIS CLOSE to bringing home an entire alpaca fleece in the most gorgeous mocha brown, it was only twenty bucks for the whole thing. Then I remembered the about a half a pound remaining of loose alpaca fiber that I had to wash and am still slowly working my way through spinning. So that didn't happen, thank goodness. I am not up to processing a fleece, even a relatively easy alpaca fleece.

Nothing new on the crafting front, the two pair of socks I'm working on are still in progress and both pair are almost done. Yay for that. I'm planning the next pair. I need to also give a shout-out to Laura Martos at Dizzy Blonde studios. I've almost finished a pair of Kai Mei socks... out of half a skein of her sock yarn. Amazing. I divided it in half by weight to have equal amounts for each sock, and there was so much left when I finished the first sock that I kept going out of that half. Now I'm almost halfway down the foot of the second sock and I'm still not out of that half. A great deal on that yarn, and it is gorgeous.

Until next week. Happy crafting!