Fiber Fest, How Do I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways...

Today I went to the Michigan Fiber Festival, after some confusion on my part of what weekend it was, and I had a marvelous time. Saw lots of people I knew like Beth Smith of The Spinning Loft, Rita Petteys of Yarn Hollow, friends I knit with, Christne, Vallerygallery, AllyB-all on Ravelry. There was a meet up that included CoggieTM of The High Fiber Diet Podcast, and her mother-in-law (oh no. Her name escapes me. Is she "No Broom" on Ravelry? Or is that just what her Ravatar says? Dang...Sorry, MIL!), and Deborah, who's Rav name escapes me as well. Tim, and Ladybugknitter (Lori) and her son and husband (who makes the great swifts and sock blockers at Hornshaw Woodworks. There were also the Zombie Prom Date Knitters, who all get lumped together because I won't remember everyone's names, except Knitswithsnot, 'cause how can you forget that name? ;) And Spinsanity, the lovely spindle maker. Here are some of those folks:

Phew. That was a lot to remember, and forgive me if I forgot you! But I must move on and tell of all the goodness at the festival. I didn't take pics of the booths, because you can imagine it. Big buildings packed with goodness, right? People all over the place, struggling to see every single bit of colorful, soft, fun things they can. It's heavenly.

I took a spin through the first vendor barn, then the second. I ran across the booth where Rachel (AKA my8kidsmom on Ravelry) had some of her goodies from her farm. She wasn't there at the time as she was getting a fleece judged, but I came back to meet her later. She was lovely and her products are wonderful. I bought some Finn from her. mmmm (And, check her blog to see how she did with her fleece! Give her a couple days though, think she's still there until tomorrow.)

But that was actually my last purchase. Well besides the elephant ear I was asked to bring home. :)

I started with a list of things I wanted: a needle felting kit-

Check.

Some tan/brown blended yarn for Derek for some socks--no check. :(

But I found some orange Wensleydale locks to play with!

Then I saw these. Seriously, I couldn't pass them up.

Plus, Nevernotknitting/Alana has that adorable sweater called "Sheepish" and I am just smitten with that sweater. So these had to come home.

Then I wandered to the animal barn, where I met Murol.

Murol is a very sweet baby llama who lives at Queso Cabeza Farm and came to greet me and was sooooooft, so I took part of her home with me. :) See her back in that picture up there? Well, here's what it looks like now:

Well, about 4 oz. of it anyway. :) I also brought home some Zoey, a grey baby llama who wasn't at the festival today, but this was so lovely it was not to be passed up.

I even have a plan here~I'll blend that Finn from Rachel with this and then make a vest that I saw at the festival. Wow--a real plan!

Next I saw my first sheep shearing. It was amazing really. This guy didn't have big forearms like the shearer that Itsjustmeghan saw though (and yes, that really went through my mind). (BTW: I went to link to the shownotes for that episode, but didn't search for it. It's there, somewhere. ;)

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw these for sale. The whole bags. It was tempting...

I also checked out the bunnies, who are always so adorable. This one was my favorite:

Next I purchased some wonderful smelling potpourri for sachets and discussed a lovely scarf that was knit from silk hankies without spinning the silk first! It was really light and gorgeous, but forgot to snap a pic. Guess I have to knit one up and show you myself. :)

And finally, the last thing to share is a spindle I purchased. I have been longing for a new one and one that was beautiful, that wasn't too heavy/light, that I'd want to use. And I found it. In the Handspun by Stefania booth, a Driftwood Spindle that I fell in love with. Low whorl, zebrawood whorl with a bobinga shaft, 1.1 oz of gorgeousness. If you look at the spindle shaft, there is an email addy on it for direct contact, but I was unable to locate a website. I'd think going through Stefania is the best bet if you are interested. It's fantastic-spins forever!

So that was my festival experience. I was inspired by so much and I feel full-satisfied-with all the fibery goodness and all it's accessories. The animals, the friends, the hordes of people that all know the secret of the fiber arts. *Sighs contentedly* I have to get going on some projects now so that I can move on to more! I have fiber to clean and card and spin and knit and wear, and I can't wait!

Oh, I did find some things to add to the Christmas list though! heheh...