Inquisitive Felines and Fibers

This past Saturday 3 wonderful women and I spent the day at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY. The weather was lovely although it did cloud up later in the day, but that just made it even better for buying roving and wool.

It was my first, but certainly not my last, visit and had I not had a serious game plan in place I might have just wandered around in circles all day with my jaw agape. As it was I believe that for the first 1/2 hour I was there my mantra was, “I’m not here for this, I’m here for roving.” It worked. Eventually I could just scan a booth and tell if there was a breed there that I hadn’t gotten yet. While I’m sure that I missed some wonderful things, I’m happy with the rovings I managed to get.

This is my assortment of roving to spin. I got CorriedaleX, Dorset, Wenselydale, Wensleydale/BFL, Jacob, Border Leicester, Cormo/Silk/Alpaca (this from Barbara Parry’s booth as well as her two books – Adventures in Yarn Farming and Visually Teach Yourself Dyeing autographed), Hog Island, 2 wool/silk art  batts, Cormo, and Maine Island. I also woke up yesterday with a vicious head cold so I’ve only spun a small amount of the CorriedaleX, but I love the way that it’s spinning up so far…even while being mildly uncoordinated. I also bought a 7′ adjustable triangle loom which is being shipped to my home….very excited about this one, I am. So all in all, it was a lovely and informative day with good friends. I couldn’t ask for more and sincerely look forward to next year’s festival. Now to start formulating a plan for that trip.