Wool and Spice

The weekend that is.

My sister Gail came into town for the weekend so we made a jaunt up to the Iowa Sheep & Wool Festival on Saturday to spend the day among “our people”: others who can’t keep their hands to themselves when it comes to yarn and fiber and soft, squishy animals.

As festivals go, Iowa S&W is pocket-sized, particularly in comparison to the famous New York or Maryland festivals. County fair vs. world expo. That isn’t necessarily a demerit if you’re looking for a low-key regional fiber event and don’t have a great need to enhance your stash. Even though there were fewer vendors then at the big festivals, there were also fewer crowds and people were friendly and relaxed. We had great conversations with booth owners and other attendees and there was none of the pushing and shoving to get into booths.

The Des Moines Knitting Guild was doing a fleece-to-shawl demonstration in one barn so we enjoyed time there talking to the guild members while they demonstrated teasing, carding, picking, spinning, weaving and knitting. I hope they finished their shawl by Sunday.

Small craft classes were held in a couple of the barns, including on the edges of the sale floor so we got to peer over the shoulders of students as they learned weaving, spinning,  needle felting and other crafts. That was almost as much fun as the shopping.

And of course no visit to a fiber festival is complete without watching the judging for a bit. Not that any of it made any sense to us, but it’s still fun.

Well I know you’re all here because you want to know what we treasures we found.

Gail bought a rag rug. Aren’t the colors great?  It’s from Raggedy Andy Arts (no website).

It was just too cheerful to leave behind.

I zoomed in on fiber and one skein of very soft sock yarn, I wonder how it will hold up. This cute basket with little round feet, made by Susan Preuss, found it’s way home with us as well.

The copper colored roving is Coopworth and silk and spins like a dream. The orangey-pink is straight Coopworth; the photo doesn’t capture the depth of the color. Hidden in the basket are two sample packs of Navajo Churro fiber and 8 oz. of CVM fiber. I was looking for fiber to sample that I haven’t found locally so I was really pleased with the CVM (which is a rare breed) and the Navajo Churro was a bargain. I’ve lost the business cards for the fiber vendors, which can be a good or a bad thing.

We were restrained. Except for the cinnamon bun. And I’m kicking myself for leaving behind a skein of  lace weight Treenway silk. Don’t need it, have plenty of lace yarn, but it was purty.

Sunday we were too traveled out to drive to Powell Gardens so we indulged in an All-American activity instead: shopping. Beautiful afternoon to spend on the Country Club Plaza but  I didn’t see much that I just had to have except for some ice cream. Finished the day knitting on the deck watching the hummingbirds and listening to the chickadees sing.

Gail flew home this morning; it was a fast trip but we packed as much fun as possible into two days. We’re already planning our next festival excursion for the spring, our goal is to attend a fiber festival in each of the 50 states. Our current pace is one festival a year, I think we need to step it up a little.

Tags: Coopworth, CVM, fiber, Iowa sheep & wool, Navajo Churro