Oh oh! Our internets died at home! I can not upload pictures, etc right now, which makes me sad. We've found a new service provider, but it will not be up and running for a another week or so. I will be back to normal posting as soon as I can.
Cheers!
Sheeps and goats! Oh my! Sunday was a day to focus on the fibery friends that have filled my life. There were all sorts of breeds to see. The Scottish Black Face is by far a favorite with the Shetland running a close second.
Ahhh, look at the sheepies!
The Scottish Black face is in the bottom row. How could you not love that face?
mmm...such nice fleece....so tempted to take a scissors to it and run back to my wheel.
After the animal fun, the rest of the day was spent wandering the booths, making final purchases, and spinning. Here's a few things that were added to the stash:
Toots Leblanc BFL/Pygora lace weight blend
Evelyn Clark's Knitting Lace Triangles
4 oz. mohair from Peppermint Pastures
This roving is fantastic!
It goes from bluish colors to greenish to bluish again and it's all one piece!
A Retro Reynolds pattern book.
I may not use any of the patterns, but the pics are great entertainment.
Cotton dishclothes...because I am too lazy to knit them myself
2 skeins of Socks that Rock in Kaw Kaw
And that's it! No really, that's all I got! Well along with the three fleeces and drop spindle and a couple of books and the things from Websters....
Saturday arrived bright and early, but we were ready for it, with the help of a stop at a coffee shop and bakery get the energy going. I had a very yummy strawberry croissant, but can not remember the name of the place it came from. Anyone familiar with downtown Eugene?
After a tour of the show a la Kristine, I headed to a demo with Adrienne to learn how a make a drop spindle by Ken Ledbetter. In about 30 minutes, Ken had a spindle made and that was with talking to us the whole time.
My main goal for the day was to find a new drop spindle. I found the prettiest spindle from Spindlewood. I have to say that Steven and Connie are the sweetest people ever!
Pink Ivory with Ebony whorl with Ebony sharft
1 1/4 ozs
I started spinning on her right away. She's spins like a dream!
I decided that I wanted to experience the wool show sale. I was going to go and look at the fleeces and see how things worked. I thought the made dash to get what you wanted would be fun to watch. Well, I got caught up in the moment...
People in line in front of me
People in line behind me.
I am blaming my indiscretion on Marlowe and Kristine my enablers. Somehow in the rush of things, Marlowe and I came out with 3 bags full of fleece. Um, oops! I only have pictures of the Romney/CVM right now. One Corriedale fleece was sent to be processed (it was 9.55 lbs and placed 1st in its class!) and Marlowe has the Targhee.
Look at that crimp!
This beauty placed 3rd in its class and weighs 6.83 lbs.
We spent the rest of the day wandering about, spinning, and knitting. The day ended with a dinner out and then retiring to Kristine and Adrienne's room for more fibery goodness. Suddenly is was very late and we headed off to bead with visions of sheeps and goats in our head....
Last weekend was Black Sheep Gathering 2008. Marlowe, her daughter Caitlin, and I road tripped up to Eugene, OR for the event. We left on Friday morning bright and early.
Look! It's a mountain! Okay, I know some you of you get to see mountains on a regular basis, but this Minnesota girl is still highly entertained by them.
We stopped in a town in northern California and found this on a car: Eeeewwww! It's the biggest bug ever!
Our lunch break was in Ashland, OR. I love this place! Marlowe's and my first stop was for Websters, a lovely little knitting, spinning, and weaving shop. I found myself a shawl pin.
Hoot! Hoot!
And some Aloo yarn, made from a nettle plant
Caitlin also found herself a charming hat, though for some reason, she did not want to keep it.
Ashland is the home of the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We did not have time to take in a show that day, but I did get to drool over some of the costumes.
After the frolic in Ashland was done, we hit the road once again and got ourselves to Eugene. There was an evening of hanging out with friends with spinning, knitting, and laughing involved. We then headed off to bed to prepare for our big day, our first day at Black Sheep and the fleece sale!
