It does not get much more “fibery” than a huge fiber show! We headed to Eugene last weekend for the Black Sheep Gathering, held annually in June at the Fairgrounds. There was SO much to look at, so many people to talk to, so much to learn and so many skeins of yarn and roving just begging to be touched! I think i’m still brain dead, but i must at least post some favorite photos from the Gathering, and finally unveil my blue ribbon winning Fiber Friends!
We started our Friday at the Fiber Arts counter and submitted my two little entries for the contest. From there we spent the next SIX hours wandering the booths, sheep pens and demonstrations, absorbing as much information as possible and even spending a little money. I ended up bringing home a skein of Alpaca/Silk roving to spin and ply with some of the luscious cashmere cloud i also bought to spin. I’m almost done with the cashmere and can’t wait to try out the Alpaca/Silk blend and see how they jive together. I also found some tools that i’ve been shopping for a while, including a killer deal on tons of felting needles: yeah! There were far too many choices of fiber and yarn to choose from, so i abstained from the most part, which our checkbook appreciated. I think the highlight of our day was striking up a conversation with some Cashmere Goat farmers, and coming to the conclusion that we may just have to raise some of those with our dairy goat herd. Or Pygoras. I still can’t decide. 😉
On Saturday, my husband and i took a natural dying class together and learned the basics of mordanting and dying with some plants and mushrooms. We’re both very excited to do some experimenting in the years to come and i cannot wait to wear some hand knit, hand spun, hand/naturally dyed garments!
It was so much fun to see the different breeds of sheep in person, though i wished there were more goats than just Angoras to look at. The Jacob Sheep were really fascinating and totally piqued my interest… Do we have another breed in the running for the Rommel ranch? Maybe so.
Needless to say, i’m still exhausted but had so much fun hanging out with all the other “fiber people.” We’re an odd bunch, and it’s fun to be around so many other folks who even know what “roving” is and can truly appreciate all the different shapes and styles of spinning wheels and spindles. Next year… a knitting class! Check out my Flickr Stream for tons more photos of the gathering.
And without further ado: here is my blue ribbon entry, two little Pembroke Welsh Corgis herding their fuzzy butts off:
These little guys are also this week’s featured Fiber Friends. That’s right, they’re for sale! I’m keeping the ribbon, though 😉 I’m selling them without their “stage” so you can play with them and challenge those herding corgis by placing the sheep in hard to reach places. They can handle it! That large wether will do his best to scamper away, but i think the tri will best him in the end. Check them out, along with all my other felted critters on Etsy.
