This was our third year of attending the local Fiber Arts Festival. Each year we see something new and interesting.
As we made our way from the parking lot we happened upon this scene:
This goat's name is Nellie, and she is an angora. They were clipping her curly locks and the kind lady was nice enough to show us the next step in turning this soft wool into yarn.
This is called a carder. I had never seen this type, but it looks a bit easier than the ones I've seen before. There are tiny metal pins on the large and small wheels that separate the wool and make it a soft tuft. The tufts are then spun into yarn, like this:
This girl is a sophomore in high school and has a yarn business with her grandparents. She learned to spin as a young child. You can see other spinners in the background.
We had a great time, as always. Sean is so drawn to this artform. He insisted we needed more yarn, so I ended up spending a good amount on one skeen of hand spun, hand dyed yarn. It is really pretty, and he has been finger knitting regularly with it.
There were lots of things at this festival, including quilts and felted items, silk, wood buttons and so much more.
There were a lot of new vendors this year, and we can't wait to see what they have next year.
