DefinitelyDressage.com

I spent the day on Saturday with Valerie at the New England Fiber festival. I thought it would be a quick hour or so tour through the Mallory Complex at the Eastern States Exposition. But there was so much more! So many lovely fibers to look at to spin!
First I came upon a beautiful luminescent grey yak/silk blend. Oh so soft. I had to buy that.

Valerie and I watched a demonstration of getting silk off the cocoons and onto a roller. OH my, that silk fiber was sooooooo delicate looking. But the guy doing the demo invited me to touch it. Me? The big woman with no grace? Yes, he said, you won't break it. For something soooo fine, it was truly strong. I wish DH would have seen this demo. I think he would have been enthralled.

On to more fibers. We came upon a store selling Cormo fleece roving. Valerie told me it was one of her new favorites since it has so much crimp it spins into a truly lofty yarn. So, I bought some of that.

Then we came to one of Valerie's favorites. A woman selling cashmere and cashmere blends. OH MY GOODNESS....So very soft. I had to have that. Oh, but sorry, she didn't take credit cards. Luckily, Valerie had cash that I could borrow. Because this was truly lovely fiber.

So much fiber.....I got some bamboo to spin which is also very luminescent.

So, what did I decide to spin first? The yak silk blend. It is beautiful and spins easily. I can't wait to see the finished product.

So you spin???? So interesting. Do you then knit what you have spun? I would have gone for the cashmere also. My favorite textile.

Yes, I started spinning about 5 months ago and love it. I took a drop spindle class and really liked it but the motion bothered my shoulder too much. I had always wanted to learn to spin on a wheel so I took a private lesson at a place near me. I have spun nearly every day since i got my wheel. This weekend, I am hopefully taking a class on spinning which starts with raw fiber and brings it to the final process. I can't wait.

And then on Sunday there was this:

https://youtu.be/vTuFOb9GWTE

Sherman on the agility equipment.

This after spending most of the morning trying to get a new trigger to work for Definitely Dressage. Sadly it failed in so many ways. We'll eventually get it.

I went to the Midwest Sheep and Fiber fest in Jefferson, WI this September. I don't knit, spin nor have sheep. It was still fascinating -- all of it. My sister decided to come at the last minute (she does knit) and thus BIL had to come so .... I had a relatively bored man in the back of my brain the whole time (are we done yet?). *sigh*.

I am quite sure that DH is glad that I have friends with whom to go to these things. Otherwise I would be dragging him.

It was a very fun trip! And even better I didn't buy any fleeces. (I have 4 here to process. Well, 5 actually. But 4 really nice ones). I did get silk to ply with some gray Merino I have waiting to be spun. I usually go to these sorts of things by myself- it was nice to have company!

Valerie wrote:It was a very fun trip! And even better I didn't buy any fleeces. (I have 4 here to process. Well, 5 actually. But 4 really nice ones). I did get silk to ply with some gray Merino I have waiting to be spun. I usually go to these sorts of things by myself- it was nice to have company!

Well, now you know you have company! I had a blast! And learned SOOOOOOO much.