One of the things keeping me busy lately is spinning and pursuit of the lovely fibers to spin. In August I was able to attend a couple of spin-ins with friends in Sunriver at Pam's Wild & Wooly booth
In early September I went to the little wool gathering in Shaniko. This tiny town in northern Oregon used to be the Wool Capital of the World! Now it's very small, but everyone comes out for the wool gathering.
The other day I got to go to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby. It was a beautiful day and lots of fun. I kept forgetting to get my camera from the car so I didn't take a single photo. Horrors! I did get what I went for though- a WooLee Winder (below) which, I predict, will change my spinning life for the better and several beautiful batts to spin. Below are photos of some of the goodies I came home with.
WooLee Winder and a gorgeous batt from Lisa Souza.
The large size basket sold by Kruger Farms. These were selling like hotcakes. The kate and everything inside I already had. This will accompany my wheel and I where ever we go.
My very own Uzbek Leyla, she is felted by artists in Kyrgyzstan. Check out the vendor here.
Birch bark batt with gray merino, white suri and black huacaya alpaca.
This wild batt has all sorts of stuff.
I also went back to Sweet Grass Wool for another braid of merino/silk. I decided to pair it with a solid merino roving by Ashland Bay.
OFFF is a very different festival than Black Sheep, but they are both wonderful. I was thinking I'd settle on a favorite and only need to set aside time for one, but I don't think I can. The only problem with OFFF is that it's on Ryan's birthday next year. I will try to get back though and to make time to sit and spin under the big tree.