A Wool Gathering- The Vendors

The Vendors. AKA the suppliers of our habit.

The Weavers Loft

Guilford, Indiana

Ahh, one of the most gorgeous shops of the whole festival. You just want to climb in that display rack and wrap yourself up in the stuff.

(Again, sorry about the photos. Seriously, why did the tent company decide blazing red was a good color for a gargantuan tent??)

Here's some alpaca laceweight in "Twilight" that I bought from them last year. Now, this has to be some powerfully pretty stuff because I swore I'd never knit lace. I dread knitting anything that takes smaller than size 15 needles. And I cannot follow directions to save my life. Reeeally bad combination for a lace shawl. But it was soooo pretty I couldn't help it. Plus, I liked the feeling of prancing around a fiber festival with a skein of string. You know, like a big girl knitter.

Exhibit A:

And that's pretty much how it looks a year later. I would really like that alpaca shawl. *sigh*

Now I'm kicking myself for not writing down what this loveliness is. Whatever it is, it's new and very shiny and silky. I think it had bamboo. Or seacell. Er... better check the website.

And I had to include these photos for non-knitters. Seriously, camel? Yak? First, who knew camels even had enough hair to spin? And yak(s)- weren't they extinct like a zillion years ago? Wait, maybe that's wooly mammoths... but same thing, right??

Anyway it's unbelievably soft stuff.

I can't help but giggle at the thought of myself knitting something with this. (Assuming any project of mine lighter than worsted weight ever saw the light of day,) I'm imagining a luxurious lacey thing around my shoulders, and telling everyone it's my yak shawl.

Mom bought a giant woven tea towel kit. For her giant loom.

Aren't those colors super pretty??

Sunflower Fibers

Raeford, North Carolina

Everyone was raving about the gigantic knitting needles. Er... sticks. They're a size 50!
(Oh yeah, and that's me.)

Here's an example of what you could make with size 50 needles:

And I'm so mad I didn't get a better (bigger) picture of this shawl. It's made of banana silk, and it looks just like the recycled silk sari yarn. Since it's so heavy, you usually only see it made into something small like a hat. But it hangs soooo beautifully as a shawl.

Ali Strebel Designs
Kettering, Ohio

Here we have my worst case of non-buyers remorse of the whole weekend.
I hate that the photos are so dark, really this jewelry is phenomenally gorgeous. And what an ingenious idea! I love fiber jewelry, but this is something completely new and different. I can't wait till she gets her online shop up and running!

Marlene's Felting Madness
Scottown, Ohio

Now here's some really amazing stuff. The colors of this silk are soooo beautiful, this one little display was drawing quite a crowd of admirers!

Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks

Ohio Valley Natural Fibers

Sardinia, Ohio

Here's Mom showing some poor unsuspecting victim how to spin silk:

"Oh, it's so easy!" she's saying. "You'll have your own spiderweb-weight thread in no time!" snicker

Little does this woman know, she's entered the inescapable spinning realm of SILK. No turning back now.

And here's Mom growing tired of being followed by a [beautiful cowgirl] loon with a camera:

But don't let that scare you. Like I said, I plan on posting a nice little tutorial about spinning silk. And I expect you all, loyal followers, to read and enjoy. Ahem.