Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival

This weekend I got to go to my first ever sheep and wool festival!  And I can't believe I live close enough to Shenandoah the the festival is named after it.  I've been planning to go since shortly after moving.  I ran into a woman in the Apple Store when we both pulled out our knitting (isn't that where everyone goes to knit?), and of course we talked, and she let me know about the festival.

A couple of weeks ago, a new friend told me she is starting a business selling yarn display shelves, and asked if I could help out at her booth.  It was really interesting to be able to see a fair from behind the table instead of in front.  I got a fantastic parade of hand knits passing by all day.  Beautiful!  And as I've heard many others say, knitters are just so nice!!

We got quite a bit of attention from several husbands who happened to be woodworkers too.  They checked out the beautiful woods and dovetailing of Diamond Yarn Cubes.

I loved seeing the animals too.  Angora goats or angora bunnies, take your pick!  The bunnies were the cutest balls of fluff I've ever seen!

With Spinzilla coming up, I couldn't help but buy spinning fiber instead of yarn.  I got my first batch of Bluefaced Leicester.  BFL for those in the know.  It took me a while to figure out what BFL meant, but I knew I loved the softness of the stuff!  I also bought some Silk/Merino, and some silk cocoons to try out.  And some stitch markers that look just like some the Yarn Harlot mentioned as favorites once.  All this was from a lovely little shop call Lizard Toes, right across the way booth-wise from where I was helping.

I also couldn't go to a festival that had actual sheep and not buy some raw fleece.  I kind of fell in love with some Cormo and brought it home.  Look at the crimp and the sheen.  It was from Lavender Hills Farm, in Maryland.  I couldn't remember anything about how to select a fleece, so I just grabbed a chunk, and I'll find out later how well I did.  Now for washing and dying!