Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival

Wow. It was wonderful. I can't remember the last time I had that much fun. Here's some pictures of the mini-haul. I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was too busy walking around with my mouth hanging open.

I probably should have found one that had to do with knitting since I do that more, but there was a lot of spinning going on today and that was on my mind. I saw so many different kinds of spinning wheels and some spindling. Roving and fleece and yarn, oh my!

At one booth a little girl in a stroller reached out and tipped over a very nice, very expensive spinning wheel. I was talking to the man who owned the booth and I never saw anyone move so fast. He made it to the wheel before it did any damage. The little girl was scared and the mother was horrified. But everything worked out okay. Still...it was a heart-stopping moment.


I didn't spend a lot of money. I had a strategy that I wouldn't buy anything on the first pass and I didn't. We looked, I took pictures and notes and then we walked back to the car and had lunch.

The sock had lunch, too. Not my Pringles though. I eat the reduced fat kind.

Then we walked back and I started whipping out my wallet. Cash, of course, so I didn't spend more than my budget.

First off was this Opal sock yarn. This is for my sister's sabbatical socks. I'm thinking of making them from the Fawkes pattern. I'll have to try it first because it's a striping pattern and I don't know if it wants to be Fawkes. The colors are pretty true.

I looked at a lot of roving and drooled over some. (Don't worry, I didn't cause any damage.) Lots of alpaca there and I got the business card for a farm not terribly far from here. They offered me a tour any time if I call ahead. I may take them up on it. I told the man I wasn't ready for alpaca yet since I was just learning but maybe in a year. Anyway...he said I can meet the donors themselves. Yay!



This roving was from one of the smallest vendors there. Also the cheapest. I saw lots of great handpainted roving (and yarn!) at reasonable prices but I really wanted something plain to start out with. This is a denim color and I can definitely use that. I got 8 oz for less than most other vendors had for 4 oz. It's from Dorset sheep. Feels nice and soft yet has body.



This was Tom's purchase. He had such a good time and didn't leave me behind once. In fact, I outpaced him a few times. He took pictures of drum carders and spinning wheels. He wants to build me some. And I won't say no.

More pictures tomorrow although they aren't very good. It was hard holding the camera out with one hand and dealing with the crowd and stuff. I need to work on my photography skills. I got a picture of the man who gave me 80 pounds of black sheep wool. I told him I was going to post it to my blog but I think he thought I was joking.

Nope, I'm not. But that will be tomorrow.

I've really improved physically. I didn't get tired once. Maybe I'll do well at my physical on Tuesday.

TTFN