Sunday, September 16, 2007

California Wool and Fiber Festival

So we went to THE event that was supposed to be my last fiber-purchasing opportunity for the year 2007!

Boonville is about 90 minutes drive from Novato. It's famous (well, at least to the Northern California beer fans like me) for the great Boonz Beer :-) Wool and beer, the best combination.

I was envisioning an event a little bigger than Lambtown, but I'm not so sure if it's any bigger. And since the fiber vendors and events were confined in one building, it did feel a bit smaller than Lambtown, which was out in the open, with a lot of room to walk around.

The best treat for me was seeing Nancy, who was helping out Carolina Homespun booth. Nancy is my spinning teacher who gave me a session a year ago! Grumph, I forgot to take a picture of us together. I just didn't do well with the photo taking this time, and I don't know why.

Here's a real Navajo spinning. This was the first time I saw a Navajo spindle and the demonstration.
I also saw Charka -- It goes really fast and I was fascinated. Yup, I forgot to photograph! I got to test drive a motorized spinner, and yup, no pictures.

This wasn't the first shearing demonstration Mitch saw, but he was intrigued by Navajo-Churro sheep shearing.

I was on my third shark-circling while the boys watched the shearing, so I missed the explanation, but apparently Navajo-Churro is a very rare breed of sheep. At one time it was facing extinction. The kind lady gave us a handful for souvenir. Of course it really made me happy!

Just 5 grams with lots of grease. It feels very coarse. I'd love to spin only on its own, but I probably blend with something else to stretch it.

Hi Woolie. Be happy and grow wool.

We drove a lot this weekend -- Saturday, to Boonville, Sunday to Williams to tow the CAP glider. Thanks to all that time in the car, my red tweed socks are very close to be done, finally, after two months of being on the needles! I had to finish these up so I can free up the US 2 DPNs -- I only have one set. I am itching to knit a new pair, using my handspun.


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