Well last Saturday I went to my first fiber festival down in Hatch Beaucamp, Somerset. As (at that point) a non-spinner it was a bit of a blur of sheep related bits, shiney combed out looking stuff that I had no idea what to do with and sadly quite a few really rather snotty stall holders. I'm not sure the best way to get someone into your hobby is to declare that everything you're selling is far to complicated for my feeble brain to comprehend, and on that basis you're not going to sell me anything! Anyway.... on a not at all snotty, and indeed really rather nice stall, I decided to buy this delightful bundle of fluff, otherwise known as Phoenix:
No idea at the time what I was going to do with it but it looked pretty. Well Monday rolled around and I finished my exam earlier than expected meaning I had a little time to kill before work. A little googling and it turned out the stall which sold me the above fluff (and who had cunningly given me a cotton bag with their name etc on it) would be a 10 mile detour before work. Detour duly taken I walked in to find the very nice team from Ashford demonstrating how to spin with wheels and spindles. Well several hours later and I was happy I could both spin singles and Andean ply them into a fairly respectable yarn. The only thing for it then being to buy a spindle and get going on the Phoenix. Several days later and I got this beautifully (even if I do say so myself) squidgy soft sport weight yarn which by some minor miracle was perfectly balanced:
Its a sport weight (about 5ply) merino/silk mix that worked out at about 203m for the 100g I bought. I'm now working on the second batch so that I'll have enough to do a really warm autumn/winter shawl type thing.
So having learn to spin and been utterly bitten by the bug, the only thing for it this weekend was a trip to Woolfest with Mum. A rain soaked drive up the UK followed by a boiling hot night in the Cockermouth YHA didn't put us off and we hit the festival just before opening (luckily for us resulting in getting in just before the rain hit... again!). I had been good and set myself a "want list" and a budget meaning I hopefully wouldn't be tempted by random shiney or prettiness.
It has to be said it was a fantastic show. Very focused on its target audience, that of fyber crafting in all forms, and well stocked with good high quality produce. There were none of the tacky or unrelated stores you so often see at such events. I quickly found Ian from IST Crafts and bought a spindle for spinning lace:
Its a rim banded 16g Amboyna Burr on Sycamore with Walnut shaft and spins beautifully. Given I've been spinning for less than a week at this point, the singles on there are the moment are working out at fairly even 38wpi which I'm planning on plying together into a 2ply. As a slight aside the fluff is a random 50g bag of blended merino silk that I'm hoping I might get enough out of for a Rock Island shawl.
All in all a superb show that was well worth the long drive and erm interesting night's sleep. Updates on everything else I bought, progress on spinning it and the projects in mind to follow when I manage to get photos taken.
So having learn to spin and been utterly bitten by the bug, the only thing for it this weekend was a trip to Woolfest with Mum. A rain soaked drive up the UK followed by a boiling hot night in the Cockermouth YHA didn't put us off and we hit the festival just before opening (luckily for us resulting in getting in just before the rain hit... again!). I had been good and set myself a "want list" and a budget meaning I hopefully wouldn't be tempted by random shiney or prettiness.
It has to be said it was a fantastic show. Very focused on its target audience, that of fyber crafting in all forms, and well stocked with good high quality produce. There were none of the tacky or unrelated stores you so often see at such events. I quickly found Ian from IST Crafts and bought a spindle for spinning lace:
All in all a superb show that was well worth the long drive and erm interesting night's sleep. Updates on everything else I bought, progress on spinning it and the projects in mind to follow when I manage to get photos taken.
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