Saturday I went to the Fiber Fest with my pal Nik and we had a great time. See Nik wearing the scarf she made? It's really pretty! This year at the fest they had some alpacas in the front yard of the Santa Monica Civic and they were as funny and cute as they are known to be. A fiber fest in Los Angeles isn't quite like the Great Fiber Fests of Colder Climates. Three alpacas were a big deal. And the small one wore a scarf. We wondered if the scarf was made out of her own fiber. Which would be kind of funny conceptually.
I had a budget of $40 and I spent exactly that! (Including the $5 entry fee) I'm sure it's tacky to talk about money but with all of the blogging problems of late, I'm free to break some rules.
I bought:* 2 oz. undyed rambouillet roving. Clean, soft and spongy!
* 8 oz. kid & adult blended mohair carded batts. Undyed.
* One ball dark bamboo green colored kid mohair/silk yarn from Italy, 230 yards. So soft I couldn't put it down.
* Half ounce angelina sparkly fiber "HB crystal MOP" (I don't know what that means either)
* Half ounce angelina copper flash sparkle
* One stunning hand dyed silk "hankie" (for spinning), 1 oz in a burgundy meets creamy coffee color
* painted wood heart pendant. (oddball item that caught my eye)
I have to confess, I did have fun BUT it was better last year. (GASP) There were fewer vendors and a lot of them were unhappy, unkempt, unfriendly ladies who seemed very cranky to be making a fortune surrounded by a room full of creative and fun people trying to connect with eachother and have a blast. Plus the prices were a bit high. One could do better on eBay and the like.That said, there were also many highlights and my favorite place was "Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks." That's where I took the photos of the yarn hanging. The woman was really cool and has an amazing skill with colors. That's also where I bought the silk which was a funny moment. She demonstrated how to draft the "hankie" and everyone got really excited and started a mad frenzy at the hankie basket. It was ridiculous AND great.
On another note, remember the guanaco I saw at the zoo last week? I saw guanaco fiber at the fest! Expensive!
3 comments:
Wish I could have been there! I heard last year it was more weaving stuff so I didn't worry about it when my babysitter fell through.
I hope that I will be attending yet another 4-H fair on Friday and maybe find some fiber but am not confident about either one (going or finding). Kids are rather over fairs at the moment.
But I met a knitting store owner at Starbucks today who told me to try a couple of further afield stores around here, so maybe a yarn crawl (with kids, blech) Wednesday or Thursday.
Hope all is well!
Aww alpaca. Some live down the road a ways from us, and they have some crias, and they are so cute!
Sounds like you have a great haul of stuff. I can't wait until the wool festival comes to my area.
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