Have you ever been to a Wool market? It is so much fun that I am going off topic today for the benefit of all you quilters who dabble in other fiber crafts. We have a big Wool Market in our town every year. The ranchers bring their animals in for judging, and set up shop to sell their wool. It is a fabulous activity for kids as there are lots of animals and some of the vendors have projects geared specifically for kids. Many youngsters show the animals that they have raised and trained. What animals, you say? Alpacas, vicuñas, llamas, goats, sheep and rabbits. There are also demonstrations of herding dogs working sheep. There is appropriate food available. We had delicious lamb kabobs for lunch. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy this, and it is free to the public.
A huge building houses a multitude of vendors selling yarn, unspun wool, equipment for all types of fiber crafts, rugs, clothing, felted wool hats and stuff, footwear with wool inside, weaving items and books. I could go on and on. If you enjoy any of the fiber crafts there is something for you and some truly luscious yarn. Have you ever squished a skein of alpaca yarn? Oh my! So soft (and expensive). If you insist on spending money you can drop a bundle here, but it is voluntary.
I continue to thread paint my Phoenix bird. It is coming along nicely and I will tell you some about it next week. In the meantime visit the Wool Market vicariously:
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| Angora rabbit. |
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| Paco-Vicuña - so cute! |
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| Goat - Isn't that a wonderful crop of fiber? |
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| Goat - sometimes nosy, sometimes noisy. |
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| Bags for sale to carry your yarn. |
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| Unspun wool. |
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| Hand knit garments and skeins of yarn. |
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| Spinning demo and weaving loom. |
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Vicuña or alpaca girl-watching - don't know how he can even see them!
Yes, he is a living animal! |
TIP: No matter how passionate you are about quilting. Take a break sometimes and have some other kind of fun. You will settle back into your project with more peace in your soul and creativity in your brain.
Oh how I wish I had been there. I have discovered knitting and yarn is what I am buying these days instead of fabric. I think after 30+ years of collecting/buying fabric, I have enough. Now yarn on the other hand --- need more!! lol Thanks for the show of cute animals.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a knitter but I do love wool, and especially the animals it comes from
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy going to the sheep and wool festivals in various areas I've lived in. Unfortunately, I also feel I must spend money on some lovely yarn... which I haven't made up even though some I've had for 20 years. Luckily it does store well...
ReplyDeleteYour last llama? alpaca? vicuna --- I thought was a stuffed dog from the itty bitty picture on your link up. Knowing what he really is made me laugh. Perhaps he (she?) needs a nice headband to hold all that hair back.
I am surprised the pictures are "itty bitty." They come up quite large on my browser. I wonder if others are experiencing the same thing. I think the last animal is a "he" as I heard an owner (or such) say that he was "looking at the girls."
DeleteWhat a wonderful trip and such cute animals. Thanks so much for taking us along, Mardi!
ReplyDeleteWould love to have been there.
ReplyDeleteAll those luscious fibres! Makes me want to get out my needle felting!
ReplyDeleteAmazing animals! I love the Vicuna! Must have been a lot of fun to get to see them all.
ReplyDeleteMardi, the photos on your web page are just fine. I think that person was talking about the tiny photo on the Linky page on Confessions of a Fabric Addict ... it IS a fabulous photo, however... great post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that thought Kate. I never thought about the photo as it shows on the Linky page. I am relieved as I don't enjoy solving computer problems.
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