I enjoyed a fun long weekend at the Wisconsin Wool and Sheep festival. The fest is at the fairgrounds. There are sheep shows, fleece shows, classes, herding trials, vendors and the list goes on and on. Basically fiber heaven. I went with Sweet IC friend and Michigan girl. We stopped on the way for a great dinner at a sushi place in Dubuque.
I had to take this little girl's picture, she was walking this Shetland sheep like it were a puppy dog. She was adorable. I met up with her at the hotel pool later in the weekend and enjoyed talking to her. It makes me miss Sweet College Girl!
I enjoyed watching the herding dog competitions. It is amazing how smart these dogs are and how the handler uses whistles to get them to herd the sheep exactly where they want, through a gate, into the pen, through another gate and so forth. It was very evident these dogs are working farm dogs and not pets. I doubt they get fried eggs on the weekend like our dogs.
It was interesting to watch the judges talk about the fleece. I could not understand everything they said because they had English accents.
One of the classes that I took was on color theory. It really was helpful and I think I will use the ideas for more than spinning, it will come in handy for all of my fiber arts. In the class we used watercolor paint to mix up and look at colors. Wow, do I have a better appreciation for dear hubby and his watercolor painting talents.
I loved just walking through the barns and looking at the sheep, listening to the baa and chuckled at the kids working with them. I did a little shopping too. The favorite buys were a greensleeves spindle and a rigid heddle loom. They were great deals and hard to find in my area. I have never been good with the drop spindle but the Greensleeves Spindle makes it so easy to spin. The lap top rigid heedle will be used to make knitted objects faster with all my homespun, I am thinking scarves, table runners, placemats and bathroom rugs. It is small and was not expensive like the big floor looms are.
On Saturday night we went out to dinner to a Ravelry meet up. Ravelry is like a facebook for knitting and spinning. The venue was a little crowded but it was still fun to get out amongst like minded people.
THE BEST WAS SAVED FOR THE LAST! I took a class on spinning angora. I MUST GET AN ANOGORA! (note to hubby, puh-lease puh-lease, I promise I will take care of it). I have wanted an angora bunny since before I started spinning. This class was so informative, she gave us tips on how to take care of them and 3 types of bunny to spin. It was lovely, soft, awwww I can't describe it because it is so close to heaven. This white one is a German
Look at the colors on this sable rabbit. He is a French and the kind I want to get.
Here she is with the bunny on her lap and directly spinning his coat, just pulling out pieces and spinning it. He just laid there like it felt so good. She gives away an angora bunny in the afternoon class, if I had known I would have stayed for the Sunday afternoon class! (must. have. angora. rabbit.)
It was a fun weekend and it makes me want to go to more and more fiber shows, Estes Park, Blacksheet Gathering, Rhineback, Taos are a few on the list.
I had to take this little girl's picture, she was walking this Shetland sheep like it were a puppy dog. She was adorable. I met up with her at the hotel pool later in the weekend and enjoyed talking to her. It makes me miss Sweet College Girl!
I enjoyed watching the herding dog competitions. It is amazing how smart these dogs are and how the handler uses whistles to get them to herd the sheep exactly where they want, through a gate, into the pen, through another gate and so forth. It was very evident these dogs are working farm dogs and not pets. I doubt they get fried eggs on the weekend like our dogs.
It was interesting to watch the judges talk about the fleece. I could not understand everything they said because they had English accents.
One of the classes that I took was on color theory. It really was helpful and I think I will use the ideas for more than spinning, it will come in handy for all of my fiber arts. In the class we used watercolor paint to mix up and look at colors. Wow, do I have a better appreciation for dear hubby and his watercolor painting talents.
I loved just walking through the barns and looking at the sheep, listening to the baa and chuckled at the kids working with them. I did a little shopping too. The favorite buys were a greensleeves spindle and a rigid heddle loom. They were great deals and hard to find in my area. I have never been good with the drop spindle but the Greensleeves Spindle makes it so easy to spin. The lap top rigid heedle will be used to make knitted objects faster with all my homespun, I am thinking scarves, table runners, placemats and bathroom rugs. It is small and was not expensive like the big floor looms are.
On Saturday night we went out to dinner to a Ravelry meet up. Ravelry is like a facebook for knitting and spinning. The venue was a little crowded but it was still fun to get out amongst like minded people.
THE BEST WAS SAVED FOR THE LAST! I took a class on spinning angora. I MUST GET AN ANOGORA! (note to hubby, puh-lease puh-lease, I promise I will take care of it). I have wanted an angora bunny since before I started spinning. This class was so informative, she gave us tips on how to take care of them and 3 types of bunny to spin. It was lovely, soft, awwww I can't describe it because it is so close to heaven. This white one is a German
Look at the colors on this sable rabbit. He is a French and the kind I want to get.
Here she is with the bunny on her lap and directly spinning his coat, just pulling out pieces and spinning it. He just laid there like it felt so good. She gives away an angora bunny in the afternoon class, if I had known I would have stayed for the Sunday afternoon class! (must. have. angora. rabbit.)
It was a fun weekend and it makes me want to go to more and more fiber shows, Estes Park, Blacksheet Gathering, Rhineback, Taos are a few on the list.
