The Festival Haul

I really like the camera that I've been borrowing from my dad. It sure does take pretty pictures with that macro function...
Yes, I bought yarn. Did you actually think that I could be around yarn and not buy it? Everything there was so pretty, so soft, so colorful. That stuff up top (pink and purple, but it looks blue in the photo) is 100% icelandic wool from Riverwinds Farms. Handspun and dyed. I bought two hangs so I have a few hundred yards. I think it will be a baby sweater of some sorts...

You can't go to anything in Iowa without corn being involved. So, there was yarn made from corn! Ingeo yarn from Fields of Fiber. I have to say that it's tough yarn - not particularly soft, but not rough - just "solid." I'm going to knit these up into facecloths since they seem to have a bit of texture on them that would allow for gentle scrubbing. I also bought a variety pack of colors to make a rainbow washcloth. They're machine washable, so I think they'll be perfect for washrags!
Close up of the Ingeo. I don't know what was with my color selections that day....

Finally, my little flock of stinky sheep! They're filled with Lavendar amongst other things and designed to keep moths away from your wool! Plus, they're really cute, and they don't actually stink! They were also from Riverwinds Farm.

I'm heading to NYC for the rest of the week - I'm not sure that I'll get to visit many yarn shops, but Seaport Yarn isn't too far from my hotel, so we'll see. So I'll be out for a while - hopefully getting some knitting done on the plane or in the airports.

And, I thought I should add that there will be no sheep fashion show this year as there were not cute sheepies in speedos at the festival. :(

Vendors

Sadly, I was too awe-struck by the beautiful yarns in front of me to take a lot of photos, but I did get a few...The big difference I noticed between the Iowa and Maryland Festivals is that in my opinion, the Iowa Show seemed to be far less commercial - these were all indi-style spinners and dyers and knitters here. True, the Iowa Festival is not even 5% of the Maryland Festival in terms of attendance and vendors, but the Iowa Festival has focus! The people who show there are great!

Now, I was dissapointed that local Des Moines area yarn stores weren't in attendance at the show. I'm sure space was an issue, but it would have been nice to see some yarn storn support. Some of the vendors I saw this weekend

• Snokist Farm
• Lamb Lane (couldn't find their contact info but they shared booth space with Snokist Farm.)
• Willow Ridge Farm
• Huacaya Moon
• Riverwinds Farm
• Fields of Fiber

There were a few more, but I can't find their cards right now...I'll add more to this later!

Iowa Sheep & Wool 2007

What a weekend! J and I got up super early on Saturday, went to the Des Moines Downtown Farmer's Market, went to the Iowa Sheep & Wool Festival and then to Big Creek State Park, then over to a friend's house for some trampoline fun and to grill. It was a LONG but very FUN day!

Iowa Sheep & Wool seemed different this year. Not too many sheep...unless I just wasn't looking. The sheep that were there were BIG...like this guy.

On the left is a photo of a normal size sheep getting sheared...yes, it was young, but look how SMALL it is compared to the big RAM...that Ram was HUGE! He was crazy, too! The shearer was telling us how he broke his ribs once shearing a giant ram like that! He was a big boy, but it was interesting to see how calm them get when they're being sheared. P.S. Those are my favorite sheep up top, Jacob Sheep. I think they're so cute! I also got to use my dad's digital SLR for these photos...they're much better than the little Canon Elph that I carry around...