I get them, and they get me.

This morning I staggered out of my house in the chilly pre-dawn (okay, 8:04 AM, technically) to meet Brenda and Margaret for a little road-trip to the Cowichan Fleece & Fibre Fair. I'm not used to being up so early so I was disoriented and wild-eyed, and I thought I should take a picture of myself against the morning sky, just for the novelty of it and also to show Lizbon what the morning sky looks like.


Mascara, this time.


Then I looked at this for the next three hours or so.

I was in the back seat, working on the crazy Malabrigo shrug. Finished one sleeve.


There was a lot going on at the Fibre Fair today. I had my first look at silk cocoons, for sale and also being prepped and....what, wound? plied? Not spun, at any rate, though at first I thought it was.


The upright swift in the background is winding FIFTEEN strands of silk as they unravel from 15 cocoons bobbing in hot water in a crock pot across the table. Fifteen strands, together, looked something like the thickness of a human hair. The spinning wheel in the foreground is plying the silk, two bobbins' worth, into a cobweb-weight.


By the way, it was hard to get good pictures in the old, poorly lit hall with crappy fluorescents or what have you, but I did my best.


I love this label so, so very much.



Maybe my favourite part (well, non-fibre part) of the event were these magnets.


I wanted to buy the "bi-craftual" one (bottom right) but by that time I had given Erynn all my money. Happily she had given me some roving and top in return, but I still had to come away magnetless. I'll show you the roving and top when I can get a good photo of it - I took some but they look so, so unattractive. I need natural light.


There was a lot of cool art there. This basket was great, if very ominous feng shui:



Look at the poison arrows flying off that thing!


And these rendered me speechless with amazement. The little people were maybe four inches high. Again, excuse the poor lighting.








It was so great to be with people who were obsessed with textiles just as much as - or more so than - I am. I saw marvellous garments everywhere. People walked around in handspun, handknit lace shawls, sweaters, huge chunky socks, you name it. It was fantastic. There was even this woman with awesome felted HAIR - massive serpentine dreadlocks dyed screaming orange. I wanted to kinnear her but never got around to it.


There were lots of things I would have loved to own, especially an Ashford Joy for $774 (!!!!!), but there is really only one thing I truly wished I had bought and didn't. It's a wrist-distaff for drop spinning, and is just such a pretty piece of useable art that it deserved a home with me. I didn't have the $20 for it this time, though, so maybe I'll keep it in mind for next.





Lastly, a little glimpse of what I will have for you next time, provided I get some of that natural light I've been talking about: