My first fiber festival

[deadendkid]

Yesterday I went to the annual Champaign-Urbana Spinners and Weavers Guild Show and Sale. It was awesome. There were so many people there! At first I was a little overwhelmed by all the people, fiber, fabric, and yarn but once I got a chance to walk around and touch things I started to feel calm enough to start talking to people. There was a tiny room with hand-spun yarn and fiber in it off to one side of the main room. Two ladies were sitting on one side of the room with a table between them, spinning. One lady was using a spindle and the other was working on an Ashford Joy. At first I felt too shy to come talk to them so I just started looking at the yarn but my boyfriend just walked right up to them and said hi. (That's right, he came with me!) So I decided I'd follow his lead and I asked the woman using the drop spindle if I could watch her for a bit. She smiled and said, "That's what we're here for." So she and I struck up a conversation about spinning and I talked about the fact that I've tried to spin and I have some fiber and spindles at home but I don't feel confident enough in my skill. The other woman looked up from her wheel and said, "Did you know there is a free spinning class at the LYS every third Friday of the month from one to three?" I looked over at her and grinned, "I had no idea." But you can be sure I will at least attempt to start going to those classes. I ended up purchasing a big bag of un-dyed alpaca fiber and a smaller bag of an alpaca, silk, and merino blend. The un-dyed alpaca is black, white, and two shades of brown. The other fiber is dark pink and purple. Both were so beautiful I couldn't leave either behind.

As soon as I got home I picked up my spindle and started spinning the purple merino wool I'd put down so many months ago and I think I'll be spinning for a long time to come.

x-posted to my knitting blog @ www.knittingintheattic.blogspot.com