We Were Here

We Are Here
Originally uploaded by sunasak

This was my main knitting activity of Saturday (I will post tomorrow about Sunday's output: finishing that VLT scarf!). That's Jody AKA KillerPeach proving that we made it to the Kid'n Ewe festival in Boerne, Texas. The Kendall County Fairgrounds are not overly decorated, but have nice big trees, and lots of space to exhibit your fiber-related stuffs. We didn't spend an inordinate amount of time there, but thought we were through, ate lunch, then went back in and "had" to get more stuff.

When we first got there I was worried that there would not be much I was interested in, since the alpaca room had a lot of imported finished goods and toys. But there was actual yarn and fiber hiding there, too. I got some yarn from a lovely alpaca named Masie that had been hand dyed by Maisie's owner, right in the Boerne area. Shop local! They were interesting people and we enjoyed hearing how the alpaca business was going for them. Jody got roving from three different alpacas in three colors. That will surely make pretty yarn.


The wool room had some very nice exhibitors (and some woefully inappropriate stuff as well, but it was easy to skip). Brooks Farm, whose owner is really a wonderful dye artist, had an incredible display. I tried not to buy anything, but ended up with periwinkle mohair and some sock-weight in black, navy and purple--really subtle. There were also some lovely angora bunnies to look at--they even have hairy ears, as this one exhibits.

I lucked out and found a button for Mr. Greenjeans from a lady who does that shiny glass stuff as "Perfect Buttons." Poor thing, it comes out "perfect butt" on one's credit card bill. I also got some hand dyed yarn from her--crinkly sock-weight.

Another nice vendor was a group of ladies from Louisiana who had a lot of fleece and interesting yarn from a variety of types of sheep, Marsh Mellow Meadows. I got two skeins of naturally tan yarn, and the label listed all the sheeps' names. Aww. I got a little drop spindle there, too, with agate on it. This yarn looks nice and rustic--not sure what I will do with it, but I want it to be a nice thing.

Saving the best for last, Jody and I practically hyperventilated when she realized that there was a Jojoland exhibit. Jody is a long-time fan, and I had only heard of the yarns, never seen them. Whoa. This stuff is sooooo nice. There were a couple of yarns with very gradual color changes, Harmony and Melody. I got enough Harmony laceweight for a shawl, and enough of the Melody sock weight for three pairs of socks AND her Bear Tracks shawl pattern. I got a dozen skeins of a blue/red combo that really is stunning. We really enjoyed talking to "the Jojoland Lady," who is from China (as is the yarn) and has a real name, of course. She is a really talented knitter and had done up some spectacular shawls and garments. They were all breathtaking, but I was most impressed by a double-knit tumbling blocks baby blanket. It was simply very clever. A totally reversible blanket, too. We snapped up some of her patterns, too! We sent a couple of friends over to buy stuff, as well--didn't want anyone to miss out!

It was fun to run into people we knew there, and "help" them shop. It reminded me of a conference at my former nonprofit job, where you knew most of the folks, and knew you had at least something in common with everyone there, so no one minded being spoken to by strangers, having your clothing touched, etc. And similarly, it was fun to run into people you mostly interact with online--I wish I had seen some of my old friends who were there, but I know there will be other chances!

There are lots of photos on my Flickr pages, so just click the picture of Jody and see what I bought and what we saw. You may even spot a familiar face or two.

Tomorrow: FOs on parade.