I must say, since moving to Texas, I’ve been to more bead markets, yarn stores, farmers markets and fiber festivals than I think I’ve ever been to before. Talk about Texas being bigger! They do it bigger and better here. This weekend I was thrilled to travel
to the Yellow Rose Fiber Producers Fiesta in Seguin, TX. Along with dozens of vendors, there were classes, games and competitions. When I arrived I was promptly greeted at a table by two lovely ladies who told me all about the event. I was given a shopping bag, tape measure, pen, and other goodies as well as a chance to enter the raffle for door prizes. After that I stepped into the large auditorium and began my adventure. Going table to table, booth to booth, I learned a lot, saw tons of new fibers and got to speak with a great deal of fantastic folks. I touched the raw sheared sheep wool waiting to be made usable for fiber. I saw beautiful hand-painted, hand-dyed yarns, vintage yarns, batts, roving yarn, and just about every notion you could think of for knitting, crochet, embroidery or any other fiber art. Seriously, it was fiber art stuff on steroids. I think I spent 2 hours alone wandering the aisles just browsing before actually buying anything. By the time I started to buy, it was so stressful to decide what to get and what I could live without. I came for the first time as more of a scouting mission than a shopping haul. Nevertheless, I found several items to buy. The first, wool dryer balls. Yup. I’ve never heard of these either but I’ve used tennis balls for years in the dryer for larger stuff to “fluff”. These babies are used instead of fabric sheets to soften clothes while helping to dry clothes quicker. I did a little research online later and it seems these little guys really do the trick. I’ll know for sure this week when I do my laundry. I’ll let ya know how it goes.
The next item I bought, yes, yes I bought it…. A drop spindle and fiber kit for beginners (thank you Barbed Dragon!). I couldn’t resist. And the owner showed me how to use it, she was uber nice and very helpful. I chatted with her for a while. The kit came with a reasonably sized drop spindle and a chunk of fiber to try to get used to spinning. I’m looking forward to tackling this. A lady at the booth who was also buying things told me to begin with 15 min at a time else I’ll throw the spindle across the room in frustration. Will do. Onward with the shopping, I mean scouting. After circling about 3x the entire room I came back to the co-op booth that had recycled tools and books available. I liked this idea and found a nice low drop spindle and an awesome large Tunisian crochet hook. And I had a fabulous conversation with the lady sitting at the table next to the booth while in line and after purchase. Its amazing how many of us have been diagnosed with Celiac’s or Gluten Intolerance later in life. We swapped tales, recipes and shared info on GF restaurants and bakeries. It is always fabulous when people can share and feel good about life.
Overall, a great day. I enjoyed the drive too. Driving on the back roads in Texas means little meandering two lane roads traveling past fields, farms, and small towns. The roads aren’t much different than some I’ve traveled on in other states but with the farms and fields in the background with the rolling hills it is a different and beautiful sight. And with good weather, the day was just perfect.
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