Fall Fiber Festival ~

Wonderful Day!!!!

If you ever get the chance to visit Virginia in October, please make sure to bookmark a stop in at the annual Fall Fiber Festival, held right acrossed the road from historic Montpelier , the home of James Madison (http://www.montpelier.org/)...

Beautiful, winding country roads take you into Orange county,
right outsdie of Charlottesville, Va ~ Hannah & I packed up early in the morning & headed out.
(Pete stayed home, because he wasn't finished working on the woodstove)

We arrived and the smell of kettle-corn hit our nostrils!!
we had to get a sample of that, for sure!

...then we watched the dog training competition for a while....

the agility and stealth that those little Border Collies have is amazing, all while listening to only short-and-long whistles from their trainers...the sheep sure knew what to do...they ran and arched and stopped and ran some more, as the dogs corralled them through the relay...

The vendor's tents were awesome,

as booth after booth was filled with

delectable fibers dyed in a rainbow of colors never seen before!

the fibers were wool from many breeds of sheep, llama,

alpaca, mohair goats, rabbits...

even sweaters knit from dog fur!!!!!!! cool!

(no, they didn't smell like wet-dog.)

we saw demonstrators that were felting, needlefelting, knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving...we watched as children and adults took workshops from various teachers, and listened intently to the experience each had to share...

we got hungry, so we decided on a treat ~ ice cream sundae's!!!!!
~ Hannah got hot fudge, and I got hot butterscotch...
loaded with fresh whipped cream and camalized walnuts...
oh my stars!!!!

after that, we went back to purchase my dum carder!!
(WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!)

and was taught by the designer/maker how to put the batt through the carder,
clean the rollers, etc...
I was in my glory~

Hannah tried to come home with this big-bunny-boy
(did you know that male stud-bunnies are called bucks?...me neither)
the Lady selling him was knitting the tiniest,
softest baby-booties from his angora fur...
aaawww!!

After we left the Festival, we decided to do a little antiques shopping,
and I'll tell ya,
I have to admit that I taught Hannah well...
at 13, she's an experienced loot-picking-treasure-hunter/collector-of-many-things!!!!

she spotted a Nightmare Before Christmas tin Lunchbox that of course we had to have,
she even brought her lunch to
HIGH SCHOOL

this morning in it!
HA! my fearless girl!!!!

All in all, a right wonderful day...

if there is a fair or festival in your area, please go.
don't miss out on rural life...
there are lessons learned at every turn and pleasant people to meet.

Now I'm off to card some wool and maybe spin some today!!!!