Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival.

Took Mom this weekend to the WI sheep and wool festival. This is the first time I have gone to something like this and it's was pretty cool. I wasn't sure what to expect but the vendor building was a complete blast. Talk about sensory overload. I could have spent ALL DAY shopping. I got some things that I am pretty excited about. First 8oz of gray heather alpaca fiber. I have had a love hate relationship with Alpaca. The love part is that I wanted to love those guys and their fiber. They are so darn cute. Being a new spinner I got some alpaca top that I really wasn't crazy about by itself. I don't know what it was that I didn't like but, since going to this place I got to touch some fresh off the animal and fell TOTALLY IN LOVE. I can't wait to spin it into very thing singles and maybe make a scarf or something small. (I've begun spinning this alpaca and I am having some problem with the fiber not drafting well. I think it might be second cuts, but I am contemplating running it through my drum carder to see if that won't help it draft better. When looking at this picture now it seems a bit matted doesn't it?)When we first got to the festival we entered the first building and found this. An indigo dyed corriedale with silk noil. Anyone I have showed this to said it looks like dryer lint. I guess it does but the finished yarn is amazing. Little flecks of white in a beautiful blue wool. I got 8 oz for about 20 dollars. I thought it was a little high for corriedale but I figured it was dyed and had stuff added so it was okay. I usually buy it white and dye it myself for about 14 dollars a lb from Winderwood Farms. (see my shopping links.) The next awesome purchase is this blonde mohair. I bought 8 oz of this for about 7 dollars. I figured this would work great with the Romney I have dyed tan and brown. The Romney as a rule is a little coarse, but I think it is very nice when carded and drafted well. The last fiber I bought was this white angora fiber. SUPER SOFT and I am not sure exactly what I am going to do with it, but I think I might blend it with some blueface and make something very special out of it. The final item I purchased was a kit with natural mill spun corriedale. They are called Rosies two color socks and are great to knit. I know I have about 8 zillion ufo's but felt like I needed something quick and pretty to start knitting. Oh well, if I finished everything I think I would be very sad. All in all it was a great day and I have lots to play with now. More later.