Sheep to Shawl

Yesterday I played hooky from work (with my boss' approval - there are advantages to working in Ag!) to participate in my guild's Sheep to Shawl Exhibition at the Ventura County Fair. It was a blast! There were somewhere between 15-20 people there, spinning or carding or plying, while Chris our President, wove. My knee was giving me a bit of trouble and by the time I got home, I could barely walk, but it was worth it. And my thoughtful husband, who must love me a lot, thought to bring my cane when he came to pick me up. And a soda! Whataguy!

The shawl was really beautiful when it was finished. I wasn't wild about the colors of the yarn we were spinning; purple and green and orange; but when it was spun and used as weft against the lovely rich brown warp, it was muted and really lovely. I hope we got a really good price for it!

I also managed to come home with some fiber; the shepards weren't stupid. Having a captive audience of spinners they came with huge bags of fleece of every color and type. I managed to limit myself to two purchases, one I can't tell about because it's going to be a Christmas present, but the other is just YUM; a 50% Mohair, 30% Merino and 20% Angora blend in a lovely medium dark charcoal color. Oh man, it is to die for! I wish they had feel-o-blog so I could post and you could touch it. Hey, Mr. Gates? Get right on that, won't you?

The boys came with for a while, just to not disappoint, but we'll come on Sunday to do the BIG stuff. I'm going to participate in the Spinning Competition/Exhibition which should be interesting, to say the least! Then we'll have the rest of the day for fun. I just hope I can walk by then!