Nearly wrecked the car getting to the fair - the view over the bridge was so stunning;
It was a gorgeous day, chilly in the morning. A bit of a breeze most of the rest of the day and not so stinking hot that the goats had to complain about the sheepy smell coming from the spinners and weavers in The Wool Room.
There were the requisite County Fair stations to prostrate oneself to;
though I am offended by snow cones served in plastic cups. WTF? Half the flavor is in the disintegrating paper cone. snow CONE. GET IT?
I love coming up here for this event. It's a fun day with friendly people and we have a great time.
More than one spinner/weaver heard me say Corn Dog for the quick lunch break we had;
Oh yes I did.
And now here's the part I wish had gone differently. I underestimated the time I would need to produce 2 yards of fabric. It can be done in 3 hours. We had 4 from start to finish, so there was a good head start for carding and getting the single plies in process. I chose to not begin weaving until after the break. Which left me with 2 hours during which 4 feet of fabric was produced. The goal is 6 feet for a really full bodied shawl. Now, I use a boat shuttle. And I am a damn fast weaver. The other three teams were all using stick or rag shuttles. Which I had counted on to even the pace out and equalize the challenge. But … I was wrong.
The warp was beautifully spun and plied by one team member, dyed to an edible array of raspberry reds and pinks by another team member who graciously filled in as a spinner at the last minute, the weft was a splendid team effort and we had a boatload of fun doing it. I hope we'll do it again. We learn something new every time. And the shawl we made is a beauty.
It is reversible. Warp faced on one side and weft faced in a plush 1/3 twill on the other.
Here's the warp face for you.
and here is the cow face for you. Saucy minx.
No, the angora is not out of focus.
This my friends, was the neatest trick of the day. Cup holders for your wheel. "N" had one for her folding Lendrum. Oh what a cheap scene we all made when we saw that. Maybe when my Wee Robin comes bob bob bobbin' along …
We did place. 4th. There were 4 teams. It was nice to get a consolation ribbon but I really wish things had worked out differently.
This shawl can be seen at one of the craft events the team attends. Maybe the Labor Day craft fair on the same grounds? There was some warp left over … it's very lovely yarn.