W/E Tierra Vegetable Wool Festival

Edelweiss

Long before Madonna's W.E.,  WE (Walt and Esther James) established the second oldest flock of  Shetland Sheep on the US west coast. And this afternoon we braved the rain and cold to attend the Sheep Shearing and Wool Festival at the Tierra Vegetable Farm Stand. Unfortunately, most of the veggies had been sold by the time we got there, but the spinners were busy spinning and plying, the Shetland Sheepdogs were baying for attention in their make-shift kennel, and the Shetland Sheep were eyeing us with just a bit of nervousness. Such beautiful sheep, in a variety of colors from white (Edelweiss the ram) to chocolate brown. Amos and Andy, two neutered rams, had driven down from Sacramento to join the shearing.  Unbeknownst to us, this must have been an Occasion, because a busload of elders from a local Senior Complex arrived in their Sunday best and we surrendered all the benches and plastic chairs to them. Not sure that pearls are traditionally worn to a sheep shearing, but the ladies were charming. It was also interesting to learn that there is a need for small flock sheep shearers! As the current practitioners retire, there are few to take their place, but the number of small sheep flocks is growing. Might be something to consider....

I missed it!

I should always trust my intuition. It seems to be a lesson that I can't quite seem to learn. As a result I missed a wonderful opportunity to see a yarn-storming activity in action! Yes, I was only a five minute drive away. It was an organized activity for students at a local junior high school. The instructor felt that a yarn-storming was less violent than a yarn-bombing. The extra curricular activity was in conjunction with a book reading/signing by author Mac Barnett and illustrator Jon Klassen for their book, Extra Yarn. Have you read it? I guess I can still check it out at the bookstore!

Stitches West 2012

Stitches West is always an adventure and many unexpected things happen. R. brought the paper to read and ended up walking the entire show--miles and miles of booths--with his sister (in pic) and me (took pic). Although, he resisted the temptation to purchase a single thing beyond lunch. I got to shake hands with Kira of Kira K Designs. I have attempted her cowl and admired her beautiful knitted designs for years. Also enriched my collection of Romi shawl patterns at the Verb for Keeping Warm booth, which won an award for the prettiest booth. I spent a lot of time there. It was wonderful. It was also a treat to see Takako at Habu Textiles. Habu yarns are singular in their appearance and manufacture. Sigh! I noticed a lot of drop spindles at this year's show, and not so many Cricket looms as last year. Many of the smaller vendors were missing which was a shame. It's a treat to be able to see fiber-folks from around the country in one area for a long afternoon.