Applying to this event and getting in happened in a flash, only a week before the event. It was TOTALLY worthwhile! There were so many fun things to see. I can hardly wait to enjoy it all again next August.
A particular joy for me at fiber festivals is seeing and petting the animals. The bunnies were particularly adorable. They are so floofy! I also saw sheep, goats, and alpaca. What is your favorite fiber producing animal?
The booth had an amazing outdoor location. I had a great view of the sheep herding, costume parade, and animal obstacle course demonstrations! Do you wish you were there to see them? Were you there and missed them? I’ve got you covered. :) I recorded the sheep herding, animal obstacle course, and costume parade! Watch the videos below, like and subscribe to my youtube channel and find more videos on my Instagram TV channel.
The Sheep Herding demo was very impressive. I learned that the border collies use their intense stare as well as their proximity to herd the sheep.
The Costume Parade was my favorite! I would love to see this at every event! The kids and their sheep were dressed in costumes. The brave boy pictured above sang Baa Baa Black Sheep. It was the most adorable thing. After the costume judging was done they paraded around the fairgrounds led by bagpipes.
After a brief intermission the parade was followed by an obstacle course. It was really amazing to try to guess which would be more stubborn-the sheep or the child. The adults did not have much better luck getting their sheep to cooperate. Part of the child obstacle course is shown below. To see the adults and more kids braving the obstacle course check out my YouTube Channel or Instagram TV.
Just like every knitting convention and fiber festival there was a fabulous selection of vendors! The Fiber Festival mix has a full range of fiber arts products for sale including: sheep, goats, bunnies, fleeces, fiber mill services, roving, spindles, wheels, looms, needles, hooks, baskets, yarn, woven scarves, and of course my handcrafted shawl pins. ;) Seeing the full range; from farmer to finished woven items; for sale really helps to appreciate the value of products being sold for each step of the fiber arts crafting process. I was delighted to bring home yarns from Bumblebee Acres, Mode Knit Yarn, Yarn Geek Fibers, and Hoof to Hanger. I also got a loom from Craftsanity and a bag from Iron Wheel Farms.
Iron Wheel Farms raise Finn Sheep, dye yarn, and have a resident mom who sews bags from furniture fabric samples. One of these bags was calling my name every time I walked past. Click Here to learn more about Iron Wheel Farms.
Hoof to Hanger is a fiber mill. They process fleeces into roving or yarn. Their gift shop has a selection of yarns, various gifts, and hopefully soon a few handmade shawl pins from yours truly. Click Here to learn more about Hoof To Hanger.
Yarn Geek Fibers has unique inspiration for her colorways. They are named after female scientists, inventors, and mathematicians. I brought home a full skein of Mary Anderson and 2 mini skeins named Gertrude Bell Elion and Catherine Cody Wolf. Mary Anderson invented the first windshield wiper blade. It was attached to a string that the driver could pull back and forth from inside the car. I’m eager to google the other two names and learn their stories. To learn more about Yarn Geek Fibers click here.
I first met Bumblebee Acres at Ann Arbor Fiber Show last spring. They have a fun display of yarn and a unique dye process. Their Rainbow Fish colorway that I got at a previous event will be in a crescent shawl pattern to be released this October. What called my name this time was a colorway named Narwhal. Too fun to resist. To learn more about Bumblebee Acres click here.
Mode Knit Yarn is a vendor that I see at a lot of events. It’s always a delight to talk to them. They dye beautiful yarns in a fabulous range of bases. This new colorway purple with patches of aqua practically leapt into my arms as I walked past. Click here to check out more from Mode Knit Yarn.
For the fun of it I got a triangle loom and a tiny loom from Craftsanity. I’m hoping to make triangles with some of my chunky handspun yarn and sew them together into a scarf or shawl. The tiny loom is for my son. Like me he always likes to have something to do with his hands. This tiny loom is a great pocket project. Click here to check out Craftsanity.
While traveling for events I like to squeeze in a little bit of sightseeing whenever possible. This event has a built in museum! The Allegan County Fairgrounds, where the fiber festival is held, has an 1800’s living history village. It is particularly fascinating to me hearing the volunteer’s stories about how people dressed and cooked. Here are a couple of the tidbits I learned this time. Older women had enough sense to only wear corsets for fancy occasions. This meant that during the day it was period accurate for the volunteer to be wearing a dress without a corset. The tops of the dresses were lined with muslin or cotton to wick the moisture away from the skin. In the kitchen there was a rectangular metal box used for canning and pressure cooking. Canning was essential for the preservation of food. The fancy city house did have an ice box. The country house did not. In the country house a lady was stringing beans to hang on the wall to dry. These beans would have been used for soups in the winter and some set aside for planting in the spring.
City Kitchen
Pressure cooker
Country Kitchen
Preserving the Harvest
Bring a piece of Michigan Fiber Festival home with one of the pins that debuted at the event!
The next event is A Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs Ohio followed two weeks later by Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival in Berryville Virginia. For event details and the full line up Click Here.
Thanks for reading! Please comment with your favorite thing to see at fiber festivals or what you would like to see me blog about.
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