Fun at flock and fiber fest.

Without photos.  I got photos, but how to get photos from the cell phone to the computer to the blog is beyond me at this point. Sooo...

 Imagine, if you  will, a girl about 8 years old leading a frisky, curly-coated billy goat  who is bleating with each prancing step.  Imagine scores of white tents set up on a green lawn under a blue sky, and imagine each tent holding a unique rainbow of hand-dyed rovings and yarns.  Imagine hundreds of happy fiber artists, colorfully and artistically clad, wandering from tent to tent, becoming ever more heavily laden with glorious purchases.  Imagine the scents of lamb barbecue and kettle corn, sheep and goats and and their stables lightly perfuming the air. Imagine the hubbub of hundred of happy shoppers.  It was a splendid day!

I got there early enough to grab three mystery batts from  Fantasy Fibers.  these are the batts she pulls off the carding drums when they need to be cleaned.  There's no telling what's blended in, but every mystery batt I have ever spun has been an education.  Merino and alpaca and silk and who knows what else.  I do love the mystery batts.

My shopping plan is to carry a big basket, and when the basket is full, I'm done shopping.  Batts take up a lot of space, but I can always hang skeins of yarn around my neck, so I wasn't too worried.  As usual, I just didn't have the cohones to force my way into the Blue Moon booth, which was packed elbow to elbow with some fairly fierce shoppers.  Folks do LOVE their Blue Moon yarns!  I was carrying the basket on my head to take up less horizontal space, but I felt as if I would need both hand, me knees and elbows, and maybe my teeth to shop the Blue Moon booth.

I found some stunning enameled shawl pins with matching earrings.  I was completely taken wit a set of kitties for $68.  They wouldn't have gone with a thing that I own, and luckily, the line at the cash register was long enough to allow me second thoughts.  Instead, I bought some hand-dyed blue-faced leister in shades of blue and lavender.  And some merino, alpaca blending very manly grey with green and purple highlights, and some merino in rust, orange,brown and gold because I just had to have it, even though I don't wear those colors ever.

When my basket was full, and my pocketbook was empty, I took the long way home, taking the Canby Ferry. Imagine green forest and blue river with small electric-powered barge running from bank to bank.  Imagine half a dozen cyclists in their colorful gear lined up against the side.  Imagine six cars to fill the barge, and a gentle five minute journey across the river in the last of the summer sunshine.  As I drove home, I could see clouds forming along the horizon.  Last night it rained.  Today it rained.  Tomorrow it will rain.  The water year is beginning.  The flock and fiber fest was a perfect farewell to summer.