Fiber Festivals

Before I get to the topic of this post, I wanted to share some scenes from the home place. This young fellow was right outside my window Wednesday evening. He was so adorable. He saw me looking at him but he just kept eating. Many times in the late evening, DH and I will go out on the back deck to look at the stars and you'll see baby deer sleeping in the yard. It's almost like their parents will leave them with us to babysit and keep them safe from the coyotes while they themselves go off and eat. The lights are on in the house and I assume they think the coyotes won't come too close ..............who knows.

This gray cat is Maddux. She is one of two kittens we picked out a couple of years ago when our blue eyed tom disappeared and never returned. They have really kept the mice and moles away (probably in their bellies). They are good hunters. They even killed a baby snake and left it on the concrete for us to see.

OK, on to the topic. The Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival is held every year Memorial Day weekend. In addition to fiber goodies to purchase, there are some good classes offered. From dyeing, spinning, knitting, crochet, etc. You can watch sheep get sheared, learn about and buy angora bunnies, the list goes on.

I took a class on wrapping coiled baskets. Of course, you can use fabric but this class was about wrapping with yarn or even unspun fiber. We used Cotton Fleece in the class and class time didn't really allow for a basket, but I did get a very sturdy coaster made. It was fun although it does irritate my left arthritic thumb if I do it too long. I stopped by KMart on my way home and bought some cotton cord and decided to use some of my own Corriedale handspun. I purchased this fiber to practice with and it's a little rough next to the skin so I thought it would be perfect to wrap with. This is the result so far. I haven't turned up the sides yet, I'm still working on the base.

As for goodies I purchased. I've never spun from Batts, so this year I focused on them.