On Saturday I was able to venture towards Yellow Springs, OH to "A Wool Gathering" at
Young's Jersey Dairy. The farm itself was impressive and it would be interesting to see all the activities without an event going on at the grounds.
"AWool Gathering" was a collection of animals, demonstrations, and vendors. We seem to just miss some sheep sheering as we were arriving. Although it's not necessarily the time of year for such an activity they appeared to be using one or two sheep for demonstration and sheering just small bits of wool. There were also some llamas present who tried their absolute hardest to ignore me while I took their picture.
The vendors had a large variety of raw wool, beautifully combed and dyed rovings, and already spun yarn. Also there was every configuration of spindles and other tools you could ever imagine. Everyone was very friendly and eager to show you their craft. My first purchase was a beautifully hand carved crochet hook. Crocheting being my first crafty love, one can never have too many crochet hooks.
I was waiting till after I had seen all that was available to buy my fiber. I've been drop spinning for awhile now and I pretty much wanted to buy everything I saw. I was also looking for a new spindle, when we came across a used wheel for a reasonable price. The husband surprised me by saying he had prepared for such a thing, and I was able to come home with my very first spinning wheel.
By the time I made it back to the first bunch of fiber I had wanted to buy the particular color was sold out. I was bummed but consoled myself by getting some great colored merino. I'll be posting about those separately as I go through the process of learning on my new wheel.
It was a really beautiful day and my health seemed to hold up until I was done shopping. I think Ryan enjoyed himself as well, even if it was just getting to make me happy by purchasing my spinning wheel. I hope we can make it a yearly tradition.
