Did you know...

That an alpaca is an animal all unto itself? Well yes, I'm guessing that most of you informed readers knew that it's in the camel family- just below the llama. News to me! I thought maybe it was a type of an animal that I already knew about. (e.g. alpaca sheep, alpaca goats, etc etc.) This beauty named "Hermione" made the festival worthwhile.

Small though it was, how can a person be disappointed when there is a streetful of handspun yarn? duh. There were bags and bags of wool, roving, dyed raw wool, dyed roving (I now know the differences between all of these words) and yet not one spinning wheel to be tried or purchased. If I made spinning wheels, I bet I would make a fortune.

As for the cranky ladies at the spinning wheel, I encountered 2 of them but then there were about 5 others who were more than willing to talk to me about the joys of spinning. Note to self- leave the spinners at the sheep to shawl competition alone. They're on a mission.

I did purchase some yarn- not as much of a silk/wool blend as I would have liked- another lady with her eye on it beat me to the purchase. Her daughter is from Waynesburg and knits and the first thing she said after we met was- "we should have a club." We exchanged emails, thrilled to know that there are at least 3 knitters here. I purchased a big pile of handspun English wool. The pictures won't do it justice so I'll wait until I have some that will or until I start working with it for real.

Just for the record, the exhibitor at the first booth I went to smiled at me and said, "Do you have a dog?" I burst out in uproarious laughter and then had to explain. She gave me some imaginary treats for Nigel. They were free.