Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Show - It's the BOMB!

Hello, all! As the landscape up here is starting to turn oranges and browns - yet still with plenty of green - we are beginning to think of our wool sweaters and mittens. We've had wonderful fall-ish days with warm sunshine on breezy days as we're noticing the sun peaking much lower than it did just a couple of months ago. It's a delicious time of year.

I've been working on several projects, 2 of which are for an early Christmas celebration with my family in Tennessee. So I won't share those just yet. I've also been working on another Bandstand Sweater, but this one is being knit with wool yarn and will be for winter time. I will update more on that after it is completed.

I'm also working on a baby sweater for a long-time friends's daughter's first baby. And I still have to finish a hoodie that I started a while back - maybe last spring. I only have to set the arms in, pick up stitches to knit the hood and sew in a zipper. And that's just what I plan on doing when I finish the bandstand sweater.

BUT the big news is from this weekend, when I attend FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, the annual Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival. I've been involved in spinning in Wisconsin for about 34 years and only heard of this festival about 2 years ago. Last year I was "under the weather" so I made sure to add the dates for this years' event to my calendar. It was GREAT! My husband and I met up with an out-of-town friend of mine and her husband. We had such a good time taking in the sights and the sells! There were sheep shows, stock dog trials, food trucks, an old fashioned hooked rug display and, of course, vendors. Two huge pole barns full of vendors, with everything fiber. Here are a few photos from our day:

One of the first sights when we entered
the gate, along with the small
antique tractor display....

Here is hubby standing next to an
identical tractor he used as a boy
on his family's farm.

This was part of a quilt show and an old-fashioned
hooked rug show. (The rugs are made with thin
strips of fabric.)

More hooked rugs.

Yarn, roving, raw wool, galore!
Two big pole barns full!

This man was weaving a shawl
on a triangular loom.

And here is the loom.
I have one and I think I've
been inspired to dust it off and try
my hand at it.

I did not take pictures of the stock dog trials because the field in which they competed was quite long but it is so delightful to watch the dog respond to its handler and to the sheep and to figure out what is needed. We watched Pro-Novice so these dogs were quite new to the trials and some were not able to finish in the time allotted. Others were very good at rounding-up those sheep and the sheep seemed happy to be put inside the small pen at the end of each trial. 

I found several good buys on yarn, gadgets, soaps and a 1/2 a raw fleece. We even found a vendor who offered a canvas bag and 2 huge bins full of yarn from which we could fill one bag up for $60.00 USD. And they let us jam, shove, and scrunch up those skeins to get in as much as we could. Since my friend nor I need yarn, we filled up one bag together and each paid $30.00. WHAT A DEAL!!  :^) So here's my booty:

There's the raw fleece. 

There's home made soaps, a yarn buddy, 

bags of yarn, and the project I worked on there and back.

             

Here's the 1/2 fleece. It is from a Tunis and CVM cross. I don't know those breeds, but the wool is delightful - lots of nice crimp and a decent staple length. It's going into the wash tub promptly when I finish this post.

The Yarn Buddy -
the lady had several
of these as "seconds"
and had a good price
on them. It has
ball-bearings and
spins around quite
smoothly.

This! This is YAK yarn. It is so soft. It
was not a bad price either.
I considered buying the raw fiber
but to get enough for a nice
skein would have cost more
than this yarn did. It came from
Bijou Basin Ranch.

I bought this little beaded purse kit. 
It includes size 0000 knitting needles, all the 
beads and all the thread for knitting and 
beading this little thing. It will make a 
great necklace, I think. The artist is Nancy Alison. 

More yarn. 470 yards of it, and it's worsted
weight, superwash Merino Wool.
From Hearthside Fibers

I am refraining from showing every last ounce of yarn I bought. I may or may not be embarrassed. ~cough-cough~

And here's my friend that I went with. This photo was taken a week before as we were knitting in a local coffee shop. She is wearing her version of the Bandstand Sweater that she made in our class this summer.