Wisconsin Sheep and Wool

After a hiatus of many years (weddings and then Covid), we finally returned to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival. The weather was beautiful, and the sheep events and markets as we had previously experienced. Since I did not take any classes, we went only for Saturday, and stayed the night at one of our favorite B&B’s, the Hamilton House in Whitewater. Highly recommended.

https://www.bandbhamiltonhouse.com/

We went through the vendors first, and then off to watch some sheep judging competitions

Next was the sheep dog trials. The event we watched was the open event with a lot of young dogs, none finished the course. Next year we need to time it to see the more experienced dogs. I am still amazed at how they are able to train the dogs to move the sheep.

And then it was back to the Market, this time to shop. I must admit that I was disappointed in the dimished quantities of spinning fibers. I was happy to see Handspun by Stefania there. Her booth was much smaller, but still amazing what she does with natural dyes. I did not end up purchasing anything, as I still have some of her fiber in my stash, but here is a little eye candy:

http://www.stefania-spins.com/

There were a lot of booths with kitchen sink dyers. I find that most have limited color theory knowledge and their combinations do not appeal to me. I found a vendor that I have purchased from extensively in the past, and was not wowed by their selection either. So, I purchased very little. This reproduction of a mid-1800’s loom was amazing.

These are the only 2 skeins that I purchased. A beautiful robins egg blue skein from Why Not fibers, near Traverse City, MI. They have been at YarnCo in past years and said that they were excited to be coming back in 2023. I think that this will make a beautiful shawl, my photo does not do the color justice.

All of these yarns are made from fiber that was raised in Michigan or another Great Lake State and then processed at one of our local Mills. These yarns are very special and limited in quantity based on the micro scale production of them. These yarns are a labor of love for us and other small businesses locally.

https://whyknotfibers.com/

The only other yarn that I purchased was this fingering weight Yak yarn from Tibet, from Reywa Fibers. This is destined to be a shawl for me.

Reywa means “hope” in the Tibetan language, and the desire to be a catalyst for hope is what drives our company vision. Our passion is to see Tibetan people benefit directly from the development and sale of the fiber their animals produce, enabling families to live healthy lives, full of hope for the future. With an emphasis on Education, Reywa profits have sponsored several children of Tibetan families. As Reywa grows, our ability to impact Tibetan communities will grow as well.

https://www.reywafibers.com/

And a pair of retractable scissors for me and a book for the grandchildren

We also stopped by a booth that was focusing on sustainable wardrobes and clothing. We purchased this book and magazine.

https://fibershed.org/

Lastly, I purchased a lovely leather bag from Muud. It is a great storage bag, with lot’s of compartments, and the yarn can come out between the 2 zippers. This was my splurge at the Festival. It reminds me of a vintage travel cosmetic bag.

Knitting bags

Sunday was a rainy, dreary day. On our way home, we stopped by Beloit College and were able to tour The Poewerhouse, a repurposed community powerhouse into an amazing student center by Gang Studios.

https://studiogang.com/project/beloit-college-powerhouse

And who can resist a used book store in a college town?

The Sock Report

The Sock Report is a new eMagazine, the brainchild of Janel Laidman, a favorite designer of mine.  It is a free bi-annual magazine devoted to socks and knitting which uses sock yarn.  And as every sock knitter knows, or if you ever start knitting socks,  it is easy to build up a stash of sock yarn.  After all, it only takes one skein to make a pair of socks, so you are not committed to purchasing a sweaters worth of yarn.  Also, one always needs to have extra colors on hand for colorwork or fancy toes.  It makes a great souvenir from a vacation.  Your husband doesn’t notice as much with one small skein at a time entering the house. And then, when you start spinning, you have even more fingering stash to use up, again in smaller quantities as you try all of the wonderfully dyed fibers available.  This magazine is right up my alley.  Here are some of my favorite projects:

This color combination reminds me of my recent Laidman shawl:

Doesn’t the pink gradient version look like my handspun?

And of course, since I have so much handspun to knit, I was immediately drawn to the shawls.

This shawl has been on my list since I first saw it.  It was in her club from last year, Arcadia:

And there are lots of socks of course, I really want to knit a pair of these:

And fun things too…

As you can see, the photography is beautiful.  There are articles to read, new yarns to discover, and even a fun contest.

One pattern for $6.50, or the whole set for $16.

Off to read more!