Wool Art Tour - Part II

Continuing on the Wool Arts Tour, we came to the farm of a hand weaver.



A sweet woman with a British accent, who invited me to join a weaving guild (and no, I don’t know how to weave…yet!), demonstrated inkle weaving. Inkle weaving creates fun trim, like this:



Inside the barn, we were invited to climb a very steep flight of stairs to the weaver’s studio. What a priveledge! Here are some of the sights we saw in the crowded, colorful, and fiber-filled studio.



Outdoors, there were many beautifully woven items for sale.



I greatly admired that bold, plaid, woven throw on the top right!

Among the demonstrators was this woman with her very old looking spinning wheel.



This woman taught my friend's daughter how to weave. She must've spent about 10 minutes squatting down and weaving with her...so sweet!



A sheep watched from the shadows as we moved on to the next stop on the tour.



At the next farm, spinning lessons are offered year round.  But during the Wool Arts Tour, quick lessons are given for free in this wonderful studio!



My friend's older daughter was most excited for the opportunity to learn to spin!  I warned her that I found it a bit challenging when I tried a couple of years ago on the tour.  The combination of the up-and-down foot motion with the pushing-pulling hand motion was a little like rubbing your tummy and patting your head.  But in no time at all she was spinning beautifully!

A lovely day of fall foliage, fiber, and friends!



Wool Arts Tour - Part I

Our visiting friends planned their trip around the dates of the annual Wool Arts Tour...fiber lovers all of us!  The tour is self-guided and took us down lovely country roads lined with trees resplendent with autumn color, to farms old and new, to meet some truly sweet people, and to enjoy faces like this one.



The first stop on the tour was Spring Pond Farm, where they raise alpaca! It’s a beautiful farm! The barn is so pristine inside that I think you could actually eat off the floor! There’s a fun spiral staircase that goes from the second floor of the barn to the third floor loft. And then there’s a ladder that goes from the third floor up into the cupola. There are animal pens, side rooms, and apples and squashes being stored for the winter inside this barn. It’s a lovely place!

The vendors were set up on the farm’s front lawn, and were selling all sorts of tempting items.



I thought this sweater was one of the loveliest items I saw all day…so feminine and such soft yarn!

A little fiddle music makes every event more fun!

There were pumpkin whoopie pies too!

My friend's youngest daughter loved the sheep!…and the alpaca!  Alpaca is my favorite fiber!





Just as we were about to leave, a horse drawn wagon pulled up and we were offered the chance to take a free ride on it! I was thrilled!



I enjoyed listening to the conversation of two 20-something women who were also on the wagon ride. One mentioned how she’d like to go back to horse and buggy days…a slower pace of life. The other said something about how materialism drives us to live faster lives. And the first responded on how she just wants to live like Little House on the Prairie. She reiterated, “That’s just what girls want…to live like Little House on the Prairie.” Well, AMEN! It renewed my faith that the entire younger generation is not completely lost in their techno gadgets! A wagon ride. A conversation about Little House on the Prairie. AND scenery like this! It all contributed to making this stop our favorite of the day!



Then it was stop #2,where the highlight was the sweet woman who spins straight from her angora rabbit. Her tables and spinning wheel were set up amidst the falling and fallen leaves.



Some of her beautiful hats made from yarn spun from her bunnies.



Inside the old house at this stop there were stunning, hand-dyed yarns.

Those yarns caught my eye last year, and I decided that when I went on the tour this year I would buy some of them. So here’s my big purchase of the day…yards and yards of lovely pink mohair/wool/nylon blend! I intend to make a lace scarf for chilly springtime days from it.



And behind the home, we found this adorable sheep peeking out of the barn. What a sweet face!



More of the Wool Arts Tour coming soon!

Bonding

My dear friend, who has been visiting, bonded with my grandson...over a gourd.





Afterall, anyone who offers you a gourd as a teething toy must be a lot of fun!



Many more postings on our fabulously fun visit with our friends to come!

Big Dog Day!

Today was the BIG DOG DAY in our family!  We adopted two 7-yr. old golden retrievers (half-siblings to each other)!  They are beautiful and oh so sweet!