Friday, August 2, 2013

Fiber Arts Friday: Estes Park Wool Market, 2013

I've said before, Estes Park is one of my favorite places and I make a point to visit the wool market every year.  This year it was on June 8th and 9th.

This is when I do most of my fiber, yarn and tool shopping.

I was on the lookout for a small drop spindle.  The one and only I had is quite heavy at 3 ounces.  The new ones are lovely and quite light at 0.77 and 0.98 ounces.


I also wanted to look for black yarn, white yarn and unusual rovings.  I forgot to look for the yarn but I was not disappointed with the selection of rovings and clouds.

First was a Romney Lamb + Alpaca blend.  I don't know what it is, but I love the way sheep's wool smells. :-)


Cotton was everywhere.  Surprising because I had not seen it on prior years.  I picked up a naturally colored brown sliver,


a white sliver,


and a large amount of Ginned Cotton.


The white cotton sliver is much softer than the brown cotton which makes sense since the white cotton has been bred for a much longer.  I'm very excited about the Ginned Cotton... there are little seeds in there that has me thinking I may be able to plant and grow my own... of course I'm sure that a huge amount of work.  ;-)

There is also some de-haired Bison in cloud form that is especially soft,


and a Bison + Tussah Silk roving.


Pure silk in a lovely cinnamon color that is not as silky as one might expect.  I have only spun silk in blends, so this one will be quite an adventure.


 A lovely cloud of cashmere,


And I added to my cashmere+silk stash.  This is a 50/50 blend.  :-)


And finally, the pièce de résistanceQiviut!  This will need to be de-haired, but even the guard hair is super soft.


If it seems like quite a haul, I would have to agree.  But I always go with a canvas bag and cash in my pocket.  I'm done when either my bag is full or my pocket is empty... as you can see the bag was full, and I can tell you that my pocket was within a few dollars of being completely empty.  ;-)


I hope that you are having a fabulous Fiber Arts Friday.  :-)

11 comments:

Natalie said...

Wow! What great finds. The cashmere silk blend looks dreamy. I would love to find an event like that in my area.

Unknown said...

What fun! And what beautiful spindles. Can't wait to see what comes of all of the fiber.

Unknown said...

Well, I am happy to hear I am not the only one that sniffs wool. I too like the smell. How is spindle work? I have always wanted to give it a shot but have never worked with them. The spindles are gorgeous.

I am just sitting sipping my drink and taking a look-see at what everyone is up too.

With All That I Am
Carrie - The Handmade Homemaker

Vivian said...

That looks like a nice haul indeed! I had to look up Ginned Cotton, never heard of it before, then I don't usually come in contact with cotton fiber. The pure silk is so beautiful, love the way silk takes on colors.

I had to chuckle at your previous post about your hubby's hair cut, with you being alpaca sheerer and all. I have been cutting my guys' hair with a clipper set bought at Costco. So far so good, and I knew nothing about cutting hair before.

Andria said...

Oh wow, what a fun haul you have there. Can't wait to see what you spin!

Heather Woollove said...

What fun! You purchased some wonderful things...so now the adventure begins! :)

Melissa said...

Goodness gracious you found some beautiful fibers. I've never even considered spinning cotton. Like your idea of cash and 1 bag. MI Fiber Festival is coming up...might just take your advice.

Cathy Johnson said...

Wow! What great finds, I'm so envious, so many yummy fibres... drooling profusely... ;-)

WonderWhyGal said...

Look at that haul! Well, I guess that means you've caught the cotton bug ;-)

Gracey is not my name.... said...

I do the same thing at Rhinebeck, cash and a bag....looks like a great haul...can't wait to see what they all become...

Sharon said...

How fun! It looks like you got a great variety and I can't wait to see how it all spins up.