Monday 11 August 2008

PICTURE HEAVY Mt Pleasant SACSOS Fibre and Fleece Fair 2008

We had a WONDERFUL time at the Mt. Pleasant SACSOS fibre fair- soooooo much to look at- so much to buy! Oh! if only I were a wealthy woman......
It was a mixed bag for the weather- windy with sunshine, rain, and hail even! We even managed to luck out with a non-rainy period so we could walk around Hahndorf ( a small town that boasts its German heritage) a little bit! We weren't in the right area for the sweets shop that carries US imports- darn it all ( Thanks again Robbie, for telling me about them)- but we did spend a long time in a clock shop.
RJ loves clocks and I love cuckoo clocks- this shop had lots of all kinds of nice clocks. We didn't purchase anything in the town as we were out of cash after the Fibre fair and the bakery ( called Lobethal Bakery- but we were in Woodside- !?!) we hit for breakfast - $2.20 for one choc. iced yeast donut! Plus nearly $3.00 each for a slice of apple strudel ( for DH ) and a danish pastry type thing that had dollop of apricot preserve in the middle for me. PLUS! loaf of onion and herb bread that was worth every cent of it's over $4.00 price tag. Crazy crazy crazy!!
But oh well- it's only once a year-ish!

Anyway- first person we bought from was Suzie Horne- she has Finnish Landrace- she was very low- not alot of choice this year- as the Littlehampton event cleaned her out pretty well....she even remembered us from LAST year- and we only talked with her- didn't get a chance to buy anything! She especially remembered RJB- that pleased me. :)
If you have not had the chance to touch Finn wool for yourself, please do ! You will love it I bet! It is VERY soft. I am continually amazed. I think it is my favourite fibre to date. Here are the photos for our goodies from Suzie's stand:


Below is a close up of some of the dyed Finn from Suzie.
Below are the two rovings- the purple is more pinky purple than this and the gold is more pale than this- but this is the best I could get out of my camera! lol

Here is the best photo of the green shades Dh bought:


Then we visited with, and bought lots from, Kathy Baschiera who has batts that she cards up- they are FABULOUS. Got some of those, then I went silly - RJB picked out a handpainted roving from Kathy ( in pinks and blues and purples!!!!!!! go figure!?) and I got several, will write them out with their pictures.
I have a goal to own one of each of the 17 colourways she does- eventually! lol
Here are some photos of what was brought home:
Above is one of 4 of tri-colour batts she did up HOT PINK, green, and gold. I'm a sucker for bright happy colours. Can't wait to see how this spins up.


Below you will find a few pics of the dark green batts she did with some Glitz fibre added in.


I LOOOO_OOOVE to touch this and photograph this- it is so soft and shiny and sparkly..*sigh* wish I'd gotten more... you can also see to the left of the green is a light bright sky blue- it is beautiful. IF I can get a picture of it to come up true I will post it. All that I took were no where near as pretty as it is in real life. This tiny peek is closer than I could get with any 'single' shots.




OK- and here are my real heart racers- the rovings...

This pic above shows the whole group- below you will see individuals of all but the pink/purple one.. that wouldn't photograph purple for me- just BLUE... so this is the best picture of that.

Above is one that was an experimental colourway she and her friend Hazel created called "Daffodil". She wants more yellow in it so this group she made was a one off thing. I *had* to have one! :) Below is "Flowering Gum". Brilliant name- brilliant colourway. I 'heart' it. :)

The above one is called "Outback"- fell in love with that one and Flowering Gum when I saw them at the Heart of the Hills market in Lobethal.

Below is one called- "Sharon"! Can you believe it?! I was bold and asked her a few weeks ago if she would ever try a yellow and red/rust/burgundy colour - and she did! And then when we arrive at the stand she shows it to me- and my name on it!!!! I was so embarrassed and flabbergasted as the same time! lol It was/is very flattering to have a roving colourway named after you... never in a million years did i think that would happen! (I hope she sold out. If not I will have to have more...) I really do hope it was well liked- I know I love the colours. I love where the yellow and the reddish colour meet...like on the lower edge of the picture. Just brilliant. ( Thanks Kathy- I am well and truly spoiled now! )


THEN! - THEN! I went over to the Lucinvale Farm stand and found more of FINN...... had some dyed locks i loved so got them -







and a bag of cream/white finn and a caramel colour I have not seen before- ohhh the pictures can't do justice to the perfect caramel colour of this fleece. The photos:
Above is the bag of white Finn- below is a lock taken from the bag. So SOFT.

And here is the caramel coloured one that I wrote about earlier, although it really doesn't show the right colour here- the ends of the locks are more what the colour is in sunlight:


We looked around a bit more only to find approx. 500g of white alpaca for $2! It felt nice and soft and seemed pretty nice for that! Not much VM in the one I chose!

THEN Richard bought a fleece for $4.....not sure what is 'wrong' with it- other than I think it might be last years shearing. From Eagleview Farm- it wasn't her fleece though- she was selling it from some she had from someone else- but it is 1.9 k of border x merino! Here's a peek:


Didn't even look at the Bennett and Gregor this year. Didn't seem to have alot in the spinning fibres- just the huge felting batts and yarns. RJB also got a little plastic canvas lolly bird ( had a lollipop in it's "beak"...) - it's cute.

Then with all of RJ's urging-it was off to Melba's. It was a success as RJ found his beloved construction vehicle toy with a chocolate bulldozer taped on! :) This time was a 'plow' sort of thing. Not sure what it actually is- but he loves it.

Hope you enjoyed the post and



hope you are well.

Saturday 9 August 2008

Happy August! Some Yarny Goodness

A quick update before I go to get ready for a journey to Mt. Pleasant-

Here are some photos of recently spun yarns- all done on spindles with the "ply on the fly" method.. Most are from Jane's store and then there is my show of my first attempt at ply on the fly with some merino from Mandie's store. Oh, and some alpaca from Walking Wheel Studio, here in SA. ( No website as of this date...)

I am quite pleased with all of them and after posting them here I want to attempt putting them on Ravelry- where you can find me under
" Twirlygig ". I have not tried to post anything there picture-wise. But would love to be able to smart enough to figure it out! lol

We are off to Mt Pleasant for a SACSOS event- SA Coloured Sheep Owners Society. I hope to come home with a few nice raw fleeces and lots from Kathy B. And maybe if I have any left some Finnish Landrace (Finn) from Suzie Horne. I can never get to her stuff- well that's not true- last year I could- but it was too dark in the building to see! lol
Hoping this year will be better - lights-wise. RJB has had a terrible cold this whole last week....... every night he's woken up several times and sometimes not able to go back to sleep, etc.... it's been a long week. He is doing better this day. So guess we will venture out- He is looking forward to going to Melba's choc. factory which is up that way. Free samples of some of their products and chocolate and toys..a child's dream! lol They have FAB choc. covered coffee beans. But I reckon I have already talked about them so won't go on.
Without further ado - here are the yarns.

The grey yarn above is the Alpaca. The picture isn't quite big enough to really see the colours in it-will have to try to post a larger picture again later. Below are two small skeins of EL ( English Leicester) Moseley Wool- done in the "Peacock" colourway.

Above are the two skeins of 'peacock' - and one of the EL locks spun in the "sunset" colourway.


Below is the bag of roving/top that I am currently spinning- plus a finished skein in the "Sapphire" colourway- dyed over a grey EL base. Really soft! It was a surprise for me- as the roving itself feels quite firm and somewhat coarse- but has spun up very nicely. I am SO pleased and recommend the tops! And last, but certainly not least- is 100% merino, the Mind in Motion colourway from Mandie- it is soft and squishy and was so fun to spin- it was my first attempt at doing the "Ply on the Fly" method (the top twist/skein is the very first). The more I did it- the thinner my 3 ply has become-a slightly more useable yarn... more yardage anyway! lol
Here is the roving from which it came:


OK! I am off......


Hope you are well. :)