My First Fiber Festival!

I felt like the new kid as I was setting up at the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival. I've done other shows (Second Storie} Indie Market, Boston Bazaar Bizarre, etc.), but never a fiber festival. Something about being in a show with all of my fiber peers, many of whom have been in fiber crafts for decades, seemed particularly daunting. I imagined people harshly judging my spinning technique, color choices, and lack of my own fiber animals. Admittedly, my fears were completely unfounded as I have never come across an unhelpful or unsupportive fiber person. Ever. That trend continued at this festival. It was spectacular to talk to so many people who were so enthusiastic about fiber.

The animals are always my favorite part of fiber festivals. I was surprised to find cashmere goats. They were so soft. And gigantic. It turns out that there is a convent in Greenwich, NY where they keep a herd and knit fantastic cashmere items. Disappointingly, they do not sell the fiber to spinners (but at only 4 ounces of fiber from each animal per year, completely understandable).

AREA Cria-tions brought a few of their alpacas, who would make fantastic friends for the bunnies (maybe they could share 80's hair tips). Lenni could keep everyone in line. And of course there were bunnies. Fluffy baby angora bunnies who I had to avoid all weekend for fear of wanting to bring them all home with me.

I was happy with my pom pom tree. I went out into the woods to find the perfect fallen branch for this. It seemed to catch the attention of many, and a few people stopped to take photos of it. I also ordered a brand new set of shelves for showcasing spinning fiber...wool, milk, and bamboo roving as well as carded batts. The festival turned out to be spectacular: well organized and well attended. They even had hot chocolate (and hot showers) for those of us who were insane enough to camp in the freezing cold. I was so impressed that I've already signed up to be a vendor next year, and I can't wait.

The Fuzzy Bunny will be at the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival next weekend, and I can't wait! There will be over 100 vendors, which means I'll be forced to take frequent breaks and walk around to buy delicious fiber. Tragic.

I'm looking forward to it; playing with fiber all weekend, being joined by my most excellent manwife, doing tourist-y things in Saratoga Springs, camping in sub-zero temperatures...it promises to be a good adventure. My apartment is overflowing with fiber, just waiting to be packed and taken to the show. Hand carded batts will be making their debut, along with handpainted bamboo roving and lots of handpainted milk fiber. So, come see us!

Boundaries, or the lack thereof

Today I found a yellow slip in my post office box, which always means I have presents waiting for me behind the secret doors! Usually the lovely post office men put a key in my box and I go to a cubby, unlock it, and find whatever package has been mailed to me, but today I had to go to the counter. I handed over my slip, gave them my box number, and then heard all sorts of commotion. Things like, "so YOU'RE the fuzzy bunny!" and "we've been waiting all week for you!" and "we have a HUGE box for you!". So the man disappeared behind the counter and returned with a giant box...of wool! Yes, 11 pounds of wool. I brought home my giant box and it exploded open. The wool expanded to cover a good 1/3 of my deck. I fought the urge to jump in it and roll around, however when the other 15 pounds arrive, I may combine them and do just that.

So, this brings me to the question of: how much fiber is enough? Even without enough storage space for what I have, I still wouldn't turn down fiber. It's fiber! Any artist will understand the constant lusting after supplies. And so, I shall continue to drool over fiber and wish for it, even though it may seem excessive to those who don't understand fiber obsessions (afterall, I'll put it all to good use...eventually). Perhaps when I have pathways through my house instead of open walkways I'll consider working my fiber stash down.

The latest thing I've been lusting after are these Artists' Paint Boxes on Spindies. The boxes contain 5 ounces of fiber, a combination of different green fibers (each month the color changes) from an assortment of fiber artists. $25, including shipping. They'd make a great gift to someone (like me!), or for yourself. I personally love experimenting with different fibers and having smaller amounts of random bits that I might not think to dye myself-it often results in unexpected, but beautiful, yarn. Here is a photo of September's green fibers:

I'm hoping I'll find this under my Christmas tree.

Best Tote Ever

I have this addiction to canvas totes. I love them. I can't get enough of them. I justify this addiction by sprinkling them about my house and car so that whenever I go to the co-op or any other store, they're at hand and I don't have to use any paper or plastic bags. Yes, perfectly justifiable; an addiction that helps the environment! This has always proven to be my tote of choice, by Black Sheep Heap:
I love the graphic and the message, it speaks to my love of root vegetables, and it's big. It's about the same size as a paper grocery bag, with handles long enough that I can put it over my shoulder. Perfect! And sturdy. And made in the US. AND made from recycled fibers. Really, I love all of Black Sheep Heap designs (and their focus on sustainability), but this is the one I root around for every time I go shopping.

Stash Busting

I decided to take part in the Tour de Fleece this year, on Ravelry. It's a great event that runs along with the Tour de France; for every day the cyclists ride, we spin. Just what I needed...more motivation to play with fluff! So, I joined Team Stash Busters (and the Rookies-it's my first time, afterall) in the hopes that I would work down my fiber stash a bit. After moving recently (with another move planned in just a few days), it became obvious how unwieldy my stash was. Bins and bags of fiber: some raw fleece/locks, some roving, some dyed, some natural, and in a huge assortment of animal and plant fibers, with a little synthetic throw in. The stash is currently taking up it's own room...eek!

Anyhow, I found a bit of fiber (less than two ounces) comprised of organic cotton and merino. And then I received some thread and glass beads in a random swap. And so, the fiber was spun, the random bits plied, and the whole thing went into my dyepot. I came out on the other end with this:90 yards of pure softness! I love it. I love how the colors turned out, with the slight heathered effect that a cotton/wool blend produces when dyed in acid dyes, the green beads offsetting the blue, the bumpiness from plying with thread...an experiment that turned out beautifully.

In other news, The Fuzzy Bunny World Headquarters will soon be located in the wilds of Vermont. No more of this urban Vermont ridiculousness where there are neighbors within twenty feet of my door, I'm moving to where I can't see any neighbors at all! No high speed internet, no cell reception...it's even on a dirt road. True Vermont.

Success!

The Stowe Street Arts Festival in Waterbury turned out spectacularly! On a day where constant rain and thunder storms were predicted, we didn't see any rain any all. We (the manwife and I) met tons of great people-fantastic customers and fellow vendors (MF Wolik Photography, Sheep Shear Cuttings, and the Singing Spindle Spinnery were some of our favorites) who were displaying all sorts of great things.
This was the very first time The Fuzzy Bunny participated in an outdoor arts festival, which meant a shiny new canopy was necessary. We were prepared with our sidewalls up, to protect the merch from wayward raindrops. You can also see that someone (me) failed to do the proper ironing of tablecloths...
Sugar scrubs made their debut at this show. Two varieties, one with soap in it, and one a straight up oil and sugar scrub, were available in a bunch of awesome scents (citrus, lettuce, white tea and ginger, rosemary mint, yuzu).

Also debuting at this show: the amazing yarn stand! The manwife and his dad designed and built this, and I think it is a great way to display the yarn. Multiple levels, easy to dig through bins to find what you want, and it folds down to fit in my car. They're so smart and handy. I like how the rainbow of yarn looks here-and look, I've added hand-dyed spinning fiber to the mix! Milk fiber proved to be the most popular fiber of the day.

Spindies!

Spindies is a new online store that caters to spinners and yarnaholics. It's filled with a huge assortment of spinning fibers, from milk to merino to silk, in both natural and dyed, and lots of handspun yarn. Fun art yarn spinning kits and roving of the month clubs are also available. All brought to you by the best indie dyers and spinners around. Come see all the colorful fluffiness!