On March 23rd I finally made it to my first Fiber West show. Last year I had planned to go and the date came and went and a week later I realized I'd missed out. So earlier this year I already put the date in my phone and agenda to make sure I didn't miss it. Turns out, it was spring break the week of the show and I also had a little 3 year old over as his parents just had a baby. So it was over to Walmart to pick up a cheap umbrella stroller, then I dropped the older boys (including my 14 year old nephew who was also visiting for the week) at my hubby's work (he took them snowboarding), and my girls, our visiting little man and I headed off to Cloverdale. Even the girls (8 and 10) were excited to take in the show. We walked up to the doors of the Agriplex only to see signs telling us they were closed due to a workshop in session. After a bit of hunting around, along with another visitor who also looked rather lost, we finally realized that the show was in a small, rather old looking building next to the big red barn. My first impression when walking those doors was not good. Everything about the building looked old and run down, and the floor was a somewhat uneven concrete that had definitely seen better days. And I thought, 'oh great, I hope we didn't travel all this way out for a big letdown'!
Well, let me tell you, I learned really quickly not to judge a book by it's cover, or in this case, a show by the venue. We stayed for nearly 2 hours and if not for the poor, bored out of his mind, little fella we had with us we would have stayed much longer.
When we finally started walking around and visiting the different booths we were just overwhelmed with an overload of colour and fiber. And it was wonderful to see how willing folks were to share there different skills, talents and knowledge with the visitors, and especially how they took the time to explain things to the girls.
One of the first booths we went to was Nell's Embroidery. This lady is extremely talented. With just a sewing machine and thread she make these amazing unique pieces of art.
Be sure to check out the gallery on her website, and if you're interested, she also sells her wares on etsy.
Nell told us that the pair of shoes below are strong enough to wear.
Another great booth was Birkland Bros Wool.
This blanket was knit from roving (unspun, carded wool that's ready for spinning) and 2 knitting needles made from PVC pipe and duct tape. I was happy to learn that they recently moved from Vancouver to Abbotsford. I went there yesterday to stock up on more fiber (but that's for a later blog post). This also is were I bought my first drop spindle. A nice little tool made by Ashford, a company from New Zealand
It's the perfect size for a beginner like myself.
I
Humming Bee Farm is based in Shawnigan Lake, BC.
The young lady who was manning the booth when we came by was great with answering Angela's questions. While touching the different fibers, she noticed how some felt very soft and almost silky, while others felt more rough. Why? As the young lady explained to us, the one kind was Angora goat wool, which has less barbs in the hair, making it much softer then the other which was sheep's wool.
I also asked her about needle felting and she told me she had needle felted both of the hanging you see here. Beautiful pieces, and it really gave me and the girls some great ideas.
At the far end of the barn were the ladies from the Ribbon Lace Club. These ladies were more then willing to give us a hands on demonstration of how their craft is done. The girls both tried their hand at ribbon lace making, announcing afterwards that they would really like to learn more.
Another member of the club explained to us the history behind many of the different pieces of antique ribbon lace that were on display. Several of the pieces in the collection date from as far back as 1600 and 1700. She also explained to us how Kate's wedding dress had handmade ribbon lace on it, requiring many, many hours of work.
Through-out the rest of the building were a variety of different farms, selling their colourful yarns and fibers. I had set myself a budget, which was easy to keep since hardly anyone had a debit machine, but it was a little disappointing as well, as I ended up wanted to buy way more roving then I did. And let me tell you, that was the hardest part...finding the perfect colour for my first go at spinning. After much thought, I ended up getting a warm, cherry red. The booth I bough my roving from also had small sample bags, which she said we were welcome to take, so the girls each took their time deciding which colour they liked the best.
By this time little man was getting rather impatient, but we wanted to make one last visit to the local Spinning and Weaving Guild booth. There they explained to us that they were taking part in a competition called, 'From Sheep to Shawl'. A team of 5 ladies, 4 spinning and one weaving were to take raw, washed wool, card it, spin it and weave it (the loom was already strung up) all in 4 hours. Seeing the girls interest one of the ladies motioned the them closer and explained the whole spinning process to them. They loved it!
So all in all, it ended up being a great show and a wonderful learning experience for the girls. And we certainly hope to go back next year.
Last week I also went out and bought felting needles. I've been experimenting with 3D needle felting, while Angela has been trying her hand at flat needle felting. But that's for another post.
Also coming up soon, my new crochet felted purse, some more about spinning, and on a whole different subject, the official grand opening of the Island 22 Bike Park which is scheduled for April 20, 2013.
