southern adirondack fiber festival

i’m sure that when some blogs are quiet, it means that there’s not a whole lot going on in the blogger’s life. for me though, the busier i get, the less activity you see here. i’m always trying to fix that, but it remains true… suffice to say, i’ve been a super-busy beaver since oh, around June SAW, and the whole summer was quite a blur! so much traveling, i never really unpacked my suitcase the whole time. anyhoo, point is i’ve got a backlog of stuff to tell you about. frustrating, because i want to tell you in chronological order, but that would mean you won’t hear about exciting things like Rhinebeck for weeks… i learned from darling Maya last weekend that she calls this being “backblogged”. so, expect an assortment of updates over the next week or so while i attempt to play catch-up!

diving right in to the pile of skipped-over events, back in september i had my own booth at the 3rd annual Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival, up at the Washington County fairgrounds near Albany. it’s such a lovely little fiber fest (getting bigger every year), and my first of the season. many now say they prefer to attend this one over Rhinebeck, as there are lots of the same vendors, but it’s more manageable and less of a frenzy. i like to think of it as a warm-up.

it’s always fun to have my very own *hodge podge* booth, and for this fair i even bring some hand-dyed and handspun yarn. i love using the wooden toolbox i made at Squam last year as part of my display! i’m still trying to figure out whether fiber festivals are a good fit for me as a vendor, because most of the customers are craftspeople themselves, so they are not really buying made items, but rather yarn and fiber. still, i adore these fairground gatherings, and this one has a very sweet local vibe. and it’s so fun seeing friends old and new; i saw my old pal chris of from scratch club.

i got a little spinning done, which always makes me happy. i certainly don’t get to spin nearly often enough…

i met a lot of really lovely people, many of whom are now friends on Ravelry too… i really loved this golden sweater on the right, because it’s a very simple knit cardigan with a crochet scallop edging. it’s a perfect specimen of why every knitter should know at least a little crochet!

i fell in love with these baby angora bunnies… one of these years i’m gonna come home with one. when the traveling slows down a bit…

since my booth was right near the entrance, i saw everyone as they arrived and then on their way out. a few people left carrying bunnies or lambs… making me very jealous indeed.

one of the highlights of this fair was meeting my neighboring vendors, woodworkers Stephen and Linda Willette. they are the sweetest, and make beautiful hand-turned knitting needles, yarn bowls, buttons, and best of all, crochet hooks. these two hooks you see above are the ONLY treats i brought home from the festival, and they are now my absolute favorites to work with. as a handmaker, using handmade tools just feels so much better than using factory-made ones. i now aspire to collect a full range of these lovelies and use nothing else. little did i know i’d be seeing linda and steve again so soon…

Filed under craft fairs, events, upstate

i am a maker, designer and teacher, living in the catskills/hudson valley region of new york. i sew, crochet, make patterns, spin, embroider, dye, knit and more...

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