taos wool festival

I went off adventuring to the Taos Wool Festival this last weekend.  It was not what I had hoped.  I find that I look for different things anymore.  SAFF fits those needs more.  More fleeces.  More fiber.  I really do not buy actual yarn anymore unless I have a specific project or pattern.  But I got to feel a lot of churro fiber and I know that is a sheep I do not wish to raise.

I did find a yarn stores and a fabric stores that spoke to me.  All that fiber is dyed by an artisan Tibetan monk in Taos.  It is yak and silk and the colors are so nice.  Dying is on my list to learn but finding a dyer like this means it is not quite so urgent.

There are stories now being told around Taos about my Beloved.  He put all the bundles of fiber I was looking at on his arms so I could see their color.  No one could really believe it.  The dyer told the story to her friends and told us about the telling when we saw her again the next day.

I had taken my Turkish spindle with me and started spinning as soon as I had a chance to sit.  Just lovely.

I also found some ultra soft hand dyed cottons and hand dyed silk ribbons.  Not something I can easily find here.

The yarn I found has stories too.  The yarn on the right is dyed with walnut and onion skin.  It will become a hat or hats for the boyos.

The red yarn goes with sweater pattern that is a knitted pattern that I hope to convert to crochet.  The yarn store owner used to be a production weaver and does a lot of her own designs and writes patterns.  Her like my dresses felt like a huge compliment!  But, she asked if I do convert her pattern to crochet that a come a teach a class in her store in Santa Fe.  Everyone I showed my crochet too this weekend thought it was knit.  That is where my crocheting is going.  I hope I can do justice to her pattern and feel like I could teach a class.

We actually got home very late last night or very early this morning, however you wish to think about it.  I had started coughing a bit from allergies on the way home and my chest felt tight.  I had already scheduled the day off so decided to take it to rest and spend time with my spinning wheel.  It is strange not to have the Pirate King Malarkey helping.  I forgot like it was like not to have the Small Mister's "help" with my spinning wheel.  He is much less help with the spinning wheel then the sewing machine.  It has more potential with pretendings.

But today I got back at it.  It is adjusted and I am spinning.  I am listening to an audio book and drinking tea, resting.  My chest is feeling better and that was the goal.  Let alone the pretty yarn I have created.