Fiber Peeps are the best people!!

Last weekend was the New England Fiber Festival in West Springfield, MA, and I had the best time!  Before I go into how much fun it was, I need to thank my pal, Dawn at Coon Hollow Farm.  She has had her booth for a while, and invited me to share it with her for the past three years.  We make a pretty good team all the way around!

So, on to the festival details!  My booth has finally been tweaked so much that I am super happy with it!  Every fair/festival I do, I come home and pour over pictures of my booth, finding things I need to change as well as things that just don't work.  This year, I'm really happy.

We were so busy, I didn't get a chance to take pictures of everything else.  Please visit Dawn's blog, Coon Hollow Farm to see her wanderings. 

As with every other year I've been a vendor at this show, I met the nicest people.  Rug hookers, knitters, crocheters, spinners, quilters, wool appliquers, you name it, the fiber people were there.  Just being in that happy place for the whole weekend has really fueled the muse for me.  I was chatting with a couple I had met last year (I am horrible with names, so apologies), and the told me about an arts initiative in Southington, CT,  SoCCA.   It seems to be somewhere I might be able to have rug hooking classes, kind of a central place.  There was many requests for "refresher" rug hooking classes for people that have all the "stuff", but put it down years ago and now want to pick it up again.  I will be working on a schedule for classes over the holidays and hopefully will have lots of stuff to report after the new year!

I'm going to add a few pictures of some my most recent rugs and will have some new listings in my Etsy shop this weekend! Thanks for reading!

Fibery gooodness this weekend!

The 2017 Connecticut Sheep, Wool, and Fiber Festival is here!  Aaron and I drove up to Vernon this afternoon/evening and set up the booth, and it looks pretty good!  I have to admit to feeling like the small fish in a big pond, but you've got to start somewhere, right?!

So it's up early tomorrow morning to get on the road and to the festival no later than 8:00am for some last minute booth tweaking and a wee bit of relaxing before the crowds.  I'll have pics galore to share once I get back.

Wish me luck!!  And if anybody's interested in going, I'll put the info below.  I'm in the Green Building and my pal Dawn of Coon Hollow Farm is in the White Barn. 

Connecticut Sheep, Wool, and Fiber Festival

108th ANNUAL SHEEP, WOOL & FIBER FESTIVAL

 

2017 Connecticut Sheep, Wool & Fiber Festival

Saturday, April 29, 2017 - 9 AM to 4 PM - Rain or Shine

 Route 30, Vernon/Rockville, CT

GPS  - 24 Hyde Avenue, Vernon, CT

Hooking Bunnies and Ravens

I tend to draw larger designs.  Really, I try to do smaller rugs, mats, mug rugs, etc, but it just doesn't seem to work out...lol.  The runner I'm currently working on is pretty long, and while I don't have the measurements with me, the background in this picture took me almost two hours!  Luckily, Easter is quite a ways away!

Here's a few more pictures of the same runner so you can get an idea of what it's going to look like.  I think I'm going to offer this as a pattern in my Etsy store.  My first one!

 

Above is the other side, and below is a picture of my hooking the border.  I'll have to take a couple of better pictures tonight after I get home.

 

I also finished binding my Raven and Sunflower mat.  This one isn't so big, but I did try a new way to bind a rug called a show binding. You have to be more careful while sewing the strip of wool to the edge so that the stitches won't show, but it's much easier on your fingers than whip stitching with yarn.

 This is the front of the rug.  I do like hooking the background in straight lines for some rugs, but still like the look of motion when hooking around the objects on the rug.

Now showing a part of the binding.  

This weekend, I will do another dye run.  Haven't picked the color yet, but it's going to be great fun!  I'll definitely post pictures!!

2017 Vendor Schedule!

So this year, I have decided to up my game on the vendor shows I am participating in.  It's quite exciting as well as a little intimidating because the dyeing, hooking, creating is going into overdrive on my end!  Here's my list so far, with one I am waiting for the jurying process to be completed.

http://www.ctsheep.org/sheep_and_wool_festival

The 2017 CT Sheep and Wool Festival - one day of some great vendors, sheepdog trials, and hanging with other fiber people!

 Made in Connecticut Expo 2017 - May 13 and 14 at the Farmington Polo Grounds, 152 Town Farm Rd, Farmington, CT.  I don't have a webpage for this one, but the pictures and reviews from last year looked great!

Second Annual ATHA Quiet Corner Hook-In - I was a vendor here last year, and let me tell you, you can't ask for a more welcoming and happy group of hookers!  Set up was a breeze with helpers everywhere, and man can these ladies cook!  



I will keep the last show a secret until I hear back from the jury process.  It's a biggie, and right now I'm behaving as if I've been accepted, ie. dyeing wool like a fool and creating kits and patterns like a crazy woman!