Want your own? Mosaic Maker.
The Covered Bridge Festival was great fun. I got to visit with a bunch of interesting people, despite being stuck at the paper's booth during most of both days.
I met a local alpaca farmer on Sunday. She and her husband have 11 alpacas; they brought six of them to the festival. Saturday they were showing two males. Sunday they had two mothers and their babies. One alpaca (third one down on the left, above) was four years old with a five-week-old baby (so darling!). The other mother (second picture on the bottom row) is three years old and has a 13-week-old baby. I couldn't stop snapping photos with the paper's camera (Canon EOS Rebel ... yummy).
I wandered away from the alpacas for a while, as the owner, who had wanted to talk to me as we had talked sometime early this summer. Next to the alpacas, there was a tent with two spinners and a tatter (as in, someone who was at that moment tatting, as opposed to a small, torn piece of cloth). We chatted for quite some time, the tatter showing me just how simple tatting is, and one of the spinners showing me how to purl continental-style. Boy, is it entirely helpful to watch someone do it instead of the usual internet tutorial. I wish I could have stuck around longer, they were so nice.
A few meters away, I met Dann the Ropesmith, who has a son attending Luther. Talk about small world! I took a few photos of him, as well (top center). I also bought some wild cherry jam, which I'm excited to try.
I went back to the alpacas and finally got a chance to talk with the owner. When we spoke this summer, I'd mentioned that I was going to learn how to spin (having recieved the fabulous spindle from Fyberduck). After all this time, she remembered me, and offered to give me alpaca fibers. Give, as in not paying. I was surprised, to say the least. But the fiber, you see, was uncarded. As I have no carding equipment (and even less space to store a huge bag of fiber where it would be safe from both the elements and the animals), I had to decline her oh-so-enticing offer.
But then. Then she pulled out a plastic grocery bag and started plucking skeins of yarn from her basket, which were labeled $10 each. She gave me four luscious skeins, each about 200 yards, and each different shade. I was doing the happy fiber dance in my head, let me tell you. I started to protest (as it was polite), but she just said, "Do your thing." She doesn't knit or crochet, it turns out, and just loves the animals.
I swatched some of the bulky-weight brown and let me tell you, that's going to be one yummy scarf.
The saddest part about working during the Festival was the fact that one of my college friends (an original member of the Cribbage Crew!) had her wedding in Minnesota on Sunday. I really wish I could have been there, even giving up free fiber, but it didn't work out. Congratulations, D and J! I hope your day was beyond wonderful. Lots of love to you both.
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