Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Last weekend was Black Sheep Gathering, so ToolMan and I took advantage of the nice weather and drove down to Eugene.  

These adorable guys were greeting visitors.  Right after this picture was when we discovered that BOTH cameras were giving us trouble.  First, low battery warnings, despite being fully charged.  Take battery out and reinstall, and all OK.  Then, it said the memory chips were full, even though I knew they were empty; remove chip and reinstall and they worked again.  Until we wanted to take another picture, when they said the light was too low, despite being outside in the bright sunshine.  Yada, yada, yada, until we finally gave up.  So not as many pictures as I would have liked.

This is Gail, back home again after running away a few weeks ago.  She had quite an adventure!  Camping in Yellowstone, then to Mt. Rushmore, then San Juan Islands, all by herself and sleeping in her car.  Gail makes friends where ever she goes, so I'm sure she was never really alone!

This is Susan, she owns Abstract Fiber.  Lots of people were shopping in her booth, including yours truly.  So, those are the only pictures we got from the whole day.  Of course, once we were home, the camera performed perfectly.  Pffft!  So, here's what I brought home:

This HUGE skein is kid mohair that I bought at Woodland Woolworks 3 or 4 years ago.  It was natural off-white but once my friend Barbara saw it last year after OFFF, she couldn't leave it like that.  She took it back to HELL with her to dye; I got it back from her on Saturday, dyed these beautiful colors!  Now, what to make with all that yarn?  It's 17 ounces, about 1700 yards.  Suggestions please!

These were two more presents from Barbara; a lovely silk scarf she dyed (it matched the purple shirt I was wearing perfectly!) and a handwoven kitchen towel.  The towel is too nice to use, so it's lining my breadbasket.  I wonder how I get her to make a dozen or so of those for me?

Here are two of my purchases - a bag of white angora (I love to spin that stuff!) and some silk hankies from Abstract Fiber.  I think I'll draft out the hankies and knit them without spinning.  More suggestions?

I bought this from a vendor that was new to me: Capistrano Fibers.  She calls them Pastiche" bags; they're full of a little bit of everything:  wool, silk, angelina, mohair, ribbons, sequins, thread, etc.  It really doesn't look like much in the bag, but

but look when you take it out!  Lots of different fibers, textures, and colors.  This one is mostly natural browns with little hits of color and glitz.  It should be fun to spin!

And here's the real prize!  Betcha can guess what's inside!

Yep, wool!  Howdya know?  But not just any old wool, nosiree bob!

This is half a washed Columbia Fleece from Imperial Stock Ranch.  Yes, that big bag is only half a fleece; he must have been a big boy as my half is about 5 pounds!

Deb at Pico Accuardi Dye Works washed it for me.  It still has some lanolin left in; I may wash it before spinning, or I may spin as it is and wash the lanolin out in the finishing.  Look how pretty those locks are!  Deb did a great job and I can hardly wait to get started on a sheep to sweater project.

I've also bought several books and a couple sweaters from the thrift shop over the last couple of weeks.  Good thing Barbara won't be back until the end of July.  It might take that long to get the extra bedroom cleaned up again!