2013 Vancouver Island Fleece and Fibre Festival

This was the fourth year for this highly successful festival held in Coombs on Vancouver Island.  The theme for fibre nuts is to take the 100 mile challenge and to use only local fibres in their craft.   Craftspeople from all over Vancouver and the Gulf Islands and the lower mainland of B.C. attend to shop for yarns, fleece and other related products. 

This year, Mary traveled up to Coombs with me which meant an early morning start to catch the 7 a.m. ferry across to Vancouver Island and then a one hour drive north through Nanaimo and Parksville to the little community of Coombs, best known for the emporium with goats grazing on the roof.  We were set up and ready to go by 9 a.m.  Sales were steady and I parted with about one third of the hand dyed yarns I had prepared as well as many of the natural coloured wool cones.  In fact I sold out of the grey cones which are great for weaving.  Mary keeps reminding me not to fret - the sheep are growing more every day!

Mary behind the counter with her drop spindle

I had taken along Emily's vest with the humming bird pattern and was also knitting an adult vest with a sheep motif (just visible in front of Mary on the table).  If I had taken kits of these items with the patterns they would have sold well as there was lots of interest.  I have promised potential customers that I will be posting the patterns in the next two weeks so watch this spot and my web site.  The 3 ply yarn in grey and white that I had milled at Carstairs Custom Woolen Mill in Alberta is a good weight for these vests and the colour definition is great for this type of knitting pattern.

I was also pleased with the interest in the hand dyed yarns.  I had dyed both white and grey skeins in the same dye baths for complementary colour shades primarily for weaving.  The muted shades dyed over the grey wool were the ones that sold well.

 

 

The turquoise colour on the left was in the same dye bath as the more muted shade on the right.

 

 

 The bright colours drew the eye but the muted shades were the ones that sold.

It was a great festival, both for vendors and for shoppers who learned from one another and came away with many new project ideas and uses for their fibre.  I certainly learned a lot about what people want to buy and about presentation.  It was also very gratifying to have customers return to purchase yarns that worked well for them over the past year.  Mary and I made some new friends; found some familiar faces and got caught up on the latest fibre news and came home tired but very satisfied with the day.  For me, it was also great to have the company and the help.

The next task is shearing the flock then skirting and sorting fleece; deciding where to get this years fleece processed; packing it; and sending it off to the mill.  Mary is right!  I should not be worried about having parted with any of it - it just keeps coming.............

Weaving, Spinning, Knitting and Gardening

We have been blessed with glorious weather and I can hear the weeds growing as I work in my studio.  I have a spring sale coming up at the end of May so have spent as much time as possible out on my deck, dying yarns.  I have created complimentary shades of white and grey wool dyed in the same dye pots.  The results will make wonderful shades for weaving so if they do not sell at the 100 mile Fleece and Fibre Festival in Coombs on May 26, I will be making blankets all summer.

I visited the Qualicum Bay Fibre Mill in early April and finished carding the white wool from last year.  The Romney/Cheviot mix is proving to be a wonderful fibre, lofty and strong and with little tendencies toward shrinkage or felting. It was so lofty I was catching it in the air as it flew out of the carder. 

I have also been knitting.  Influenced by the Cowichan knitters I have knit two jackets, one for each of my granddaughters.  The first which I knit for Naomi's 8th. birthday has a traditional whale motif borrowed from a Coast Salish pattern.  It turned out well but I do feel uncomfortable knitting traditional patterns as a none-native knitter, even though those patterns are now in the public domain. 

So I designed my own patterns of a hummingbird and of butterflies for Emily. 

As an expert knitter will see, I had some trouble with the butterflies and would add the extra stitches to the upper wings rather than the lower wings (see the top section).  The hummingbird worked out rather well.  I am currently drafting out the patterns for sale on my web-site and will make it available along with the yarns required.  This yarn knits up well and provides good definition for the motifs.  Unlike the single ply yarns used by Cowichan knitters, this is a three ply yarn spun in Carstairs, Alberta at the custom spinning mill and is not as heavy although the result is a great outer garment which could be lined with fleece for additional warmth.  

I used small bird motifs for the front of the jacket although I have designed a smaller hummingbird motif as a substitute.  I also prefer the collar design on this second jacket.

I used this same yarn in my weaving and produced a lovely weight of fabric suitable for blankets, cushion covers and upholstery fabric.  The picture below shows plain tabby weave on the loom but I was also able to produce some lovely chevron designs in various colours - something to discuss another day.

Plain weave on the loom.

For now I am off into the garden.  I had my windows cleaned today so now I can see those weeds and there are no excuses left not to get out there and do battle.