Last weekend we headed to the Sheep & Wool Festival. The boys were so excited to see the animals! We first wandered the animal buildings, checking out the amazing diverse breeds of sheep. So much variety. When we sat down for the sheep shearing demonstration we got lucky and sat next to a little boy (above) whose family owned most of the sheep being shorn. He chatted with my boys for a long time, telling them about his farm, his animals, lambing, and of course shearing. The shearer doing the demonstration shears pretty much all of the sheep for that farm. The man was a whiz - lightning fast - and the boys watched in awe as he gently and expertly removed their wool one after the other.
The boy then took A & G over to the other side of the building to show them the lambs. He climbed the fence and expertly grabbed one lamb at a time - holding it up for everyone to see (he had drawn quite a crowd by then), telling the boys all about them.
After a stop for a snow-cone (hot day!) we wandered the vendor buildings together - with a looooong stop by the angora rabbits. The boys pet them, asked questions and looked them over. From there we split up so I could wander and shop while the guys had lunch. While I am allergic to the lanolin in sheep wool, I am just fine with alpaca and angora, and I found so many yummy yarns that I couldn't even choose. I ended up with a little of this, a little of that.
I think there is a theme with this fall and winter, though. I managed to pick all warm browns. Raw alpaca, alpaca roving, alpaca yarn, and a few ounces of angora fur to see how I do spinning it into yarn. And of course a lighter spindle for the more delicate fur.
At the end I accidentally found out that A & G had bought me a *very* special birthday gift while I was off shopping. An angora rabbit (yep, the rabbit!)!
She is a gorgeous and fluffy girl and will come home with us in a few weeks when we have her home setup. We plan to use her lovely fur to spin yarn, and of course the boys are super excited to take care of her. What a great birthday gift! And a fun day. :)
22 comments:
I just had a cute overload seeing that rabbit!! A great Birthday gift indeed (Happy Birthday, by the way!)! :-)
Peace,
Idzie
How fun to get to spin fur! :)
She is so darling.
Happy Happy Happy Birthday to you!
I love, love, love, natural brown yarn - it has such depth compared to anything dyed. The first photo with the lamb is so great!
so glad you can play with this wool, because it is divine! I can't wait to see wha tyou come up with!!!
so glad you can play with this wool, because it is divine! I can't wait to see wha tyou come up with!!!
Not only a very cute post, but very imformative. Will the bunny be hairless? I can't wait to read more about this. Thanks for sharing. xoxo
Eek! We missed the wool festival! We were hoping to get there this year since we are new to the wool scene. We have 4 rolls of carded and cleaned wool to figure what to do with... Thanks for the wrap-up and have fun with the new wool projects and rabbit. :-)
Jennifer
and Happy Birthday!
Gorgeous wool. My mother would be in heaven. It is just too bad that it makes me itch. Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
What a cute rabbit! I was going to say that it sucks being allergic to lanolin, but it really doesn't - you HAVE to go for the really good stuff like angora! lol
Looks like it was a fun event to attend!
Happy Birthday to you!!!!
So...what are you going to knit with all that pretty wool?
happy birthday! that is a fantastic prezzie. so what are you going to name her?
That is so sweet that they bought you a rabbit. We just had our first Sheep and Wool festival this weekend making me truly feel like it is fall. Happy BIrthday.
Good on them. Now they know what they look like when they start counting them before going to sleep :-D.
Great shots.
Greetings from London.
I've been looking for an alpaca wool hat. Did they have those or were they just selling yarn? I've seen a few on Etsy but I'd like to buy local!
happy birthday denise! that rabbit is wild! besos-jane
oh how lovely. warm browns mmm. alpaca-so soft. i do not knit, but i always love to go run my hand over the natural yarns. my daughter is following suit. we cannot keep our hands to ourselves. cannot wait to see what you make with your goodies.
We love Dave The Sheep Shearer!! My husband and I try and go to the Sheep and Wool Festival most every year and the sheep shearing has to be our favorite thing. We missed this year, though, so it was nice to see him here on your blog.
Happy Birthday!! What an awesome (and stinkin cute) gift!
I just love the first picture...he looks so utterly happy! ;)
And the yummie stash of wool....I´m looking forward to see what you make of it.
♥ Jeannette
I have to ask: is that a man or a sheep? :)
Karen pinned it - he does look like a sheep! (In a good way)
Denise, I don't have to blog, because you blog about the places I go! We must have been a near miss at sheep and wool - my son was rapt by sheep shearing, too. Maybe we will catch you at this year's May Faire at PHWS - let me know if you come to any of our other events, I'd love to connect! Yuletide Faire is in November, I'll bet your boys would like pulling the sword from the stone...
Yay for birthday bunnies! Happy Birthday!
Hi Denise!
It looks like fun. Gorgeous yarn! Gorgeous bunny!
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