Bunty Visits the Great Lakes Fiber Show

Saturday was a really fun day here! Bunty loves wool. She likes all natural fiber, but wool is her real passion. In fact, she's so keen on it that she's decided to support Prince Charles' "Campaign for Wool" movement by hosting a doll-sized wool show. The new Islandshire Community Center is now built and ready (aka Blaire's Restaurant), so with the venue reserved, it's time to start planning the show! Attending a fiber show seemed like the best way to get ideas, and this is always a fun show to visit.

We arrived shortly before lunch time, and it was quite hot. Thankfully, Bunty is not affected by the weather and was perfectly comfortable in her hand-knitted sweater. The first building had tables of fleeces displayed (having been judged earlier) and for sale. There were some really nice bags of wool there --- Bunty's favorite was a dark Border Leicester fleece.

The next sale booth we checked out was "Promised Land & Livestock Co." from Ohio. They had all kinds of raw fleeces from Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) and Lincoln sheep. There were a lot of nice things there, so Bunty had a good look . . .

. . . and we decided to bring home a partially felted skirting to wash up and use for some wool stuffing and other projects!

Walking along, we came to another great booth --- the "Bauer Family Farm" in Dauphin, PA. There were a lot of beautiful colored rovings made for spinning, but the really cool stuff were the exotic fibers in some special bins. We just had to buy some things there! Bunty picked out the Fox/Wool blend and a bag of "New Zealand" wool for her friend, Camilla. I picked out some of the Mink Top and a few other things!

At "The Ewenique Boutique" from Belle Vernon, PA, Bunty had a LOT of fun choosing a little lamb charm from bins of fun jewelry makings. As soon as we sit down one of these afternoons, she'll have a really fun necklace.

At one shop along the way, there was a really cute little ram --- just Bunty's size. She certainly loved him, but her own little lamb will be here very soon, so she is getting her small pasture ready for him!

Next along the line was "Briar Rose" --- a shop with some of the most beautiful yarns (dyed in natural and earthy colours) you'll ever see or feel. Bunty had a lot of fun looking around there!

At "Ewnique Fibers" from Alliance, OH, we found some really neat fleece from a Valais Blacknose/Scottish Blackface cross. This will be perfect for . . . something. Right?!

Bunty was able to see a bit of the judging of the hand-dyed and spun yarns. This gave her some great ideas for the upcoming Islandshire Wool Show, where she hopes to have a good turn out in the fleece judging contest!

After a few hours, before heading back to the car, we stopped to take a look at all the purchases. Bunty had brought her special Lamb bag with her and got to admire the new locks and roving for her collection. It was sure nice to sit down and take a short break!

On the trip home, Bunty had some more fun, because Grammy let her drive the car. This is a skill that Eliot has been quite proud of (ever since his trip to the APS Stamp Show last Summer), so Bunty is glad to be able to have done the same thing as her brother.

She drove the car . . .

. . . set the Cruise Control . . .

. . . turned on some music . . .

. . . and checked her hair in the mirror!

All in all, it was a great day, and Bunty looks forward to sharing more news about the Islandshire Wool Show. So, check back later this Summer for more news about that, and be sure to read up on the "Campaign for Wool".