SAFF

Only two more days till SAFF. OK, so it's REALLY only one more day, since it opens tomorrow, but I'm not going until Saturday. It runs through Sunday.

SAFF stands for Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair. I've been going since 2002 (or 2003 maybe?). Can't remember exactly. It's held at the Western NC Agric. Center (read here: fairgrounds), right across the road from the Asheville Airport. There are a bunch of vendors selling all sorts of fibery stuff - supplies for spinning, weaving, knitting, etc., raw fiber, commercially processed fiber, yarn, stuff made out of yarn and other forms of fiber, books about fiber and what to do with it, plus live fiber animals - sheep, llamas, goats, and rabbits. There are also three days' worth of classes and workshops offered. There's even a guy who makes chairs, rockers, and weaving benches with woven cord seats. Way cool! It can be overwhelming for a first-time visitor, but probably just as exhilarating as for a Disney-phile visiting the Magic Kingdom for the first time. LOL

This is actually a small show compared to some others. The first one I went to is the Maryland Sheep and Wool Show, held the first weekend in May just west of Baltimore. That one is maybe twice or 2 1/2 times the size of SAFF. And the Dutchess Co. Fiber Festival (I THINK that's the official name), held in Rhinebeck, NY, is about half again as big as SAFF. There are other big ones around that I've never been to (yet). There are shows all over the country, but I've only been to Kentucky Sheep and Fiber (their first year in 2010), Michigan Fiber Festival (just a little smaller than SAFF), and Garden State Sheep Breeders show (small at the time, but may be bigger now; it's been at least 10 years since I was there), besides the aforementioned Maryland, Rhinebeck, and SAFF. Charlotte, NC, will host a new show next year that I hope to attend. Fortunately, it's not on a race weekend, so traffic will be manageable.

I have a few sheep fleeces that I've been holding onto for about five years now that desperately need to be washed and carded. I MUST take them with me and drop them off at Ozark Carding's booth. I think I might use the resulting roving to braid into a rug or maybe chair pads for the kitchen chairs and front porch rockers. It'll have to be dyed because the wool is white and there is no way I'm putting a white rug on the floor in OUR house. I'll just have to decide at what point I'll do the dyeing; while it's still roving or after braiding. Braids would be much easier to handle, but as roving, I can do different colors and then blend them as I braid. Or maybe a little of each. And I have a little bit of light gray roving left from a previous fleece, so I should be able to work that in too.