Well, it was a few weeks ago, but I’m still enthused about the Carolina Fiber Fest at the state fairgrounds in Raleigh. I’m already looking forward to next year. I took the kids over on Friday, and we had a great time. I armed each of them with a camera, and they took some really neat photos.

I just finished going through J’s photos, and realized that he’s quite taken with spinning wheels. It’s too bad he wasn’t there on Sunday when I went back to demo with the Twisted Threads guild – I saw even more wheels then. I took my camera, too, but I was too shy to take it out of the bag. The boys had no fear; in fact, I had to tell them to stop taking pictures a few times! The minstrel wheel showed up over and over in J’s photos. I don’t know whether he was taken with it, or whether it was simply the most popular wheel there. This wheel, however, is one of my favorites of the day. We came upon it out in the heritage village part of the fairgrounds. The blacksmith wasn’t in yet, but we found a really neat woodworker, and this was in his shop.

We attended a cotton demo on Friday given by one of the owners of Dew Dance Farm in Sanford, NC. After seeing how cotton was processed, we wandered off, and then came back when the crowd had died down. Both boys got to card cotton and make a puni. In typical fashion, they were terribly enthusiastic about it all. I think they’re ready to grow cotton. What interested me is that she grows white, brown, and green cotton! She said that as you wash colored cotton, the color deepens instead of fading.

There were many wonderful vendors, and I had to keep reminding myself that I was only after one thing: a sweaters-worth of BFL combed top. I found what I was looking for at the Misty Mountain Farm booth. I bought a pound and a quarter on Friday, then got nervous and bought another half pound on Sunday. I’ve never spun a whole sweater’s worth of yarn before. I figure it’s better to have extra than to run out! Isn’t it pretty? It’s so, so soft.