Today was a perfect fall day and we drove the hour or so up to Frederick to go to the FiberFest. It’s totally free, there’s a raffle, plenty of parking, food trucks and real bathrooms. What more could you want?

We went in the spring and I think we had better luck today!

One of the reasons I thought it would be fun to spin is because there isn’t a ton of things for weavers at these festivals but they are fun. There is always a lot of fiber for spinners though! We live in a area with a lot of farms and producers.

I’ve been busy with my black walnut project and haven’t spun much but I’d like to have some fiber ready to go once I can move off of my practicing. It’s so much more fun to see and touch it in person and as a bonus there is no shipping costs.

This time I bought 8 oz of alpaca from an alpaca named Raven from Artemis Grange.

I was tempted by some rabbit fur but passed.

I did get some fiber from Polymorph Dyeworks. I talked to the owner and she said last festival they didn’t sell any but it was selling fast today. It really was. I saw what I wanted early and came back for it about 15 minutes later and most of it was gone.

I think the vendor with the best idea was Northwood and Pine which had vegan fibers (cotton, bamboo etc) that you could chose from and they made a batt for you right there! Super cute idea. I don’t think I will be ready to use it for a bit but I couldn’t resist. I love an interactive moment.

I also got a vintage latch hook kit. It’s a Christmas ornament that bizarrely says “Hello”. I did latch hook as a kid and thought it might be something easy to do on some dark night. Fingers crossed it’s in good shape. The box doesn’t look like it was ever opened.

My only disappointment with the festival the festival doesn’t seem to have a mailing list or actual website, just a Facebook page and that really gets lost in the shuffle. Apparently there was a spinning class today but I didn’t see it until too late. I put it on the calendar in the spring to check the page before the spring event in case they offer it again. They did have a rigid heddle demo and a fiber crafting demo this time which I feel like was new but didn’t require signing up. It’s still a very cute little festival but a spinning class would have taken it to the next level.

We actually went to the downtown area and got sandwiches at Crabapples and ate outside then returned to the festival for the one o’clock drawing. I feel like we have to make the most of these sunny days when we have them! Especially since we aren’t doing many indoor activities and winter is long.

While walking to lunch I “stole” some marigolds and mums that had overgrown into the walkway near some businesses. I think it might be just enough to eco print my walnut scarf!

Then on our way home I noticed someone in the neighborhood had posted they were sharing some flower arrangements in squash for free and we swung by! A mysterious voice from the house told me to take two. How sweet is that?

All in all a very successful day! I’m still hoping to go to the Alpaca festival next month but at least I got some fun things now in case it’s too cold or the event gets canceled.