Festival Time

Each year, on Labor Day weekend, is the World Sheep and Fiber Arts Festival in Bethel, MO.

I always find the 2 1/2 hour trip worth the effort.
What I look forward to the most is finding beautiful rovings, checking out the latest gadgets, and bringing back something unusual or different to spin.

It was a beautiful day, not too hot if you stay out of the sun.

The first stop was to see what was brought in for judging. Beautiful garments, handspun items, felted hats, toys, shawls and blankets covered two long tables.















Looking at this beautiful lace scarf makes me want to knit. Right now.






























There were kids activities in the barn.







This event was a fashion show, for Tots and Junior class girls and boys. This little girl looked so cute in her tartan plaid outfit.

It was fun to know that some of the outfits the children had on were made by grandma.



...but it was this little girl that I thought really had it put together for the occasion.
She had hand-knit and dyed the scarf and poncho herself, and made the felted hat as well.

This event was done for fun. There weren't any ribbons given out, but each contestant got a bag of goodies for each event in which they participated. They were really into collecting these bags.

We really enjoyed watching the Border Collies round up sheep in the trial field. Trainer Dale Lewis gave a talk about the breed and the training that was very informative. He has been training and working Border Collies for 28 years.

This 280 year-old breed was developed for their herding instinct only...not specifically by color, markings, or body type.

While shopping, I found a sweet deal on this lovely alpaca, and also these tencel and Firestar rovings to use for blending with other colors.








On the way out, I noticed these signs.