Michigan Fiber Festival, August 2019, Allegan County Fairgrounds

A friend asked, what did my husband do when I went to the Michigan Fiber Fest? I went a few years ago and I was worried he would be bored, and warned him to bring a book, but he never took it out of his bag. True, the fest is for people who work fibers of all kinds, which he doesn’t do, but it also has sheepdog demonstrations and animal judging and reminds him of a petting zoo. So, they are not kidding when they say it is fun for the whole family.

This year opens Wednesday the 14th, but sign up now if you are interested in taking one of the all-day or half-day workshops on everything from knitting Estonian lace to hand painting to shadow weaving. Some workshops have already filled up. The fiber and food vendors in the marketplace are set up starting on Friday, August 16th. The marketplace features yarn, garments, buttons, and more, and stays open through Sunday, then the various animal and fleece judging happens on Saturday and Sunday, as do the sheepdog demonstrations, musics, etc. It is $5 a day or $10 for all 3 days. 

Ah, my friend said, it is like an intense county fair. Which is about right.

Ladies, gents, and folks of another persuasion, I went to my first fiber fest yesterday, and it was WONDERFUL! I have a happy post-yarn glow to me, I do believe.

It was a long drive away, but several of the people in my local knitting/crochet group carpooled. These are the sort of women that you're happy to be trapped in a car with. Let's just say they're an entertaining bunch. If you die in some fiery accident, you'll at least have had a fun journey there. The actual event was held at a lovely little winery/farm with beautiful chickens roaming free among the tents and wine tasting and delicious sangria and Bellini slushies and fresh eggs for sale and local singer-songwriters performing. The weather, unusually for Texas throughout most of the year, was perfect for an outdoors event, sunny and pleasantly windy and not too warm.

People were so friendly there, you guys. It's an amazing feeling to just be surrounded by other fiber artists. If you knit, crochet, spin, dye, weave, or even just want to, and you get an opportunity to go to a fiber fest? Please go! You will have so much fun! (I did get ignored at one booth, but oh well. Didn't buy anything from them~) I had a lot of fun just chatting with the vendors and talking about the things they make. And it was a little warm to have people wearing handknit sweaters, but a few people had shawls and short-sleeve shirts on, and you can just go up to them and talk about their lovely work! The sense of community is something everyone should get to have.

I told myself I was going to buy two skeins of sock yarn, and that was it. Well, I bought just two skeins of sock yarn... at the first booth. Having never had the opportunity to do this before, I went a little crazy. I actually only visited six booths, because it was a little overwhelming seeing so much cool stuff, and I'm kind of... an acquirer of stuff, finances be damned, so. But I will be better prepared next time!

Pictured is my lovely colorful haul.

I want to start off not with the yarn, but with the little bag of stitch markers! There were stitch marker swaps at this event, which I had no idea was A Thing, so I did not bring my paltry collection, and was sad. But a lady in my group makes these for fun, and told us to go through her box of treasures! It was really sweet and I ended up with some fun stuff gifted to me.

And now for the yarn. Moon Tower has top-notch names--shown are Goth Mermaid, second from the left, and Meme Queen, third. I wanted to be a millionaire and snap up every skein in that booth. Their colorways are stunning. The hyacinth skein of Crafting My Chaos is going to go with Meme Queen quite well, I think. And on the ends are two rainbow self-striping yarns (I couldn't choose and my mother kindly offered to get one), and the final skein is a rainbow variegated with grey.

I want to learn spinning this year, so I went for that lovely peachy-blush spinning fiber from the Woolen Hook. The lady who ran that booth, who was really nice, told me that BFL (blue-faced leicester) is a good fiber for beginners, so I'm excited to work with it!

And finally, my locks. My lovely rainbow locks. You can apparently use these for all sorts of crafts, but I got the first bag just because it was cute and must pet, and then a woman in my group suggested using them in a technique similar to thrumming for something like a hat or a bag, and oh my god yes I want a bag with rainbow curlies. So I went back for more. I just want to give a shoutout to Suzanne Collier and her nice partner because this made me the happiest of all. It's so soft and silky and curly, you don't understand, and the colors!

So that's the fiber fest. It was a fun outing for sure, and I would've been happy even walking away with just one or two skeins. Afterwards, we went out for German food and I had pork wiener schnitzel for the first time, which was delicious. Go to a fiber fest with friends and then get schnitzel, you guys. You won’t be disappointed.

I’m starting now with some grey wool I bought at the downtown farmer’s market. It’s not as nice, I think, and it’s so different to work with! A good challenge, now that I’d gotten used to the first one. I can appreciate what a nice starting fiber that was.

We attended a fiber festival together today and I cannot emphasize how much this is her fault, but also I am very easy to enable. I think we're both way too excited about the triangle loom.