The show goes, no matter the weather

Garden State Sheep and Fiber Festival 2016

Winter's Past Farm, Shelterwood Farm, & Filamenti Co-op 

It was hot, as in, HOT! Saturday morning the temperature was mid-90's and the humidity, absolutely stifling. I don't think I've ever been so hot--not even in the jungles of the Amazon.

I was hot, but certainly not miserable. I shared space with Kris at Winter's Past Farm and Robin at Shelterwood Farm. Serious, fiber-minded people showed up on Saturday morning, but by noon, the shoppers were gone. That left the sheep, who weren't buying. t suppose that was a blessing as I didn't have to move much.

Metis' 3D printer

As always, it was a fun two days, mainly because of fiber friends. Among them were Kae, Pat, Marsha, and Karen who stopped by to chat and catch up. Another highlight was meeting people I've been working with virtually, but have never met in person--especially Elizabeth A. and Pat H. (Check out our work on next summer's MidAtlantic Fiber Association's biennial conference.)

The Skein Competition, which is run by North Country Spinners, is always a big deal, too, if for no other reason than to keep me humble. Very humble. What a high degree of competency these spinners have! Very impressive. My only wish is that names were associated with the entries. I'm sure I know some of the spinners and I'd like to congratulate them.

Metis Industry owners with their printer

And, like fiber festivals everywhere, meeting other fiber-crazy people and seeing new things is what it's about. The title of unique vendor of this year's festival goes to Metis Industries, who make,  among other things, drop spindles with 3D printed decorative top whorls. 

I must confess. I got pretty excited because I have been looking for someone to 3D print some small plastic parts to a small knitting device that is no longer manufactured.

Over the years, a couple of its plastic parts have gone  missing and it's a shame not to have all of the parts. The Metis folks assure me they can print the missing parts--and make the classic machine whole again.

I'm looking forward to putting the device together and sharing this odd piece of recent history with other knitters. You'll see it here first.

Handspun skein competition: Best of Show...obviously (L) and cotton (R)