A Room of Fleece, a Pitcher, and a Goat on a Roof

I was invited by a friend to go to the 4th Annual 100 Mile Fleece and Fiber Fair in Coombs, BC, which took place last weekend. It's the first fiber event I've attended since I moved here to Vancouver Island, and I was super excited. It's always nice to be amongst my people.

I guess compared to the fiber events that occur in the United States, the events I've attended are small affairs, and usually indoors. Still, they are lovely places to be when you're a yarnhead like me:

My stash is already overwhelming sufficient, so I was able to restrain myself pretty well. It helped that it was a mostly cash-only affair, which forced me to be more choosy. I came away with a few treasures, like this beautiful handmade spindle. I bought it from a very kind older gentleman who got up out of his seat when I approached and told me all about how he made it. It's made from pear wood, which is a wood that I've never really considered as a workable wood, but what do I know? I think it's beautiful, and it rotates beautifully, too.

I also came home with two bags of this heavenly cashmere. They had a sample of it in a bowl that I had to come back twice to pet. I'm very interested to see how it spins up.

And these two skeins of hand dyed merino/silk also made the cut. I'm not sure how flattering the colours will be for me, but I was simply entranced by their beauty. I think they'll make a pretty shawl. And yes, it's called Ba-a-ad Ass Yarn:

After we toured the hall a couple of times, we went into the village of Coombs itself and visited its famous marketplace, complete with goats eating grass on the roof:

We wandered through and visited a bunch of shops and found the area where the goats get their coffee breaks:

And after eating lunch and purchasing some smoked salmon and cheese, I suggested we stop for a coffee somewhere, and my friend agreed, but first we stopped at a vintage shop and had a wander around. It had a lovely set up inside, with lots of treasures on display:

And, since they took credit cards, I felt a little freer to come home with this pitcher, which easily holds about two or three litres (quarts), and will be great for holding juice over the summer:

In all, it was a great adventure, and I'm only sorry it took this long to blog about it. My new spindle and cashmere fleece has increased my resolve to take part in this year's Tour de Fleece on Ravelry to work through some of the mounds of fibre in my cupboard that I haven't touched in such a long time. It's not a bad goal, especially since most of my spindles are full of half-spun fibre at the moment. I'm already day-dreaming about the yarn I will have...

I guess I better get some of my current projects out of the way first. Off to knit!