Black Sheep Gathering 2006 Recap

Marti and I loaded up my car on Friday morning on headed off down I-5. We were stopped immediately by a huge and ugly traffic jam. We drove 8 miles in 45 minutes. Fortunately traffic cleared and we made our way down, down, down to Eugene. We had a bit of trouble finding the fairgrounds but made it there by late afternoon. We walked around and scoped out the vendors, ran into friends and explored. BSG closes every night at 6 so we checked into our hotel--Motel 6 in south Eugene, nothing fancy going there--and met up with two Seattle spinners Rebecca and Peggy who were also at our hotel. We got some take out and huddled in their room with our wheels and did some spinning. I collapsed into bed around 10, which is impossibly early for me, but all the driving really wore me out.

On Saturday morning we hitched a ride with Peggy and Rebecca back to the fairgrounds. I went over to the fleece judging hoping to learn a thing or two. Sadly the judge wasn't all that chatty. I also ran by the alpaca show that was going on next door. There was a large circle of chairs set up in one of the buildings and we all sat and did a lot of spinning. As someone pointed out in the photo in my last post, all the Lendrums did kind of stick together. On the other side of the circle were all the Little Gems. It was pretty funny and we all had noticed it. So we sat and spun and shopped until they kicked us out at 5! We were joined for dinner by Michelle and Carl of Toots Le Blanc for a very nice Italian dinner. Then back to the hotel for still more spinning.

On Sunday Marti and I made a very slow, careful crawl through all the booths one last time to make sure we hadn't missed anything. And sat and spun until it started to get really hot. When we got in the car to head home the temperature was 94°. It climbed as we drove to 102°! Fortunately as we approached Seattle (after a mere 5 hours and 10 minutes of driving) the temps had dropped back down into the 80s.

So I know you don't care about anything I just said and only want to see photos of what I bought. Here you go.



This is roving from Dawn's Custom Carding that I immediately spun. It's a wool/mohair blend, nothing fancy, and at a fantastic price. It comes in a thin roving so it sort of begged to be spun with a long draw. It was really fun and fast to spin but I had planned on using it for socks and ended up spinning it much thicker. I plied some of it when I got home and it puffed up even more. So I'm not sure what I'll make with it. It is also eerily similar to the roving I bought and spun at the NWRSA conference earlier this month. I enjoyed spinning this so much I ran back and got some more.


Wool/Mohair and Wool/Mohair/Silk

I also got some fluffy shetland from Sporfarm. I bought some beautiful yarn from them last fall at Oregon Flock and Fiber that I sent to Vicki for a Better Pal present.



I was intrigues by this dyed ramie top.



I have no idea how to spin it but I hope to learn how.

And I got a few gadgets. I saw someone with a Spinner's Control Card at NWRSA. It looks like a useful gadget.



Too bad I didn't use it while spinning the roving from Dawn's...

I love these little weaving bobbins. They were selling for 50 cents a piece and I thought they'd be useful for holding all the odds and ends that are left behind after plying. I hate to throw any of it away.



I also ordered a set of Handworks Northwest dressing wires. I wanted to get some at NWRSA but didn't (I don't know why). So I should receive a set in the mail soon.

And lastly, my most exciting purchase of the trip--a drive belt for my cursed drum carder. I found a gentleman who makes them. I brought it home. I put it on. It worked! It's a miracle. I can card! I can card!