We got back early this week, but our schedule has been going nonstop since our return, so I’m just now getting a chance to share about last weekend. Knot Another Fiber Festival was lovely. I hardly took any pictures over the weekend, either being busy in the booth, or connecting with friends, or meeting new people (or squishing yarn!) Not only was the location beautiful, being in The Dalles, but the building where the festival took place was such a great space, it was full of natural light and had amazing views of the Columbia River Gorge.

I decided before going that I didn’t really need much yarn (ha!), since I told myself I should make a dent in my current stash at home before adding too much more to it… but I came home with a handful of skeins. Each one called out to me- either for a particular project, or for a purpose that hadn’t revealed itself quite yet. I know they’ll all be made into something. My stash is still at a manageable level, so I could justify adding a bit more, and you know what? Yarn makes me happy. I love it. And I make a lot of gifts with it. (Oh, and there was a yarn-winding station set up at KAFF, which I thought was awesome. I learned how to use a skein winder for the first time and was glad to get some yarn ready to start a project right away.)

I did take a few pictures during our trek home. We stayed Sunday night, after packing up our booth, and headed out Monday morning. We stopped in Hood River on the way to get some breakfast. (We cooked all weekend, so we sure appreciated eating out, it was such a treat for us to eat a meal we didn’t prepare!) We ate at Farm Stand in the Gorge, a great spot with a grocery store and cafe all rolled into one, and the food was delicious. I would highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in the area. At our house, eating high-quality meat is important to us, and we’d rather eat less of it if it means being able to afford the pasture-raised meat from local farms. Farm Stand in the Gorge had organic meat on it’s menu, which is rare to find at a restaurant. I appreciated all the gluten-free options too.

We had another fun stop on the way home, Multnomah Falls. It’s the tallest waterfall in Oregon, and such a beautiful sight. Our pup was happy for the opportunity to stretch his legs and have a break from the car. We didn’t go on the hike, our visit was short and sweet that day instead. During the rest of the drive we listened to history curriculum, and I knit while Jeff drove, and B was busy finger knitting. My boy and I declared ourselves yarn buddies, and talked about projects. I thought about how Jeff and I tried different festivals throughout the year, to see which were a good fit for us, and how time and again we came back to fiber festivals. Fiber festivals have been the best fit for our us, and also happen to be the festivals we enjoy the most. I’m grateful for the opportunities that have presented themselves, so we can continue to delve deeper into the fiber world we love so much!

Hello friends! I wanted to pop by to let you know where you can find us at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival this weekend (if you’re going.) The WoolyMossRoots booth will be in the 4-H building. The festival is open on Saturday from 9-5 and Sunday from 9-4. We can’t wait! We look forward to this fiber festival all year long.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Orange trees! That was pretty exciting for us, coming from Oregon and all, to see such large trees completely covered in oranges. Of course we didn’t pick any oranges from trees in anyone’s yard, but when Bracken found a fallen orange on a sidewalk, we said he could have it. It was delicious. We had an unexpected day off to explore Davis, due to the crazy wind on the first day of the festival. The sad part (besides missing an entire day of selling anything when we had come so far) was the fact that we had finally upgraded our old 8×8 booth the local market required (that we had for so many years) to a brand new 10×10 which blew over in the wind on it’s first time out and got holes ripped in the roof and sides. We could hardly believe the timing- what do you do but make the best of it, though? Despite all the booths (and displays etc.) blowing all over in the wind, everyone was safe so that’s the important thing.

The happy part, was that we got an entire day off that felt a bit like a snow day, or forced vacation. We went back to the place we were staying and we all had a nap (that never happens!) and then we went on an adventure walking around Davis, exploring the neighborhoods in the area where we stayed. We went to the Davis Food Co-op, which was a wonderful place. (Besides all the good food, and friendly people, we appreciated that they sold filtered water that you could fill your containers with- which can be a challenge to find when you’re traveling.) Bracken really wanted a watermelon, but I knew we had about a mile walk back to our place with our groceries, so Jeff and I only wanted to get the essentials and nothing too heavy. He begged, so I told him we could get it if he carried it all the way back himself. (Maybe that makes me sound like a mean mom, but it wasn’t a very big watermelon.) Bless his heart, he carried that thing the whole way all by himself (even after his bag got a hole in the bottom and his precious watermelon rolled out on the sidewalk.)

The weather was just beautiful while we were there (other than that one day) and we enjoyed being out in it. One thing that stood out to me about Davis was how many people were riding bikes everywhere, more than I’d ever seen during my time in Portland or Eugene (the places where I’d seen with the most bikes before that.) We fell in love with the famous ducks that wander all around Davis, they were very friendly. We found some treasures too, including an owl feather that Bracken found while we were walking one day. I would have loved to explore the farmer’s market, which I’ve heard is amazing, but that didn’t happen during this trip. The one thing about the area that we didn’t enjoy? The parking! 90 minute parking in most places during the day (re-parking on the same street not allowed)… and no overnight parking on the weekdays to be seen anywhere. We asked many locals where to park overnight and were met with lots of confusion and no straight answers. When the weekend rolled around it made things easier, but only slightly. We kept wondering where everyone in the area parked at night during the week? The great mystery.

We appreciated the opportunity to check out the Whole Earth Festival for the first time. (I was so excited when I sent in an application over the winter and we got accepted!) Looking back at last weekend, it’s kind of funny just how many things went haywire for us and didn’t flow smoothly. (Sitcom material, we always say.) New experiences can have a learning curve, and through everything we learned a lot. Having a booth at a festival for the first time is like trying on a new pair of shoes and seeing if they are a good fit. We’re in the constant process of finding the festivals that are a good fit for us (which I’ve written about here before.) We mostly stick with Oregon festivals, and if we go all the way to California- it’s got to be a really good fit to bring us that far. What I enjoyed about the festival was meeting people and seeing inspiring artwork. I also liked discovering some delicious chocolate (made in Oregon, no less!) My spirit is fed by new experiences, adventures, art… and I do enjoy good chocolate! I’m also grateful for the quality family time that road trips bring, we played games and got totally goofy together on the drive home. (And we stopped in Corning for some garlic stuffed olives- yum!) Though I don’t want to make that long drive again anytime soon, we had fun together, and made some good memories during our trip.

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{Link love for the artwork shown in these pictures: Sten Wire,  R Honey Pots, Summer of Love Silk Art, Dharma Love, Kiwi Sandals & Gneiss Wood. Oh, and I took the picture of the earrings in our family’s booth, WoolyMossRoots, over the weekend. You can find a large selection of the new earrings Jeff made, by the way, at the Wildflower & Music Festival in Eugene tomorrow!}