I brought my camera along to give you a glimpse of the Black Sheep Gathering and though my camera doesn’t like indoor lighting much (and many pictures turned out blurry and were discarded), I did get to capture plenty of it for you. On the first morning of the first day, after we were all set up and ready, Bracken wanted to head over to see the animals. We saw sheep, goats, and alpacas, and we got to watch a sheep get a haircut. Bracken looked at the alpacas and said “big eyes!” They really do have big eyes, don’t they? It especially looks that way when they have just been sheared. After seeing the animals, we headed back to the big building and explored the marketplace.

With a group of such tactile people, it was wonderful to wander around with signs welcoming everyone to ‘please touch!’ That’s what every fiber enthusiast wants to hear, right? We felt angora, cashmere, merino, bamboo blends and many other fibers. I loved seeing the colors and textures (I find myself continually gravitating towards the natural dyes, the colors pull me in like a magnet), but I think my favorite part was feeling the fibers and also bringing skeins of handspun wool to my face and inhaling that wonderful sheep smell that feels like home to me. (Please tell me other people do that too!)

Our friends at Timberwolf Farm had a booth there and I thought their miniature fiber center was adorable. My favorite yarn shop, Stash, had a booth there as well. It’s always a joy to see the wonderful Stash ladies. And when I saw their new totes that said “We like to PARTY and by party we mean KNIT”, it cracked me up so much I bought myself one.

Once again, we had such a great response to our buttons. I think we sold every single tree button we had and wished we had made more. Other things we thought would be popular, weren’t so much. We’re constantly learning what people want when they visit our booth. We needed lighting in our booth, but simply could not fit anything else in our car. We were already planning for next year, what we want to make and talking about our display. (Oh, and by the way, the WoolyMossRoots shop is back open.)

Some trades for yarn made me very, very happy. I was in yarn heaven! I cradled my new skeins like babies on the way home and was so giddy I could have squealed. And if I would have seemed odd over my incredible love for yarn and knitting in another setting, I certainly wasn’t there, I was in good company. Surrounded by spinners, knitters, dyers, crocheters, and fiber lovers of all kinds, I probably could have hollered out “I love yarn!” and instead of getting strange looks, there very likely could have been cheers, nods of agreement, or even a round of applause.