I do not set crafting resolutions. To me, the word “resolution” implies doing something drastically different than you had been doing before. I’ve been a fiber crafter for a long time and that is not going to change. Instead, I set goals and make plans. Goals differ from resolutions in that goals are smaller, concrete, and incremental. I already have a base of fiber crafting skills and I want to build on those skills. There’s many things I have never done, especially with crochet, spinning, weaving, and dyeing as these are the skills that I have only acquired in the last two years. Although I’ve been knitting for 20+ years, I spent many of those years knitting the kinds of projects where gauge is nearly irrelevant and so the list of things I have never done with knitting is longer than you might expect. I’m starting out the year by picking one or two skills to work on for each of the fiber crafts.
The Florida Sheep Wool and Herding Dog Festival
Stashdown
In December 2013, I looked at my shelves of yarn and noticed how they runneth over. My craft supplies, including most of my yarn, are stored on two bookshelves in my bedroom. I originally designated three shelves for animal fiber yarns, one shelf for cotton yarns, one shelf for my knitting books, and one shelf for finished projects waiting to be gifted and UFOs. Here’s what the shelves looked like when I first put my yarn on them:
By the end of 2013, 6 shelves were stuffed with yarn, and I had more yarn that I needed to put away but did not have space. I updated my Rav stash to current, and discovered that I had 93,835 yards (that’s 53.32 miles) of yarn. That is too much. Something needed to change.
Getting Better
Back on April 30, I finished my second spinning project! I did not have time to post about it before I left for Maryland Sheep and Wool, so I am getting to it now. I finished spinning 8 ounces of the pin-drafted roving I got from Ohio Valley Fibers at The Fiber Event in Greencastle. I started spinning this fiber while I was at The Florida Sheep, Wool, and Herding Dog Festival, and in my post about that event, I included a progress photo.
The Florida Sheep, Wool, and Herding Dog Festival, April 25-27, 2014
Week 2 of Fiber Event Goodness! I knew the Florida Sheep, Wool, and Herding Dog Festival would be a very different event than the others I am attending or have attended. The other events were all organized by fiber-crafting people for fiber-crafting people. The Florida Sheep, Wool, and Herding Dog Festival is organized by the Meat Sheep Alliance of Florida. I knew fiber was definitely part of the event — the Festival’s website included a list of workshops and identified a “Fiber and Creative Arts Pavilion” — but I wasn’t sure how big of a part. The website did not include a list of fiber vendors, so I assumed none would be there. I assumed the event would be mostly about the sheep, and that was great! Since I was going to big fiber-shopping events on the weekends before and after, just seeing sheep sounded awesome.
The Fiber Event, Greencastle Indiana, April 18 & 19, 2014
I don’t go to a lot of Fiber Events. As far as I know, there are only two (now three, but I’ll get to that) fiber events that take place near me: Distaff Days in early January and The Florida Fiber In in mid-September. I have not made it to Distaff Days yet because I’m often away for the holidays the first weekend of January. I have been to The Florida Fiber In twice. The third event is the Florida Sheep, Wool, and Herding Dog Festival, which is a new event, held for the third time this year. I have not been to that event before, because I did not learn about it until after the second time it was held.
This year is an exception to the few fiber events pattern. I am actually attending fiber events three weekends in a row. The Fiber Event in Greencastle, Indiana was the first, held April 18 & 19. Second is the Florida Sheep, Wool, and Herding Dog Festival held April 25-27. Third is Maryland Sheep and Wool on May 3 & 4.