Shepherd's Harvest 2011!

My 3rd year at Shepherd's Harvest and it continues to be the highlight of my fiber-y year!

This year was cool (although not as cold as the 2010!) and rain was possible. I went with 2 friends who are new spinners and new to SH, as well as a second-timer.

Leah, me, Lisa, Cathi at the Cloudlover booth

I wore my Audrey in Unst sweater with my Multnomah shawl. I feel like handknits selection is important when attending a sheep and wool festival. Sort of like when you're driving a bunch of friends to an awesome concert, you want to have great music in the car because you know they know what good taste is and you want to prove you "get it". Does that make any sense?

Anyway. There were sheep:

There were bunnies, including this woman spinning from the fiber she plucked from the rabbit on her lap:

Seriously, the pile of fluff is a live rabbit!

Leah considered leaving technology behind for a simpler life:

It was only a fleeting thought, however. Thank goodness.

And of course, there was the whole freaking reason for going: buying spinning fiber!

Everyone's fiber piled up in the back of Leah's HugeMobile. The merch is stacked deep, lemme tell ya.

Lisa, me, Cathi. I was utilizing my in-laws' usual "triumphant hunter" pose, normally reserved for big game hunting.

Me, Cathi, Leah. Leah has fiber bewbs. Tee hee hee!

 It started to rain about a half-hour after we left, perfect timing for us. I'm so glad I went and I had an awesome time! I think next year, I will bring less money. I brought a lot and spent nearly all of it, and my fiber room is just stuffed to the frakking gills now. I'm almost embarrassed with how rich I am in fiber. Here are this year's spoils:

 My goals this year were to buy silk blends, fiber with sparkle, red for Project Spectrum, and royal purple sock yarn. I didn't find the sock yarn, but I got everything else on my list!

 I fell in love especially hard at the Cloudlover booth. Natalie (the fiber artist behind Cloudlover) is such a fun and cool person to talk to, and someone I make sure to stop and chat with every year. Her color sense is so attuned to my personal tastes, and I have a hard time restraining myself! She uses a lot of cool vivid colors, deeply saturated and with lots of white. Recipe for me spending lots of money! I even snagged a silk/merino/cashmere blend (the orangey-fuchsia braid bottom right).

Once again, Shepherd's Harvest was awesome! Minnesota has such a neat fiber community, and it's awesome to see creativity in action. It's really got me itching to spin - and I've already spun up three of my new purchases in the past week! I'll have an update on these soon, as well as some new yarn and FO's from the past week. Knit on!