Estes Park Wool Market, 2013

This past  Saturday, after much hemming and hawing Friday night (on my part), my family and I drove up to the Estes Park Wool Market! This was my first wool/fiber festival! It was SO exciting, and I wish I wouldn’t have wasted so much time on the hemming and hawing. The trip was amazing, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and all 5 of us had  great time. I’ll never forget it! Especially since I took so many photos 😉

Don’t worry, this will be a very condensed recap; how many pictures of an alpaca do you need to see in one blog post, really?

Of course, there’s not one photo of me.  But don’t you worry, I was adorned in hand knits!

This girl was about the only thing my 3-year-old didn’t enjoy. An un-sheared alpaca looks much different than sheared one. And she was a little feisty too!

These sheep were a part of the sheep dog demo. Doesn’t it look like they’re trying to make a break for it? Sick of that dog nipping at their ears!

Time to start shopping!

These gorgeous spindles are courtesy of KCL Woods, a sweet, older couple. This was the one booth that I couldn’t leave the market without visiting because I REALLY wanted a supported spindle! They do lovely work– I would’ve taken many more photos, but their booth was busy (and tiny) so I just snapped what I could. And on a side note: they both seemed very appreciative of the fact that I asked before I snapped my photos. So, remember that for your next festival!

I only bought 2 things from the festival, a supported spindle, like I mentioned, and some raw alpaca fleece. It’s about 3.5 ounces, and soft as feathers! I’ve never spun alpaca before, so I can’t wait to process it… I hope I can hold off until the Tour starts!

Check out the staple length: 4-5 inches!

Like I said, it was a really amazing day.  A great experience for my first fiber festival: busy, but not overwhelming, and (unless you chose to purchase something) it was free! I can’t wait to go back again next year, and maybe by then, I’ll be going back as a vendor 🙂