Fiber Fiesta

The annual Fiber Fiesta held in the northern San Diego County city of Vista was held last weekend.  It's a small fiber festival but one of the very few we have in Southern California.  I've been to it several times by myself but this year was extra special because my daughter went with me.  That made it a LOT more fun!  

We had a blast wandering through the weaving barn.  It's filled with looms and lots of them have projects on them.  This one was especially exciting.  Not only are the colors gorgeous...

...and the weaving is beautiful... 

...but, it's also a big dobby loom.  My dream loom!  I got to work on one of these years ago and I've wanted one ever since.  The pins on the wood bars create the pattern in the fabric and a new bar is advanced for each throw of weft thread/yarn.  It's fun and magical!  I love this kind of loom!

The barn is filled with looms...large ones, small ones, newer ones and very old ones.  We saw someone weaving on one from the 1800's.  I believe this one was from the 1930's.  I thought the handle on the beater bar was interesting.  I'd never seen that before.

One of the weavers told us about this old Jacquard loom the museum has inherited.  They're very excited about it and working hard to get it up and running.  It'll be the logo for their museum.  It's so tall that it almost reaches the rafters of the barn!  I couldn't get a picture of the whole thing as it was surrounded by other looms and things.  This is part of the top...

I peeked between some things to get a picture of the many threads running through it...

These red strips have holes punched in them and as they feed through the loom they control the pattern that will be created in the fabric...

The very long loop of those strips runs from the floor to the top of the loom and up into that part that's almost up to the rafters and then back down again...

Here's another picture of that top part from the other side...

Fascinating!

There was a table near one of the doorways/openings to the barn with some very nice ladies who were excited to show us how to do Kumihimo.  They had a basket filled with little kits with yarn already measured out and ready to share.  We were excited to learn.  Kumihimo is Japanese braiding and it's very easy and fun.  We caught on quickly and finished up our braided cords later that day and started some new ones.  I'll try to get some pictures of our cords for another post.

There were vendors/booths outside selling hand dyed yarn, tools, handmade clothing, etc.  We had a lot of fun shopping and could have come home with SO much stuff if the budget allowed.  We couldn't afford all the wonderful things we fell in love with but we still managed to spend a little too much on yarn.  So much for the yarn diet!

I got two beautiful skeins of yarn from my favorite dyer, Inner Yarn Zen.  I love this one!  The color is "Carmel Pumpkin Spice".  Just wait til I get started on a project so I can show the cool effect that's created with how she dyed it!  Yarn love!

There's just something about this one that literally makes my heart flutter when I look at it!  It's gorgeous!  Of course, all of these yarns are much more beautiful in person!

Newton's Yarn Country was there with their amazing yarn bargains.  I couldn't resist this time!  They sell huge skeins of yarn for six for $20.  Amazing!  I bought this cotton to make a kitchen towel.  Unfortunately, I read the tag wrong when I got it and I might not have enough.  I'm planning to play around with it today and see what I can figure out.

We got three skeins of this super soft cotton.  They said it works great for towels and just keeps getting softer and softer as it's used and washed.  I'm planning to use the red and cream for weaving kitchen towels.  My daughter is going to use the brown to knit a cowl or scarf.  

We got several other colors but they didn't photograph well to accurately show the colors.

The Fiber Fiesta is held at the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum and it's always fun to walk around to see these magnificent old machines.  In fact, I think their annual show is this next weekend.  They actually start some of these up and drive them around at the show.  Amazing!

This might sound weird but I think this one is pretty!

There was a gem and rock show going on last weekend too.  And, the museum has classes throughout the year for various things including weaving and blacksmithing.  It's a little far away but I'm thinking of joining.  It's a wonderful place with lots of nice people and I love how it's preserving history.

Road Trip, Days 7 through 12 - Fiber Highlight

Something I love to do on just about every trip I take is to visit yarn shops.  This three week road trip was no exception.  I had searched online for yarn shops in every city we were planning to visit and even some in between and along the way.  It hadn't gone all that well through the first week as some were closed the day we were in town and some had gone out of business.  And, some just weren't all that great.  So, I'd really only had yarn shop fun in one place over the first week, iPurl in The Woodlands, Texas.  But, I still kept trying.

One place that had been on my list since I started planning the trip was "The Quarter Stitch".  It's right in the middle of the French Quarter and on the same street as the cathedral.  It was a surprise to me that there was a yarn shop in the French Quarter and I wasn't about to miss it.

I didn't get a picture of the front of the store.  But, here's a picture of the sign hanging outside of it...

It was a very colorful store filled with lots of yarn, needlepoint canvas and bins of yarn strands in many colors for needlepoint.  It was fun to look through.

They had huge balls of yarn in the front of the store...

And, some interesting and brightly colored yarn made from fabric strips...

They had lots of other pretty yarns throughout the store...

Almost right across the street was a something that I didn't know about ahead of time, a weaver.  Stopping in there turned out to be one of the highlights of our time in the French Quarter.  Not only was it exciting to find a weaving shop and see the gorgeous rugs that were for sale and being made but the owner is a gem that we were honored and thrilled to meet.  She was so sweet and fun to visit with.  We chatted for a long time the first day and went back a second time for another visit.  The shop was like a little escape or oasis from the chaos of the quarter.  It was so inviting and comforting.  We loved it!  This is a place not to miss if you're ever in the French quarter.  And, of course, if you're in the market for a beautiful rug, give her a call or visit her website HERE.  Click on the link to see some of her gorgeous work.  I love her sign too!

Another treat at the weaving shop were the kitties that she's rescued.  It was so fun to see and visit with some furry friends while we were so far from home.  They were all so cute!

This one snuggled up next to my feet when I first got there.

Awww...so sweet!

Then, later during our visit, I sat on the floor and the same kitty snuggled up next to me on my skirt.

Such a pretty kitty!  I think it liked me!

I just love meeting people in other places and getting to know them, hearing their stories, learning about the area we're visiting, and connecting.  Our visits with Ronda were priceless and a treasured memory of our trip.  I feel like I made a friend and I hope we can stay in touch.

Oh...and, if you're ever in the market for handwoven baskets, she has some

beautiful ones in her shop as well.  They're made by one of her assistants.

Do you like to visit yarn shops and weavers on your travels?  Or, do you have a specific thing you always seek out when you're traveling?  I'd love to hear about it!  :-)

Thanks for stopping by!  Stay tuned...there's more to come!