On September 20 I attended the Wool Gathering at Young’s Dairy. This was the 29th Wool Gathering. I have thought about going previously, but went to the Autumn Fiber Festival in Mansfield or the Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster instead. When my hip replacement surgery was scheduled for October 8, I knew the Autumn Fiber Festival on October 18 was not going to be a good choice. After a busy summer of spinning at Cumberland Gap, I needed more historically correct roving.
John, Jackie, Pookah, Tom and I all piled in their SUV on Saturday morning to head to the show. I thought the show would be small, perhaps even smaller than the Autumn Fiber Festival. But they promised llamas, alpacas, angora goats, sheep and other animals, so Jackie was on board. John and Jackie have also been looking for situations where Pookah, their new puppy, can be exposed to lots of people but still have room to get away from folks. Young’s Dairy seemed like a good place to try.
When we arrived, I immediately knew that my assumptions about the size of the show were incorrect. The closest parking was a distance from the entrance to the Wool Gathering. Huge tents were set up with vendors packed inside. Hundreds of people jammed the aisles. It was the biggest crowd of people I have been in for a while.
John and Jackie immediately peeled off with Pookah. The tents were too crowded for her. They headed to the more open grassy areas between tents. Tom and I plunged into the first tent and headed down the aisle. So many beautiful yarns! So much gorgeous roving! Fleeces galore! I could have strolled and sampled and spent a ton of money and a lot of time talking to vendors.
But I was a woman on a mission. And I am also a woman with a limited ability to walk these days, so I knew I had to make the most of my time. Although the booths with yarns tried to pull me in, I only stopped at places that were selling roving. Roving is the prepared fleece. It has been washed, brushed, and combed so that it is ready for spinning. I was looking for roving that was a natural color besides white or roving that had been dyed with plant dyes. When I am spinning, I like for people to be able to see that the draw string on the wheel is not the same as the fiber I am spinning. The draw string is a cream color.
I did not have any luck finding roving dyed with natural plant dyes. But I found a lot of roving in beautiful natural colors. I bought 12 ounces from an Ohio breeder of Dorset sheep. Light brown, medium brown, and dark brown. I bought another eight ounces from a local shepherd who used synthetic dyes but had colors that were appropriate for the 1700’s. The eight ounces from him are a lovely dark red.
My favorite booth, and one where I could have spent a lot of money, was Fresh Lotus Design from Woodland Beach, Michigan. They had hand-painted braids of roving that were gorgeously dyed in stunning combinations. Probably not period correct, but too beautiful to pass up completely. I bought one braid of Vintage Gold that I could defend as being period-appropriate colors. I would have bought more, but I reminded myself that I only spin when I am demonstrating – I prefer to weave or knit when I am home.
After checking out the live animals, we went in search of John, Jackie and Pookah. We found them on the Dairy side of Young’s, as opposed to the Wool Gathering side. The Dairy side was just as crazy busy as the Wool Gathering. The food line was out the door. We found a quiet, shaded picnic spot and ordered our food online. Tom and John fetched it when it was ready, which took a while. When it came, Jackie’s order was wrong. Tom went back to get the right ice cream order for Jackie, because you have to have ice cream when you go to Young’s Dairy.
Following our good lunch, we were ready to head back home. The Wool Gathering was much more than I expected it to be. I enjoyed seeing all the yarn, roving and other goodies on offer. It will definitely be on my radar for next year. I am blessed to be in an area with so many fiber opportunities.