Fiber Festival of New England 2010!

Last weekend my travel buddy Karen (of Village Books, Washington, Maine) and I went to West Springfield, Massachusetts for the VERY FIRST Fiber Festival of New England.

I'd never seen a real life Kafe Fassett before.
To celebrate this event I bought a video camera from the son of a friend, and will post a video of the festival just as soon as I can figure out how to download, post, etc. Meanwhile here are some still photos, which since I neglected to bring the real camera, are not so hot. But better than nothing. And that Fassett coat was totally amazing.
Barlett Yarns from Harmony, Maine was there.
A weaving guild.
Designer knitwear.

And here is knit wear designer and author Candace Eisner Strick and her husband. Candace wrote Sweaters From a New England Village and Sweaters From New England Sheep Farms.
A gorgeous vest!
Beautiful gansey.
Stunning! These photos don't do the knitting justice.
I also met sheep shearer Andy Rice, who has a delightful video of sheep shearing on YouTube called The Sheep Shearer. And he told me about the amazing Temple Grandin, a woman born with autism who is now a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University.

"The things I wonder about most are not on the internet," said Sam Shepard, according to the Writer's Almanac which I listened to the day I drove down to Massachusetts to set up our booth. Is this not true for all of us?

But the internet is fun. I have been traveling so much this fall, and madly catching up when home, that I have not had time to follow some favorite knitting blogs: The Knitting Blog By Mr. Puffy the Dog, t does wool, raining sheep, The Fairy Godknitter, The Foothill Home Companion, among others. Funny, moving, gorgeous, these wonderful ladies write amazing blogs.

My husband tells a Knock Knock joke which goes:
Knock knock: Who's there?
Philip Glass Philip Glass Philip Glass Philip Glass Philip Glass Philip Glass
But I heard The Secret Agent by Philip Glass on the radio and it is magnificent. See what you think.

Next week we are off to The Green Mountain Fiber Festival, November 20th and 21st, in White River Junction, Vermont! If you sign up for my class "Stories of Knitting" you receive a free audiobook. Kind of a bribe. On our way home we get to pick up our daughter (who is in her first year of college and much missed) and bring her back for Thanksgiving.
-Kathy