The Day After

Yesterday was the annual Bishop Hill Spin In.  This year they had it in a nice hotel conference space in East Peoria and it seemed a much better space for the vendors, although it seemed to be many fewer vendors than in past years.

That's not to say there weren't enough vendors.  It's a good thing I didn't need any fiber, I can't imagine how much I would have come home with if I'd actually needed more.

The most interesting purchase of the day was a fleece from a Finn sheep.  I found out about it from an encounter that started in the bathroom.  Before your imagination runs away with you, it was a very normal sort of encounter.  I went into the Ladies and there was a lady with several fingers of fleece.  She'd been washing them at the sink and was drying them to see the clean colors.  Now who hasn't had such an experience in a public restroom?  Right?

We got started talking and she was showing me how beautiful and soft the fiber was.  Her fleece had a bunch of browns and grays but by the time I'd thought about it and decided my life would be richer for the experience of cleaning, preparing and spinning a Finn fleece, there were only white fleeces left.

Actually they were a yellow color and the friend who was with me was asking if I was willing to have a yellowish yarn because this was not a white/white fleece.  Of course, I didn't care if it was purple polka dots so home it came with me.

Once home, I had to wash a bit just to see how it was going to spin.  Here's a picture of the unwashed fleece, a washed finger and a small bit of yarn spun from the lock.

Looks white/white to me!