Here is the full scoop on my experience at the Estes Park Wool Market for 2019.
Nijah and I left our house outside of Deer Trail, Colorado at about 9am on Wednesday morning for the town of Estes Park, Colorado; it is a 123 mile journey. We take our time on the back roads, as I don't like to drive on major highways. We stop for gas and a few minutes of walking in Thornton, Colorado.
Continuing on up Colorado Boulevard we come to 2 de tours and get to see parts of Frederick and Mead. Next we stop for lunch at the Cracker Barrel in Loveland, Colorado. This puts us just an hour down Highway 34 from Estes Park. After lunch we sit out front on the bench and knit a while. A stop at Target to get the one thing we now know we forgot, cups for milk and cookies.
Highway 34 is a beautiful, easy, non stressful way to go up to Estes Park. It is a windy road, but not very many of the steep mountain drop offs like on other mountain roads. We arrive at our hotel 45 minutes before check in. I catch up on the days email and Instagram while Nijah reads her book.
At check in we learn that the Inn we are staying in has a fire pit lit every night from 6-9pm for smores, which are provided. This was a great place to stay and we will stay there again next year. I sat at the fire each night, either knitting or spinning.
Thursday morning we discover that we both forgot deodorant! No! There is a lot of construction going on in Estes and I don't want to go to the Safeway if I don't have too. I drop Nijah off to help David and the Estes Park staff for the morning classes at the high school. I drive to the Sinclair, which is also a mini mart and bought the last deodorant! Yea! Now feeling much better about not smelling, I head back to the high school and work on the education board for my Sheep to Shawl team.
By lunch time my board materials are all ready to be put on the board that night. I have also checked in as an instructor and set up my classroom. I will be teaching "math, yes math" for the first time that afternoon.
For lunch I sat with some local ladies who were all in different classes but were all friends or related. They were in weaving, knitting and crochet classes. There is always a large variety of classes offered at the Estes Park Wool Market.
Math class went well. This being the first time I taught it I was nervous as to whether or not it would make sense to anyone else. They all caught on quickly and one student even applied it to a project in her bag that she was having to swatch for over and over. I did realize before class that I left out one thing I wanted to cover from the handout. We covered it and then I took email addresses, made a new handout when I returned home and sent it to them. I think it was a successful class.
Thursday night was more sitting at the fire pit and finishing the education board for Sheep to Shawl. Our team chose to educate people on spinning from the cut end of a fleece. I learned a lot in spinning the samples to put on the board. For starters you don't want a really fine fleece that will felt easily because then drafting become difficult. Washing the fleece in lock formation, while takes a bit more time, saves time on the other end, because then you aren't constantly trying to find the cut end. One way to find the cut end of a lock is to rub it between your first finger and thumb. No matter what, the tip end goes to the tips of your fingers, therefore the other end is the cut end. The idea is that spinning from the cut end, then plying from the cut end and weaving, knitting or crocheting from the cut end makes a smoother finished piece. The reason being is that you are always smoothing the scales on each strand down and not working against them.
Friday I dropped Nijah off at the high school and went and ate at a diner in the shopping center that has the Safeway in it. The food was good and the atmosphere was small town like with the regulars coming in and everyone knowing everyone. Reminded me home and the 2 restaurants we have in different towns that feel similarly. I ordered a simple breakfast of eggs, toast, sausage, hash browns and OJ. It was nice. I sat there and worked on my baby socks and took my time eating. I had some time to kill before the bank opened and I could cash my check. I took that opportunity to prep my spindles for my demo on Saturday. After cashing my check I went back to the Inn. I dressed Dolores, grabbed my sweater project and Bible and sat outside working on those projects until lunch time. The weather was so nice and it was almost as peaceful as being at home, sound wise. It other ways it was more peaceful due to knowing that there wasn't going to be anyone needing my attention child, animal or otherwise. The phone wasn't going to pull me away. Even now as I write this my youngest is going on and on about the YouTube videos he watched at a sleep over last night. I highly recommend trying to find some time away from home like this, even if it is just an afternoon. I plan to have time like this each month.
The sweater project I was working on was the Creu Sweater. This was the first time I was putting pieces together to make a raglan sweater from the bottom up. I was a bit nervous about being a lefty and being able to follow the directions correctly. I also knew I was in Estes for an event where I could later find help if needed, The putting together was successful I'm glad to say. I have since finished the sweater and though it is a bit short for my usual taste, my family and the designer say it looks nice. I'll just have to get used to it.
On Friday afternoon, from 4-6 the vendors are open for students and instructors to go shopping early! We spent the entire 2 hours there. Something I learned from being at the Yarn Fest for days I applied here and will when ever possible in the future. How to shop...
1. Have a list started before you go of vendors at least, yarn or fiber wanted and info for the project if decided, other items wanted
2. A list of musts on the first walk through
3. Try very hard to do a lap through all or most of the vendors before buying anything
4. If you are unsure, wait until the next day
5. Use this opportunity to ask questions of vendors and learn what you really need.
I had screen shots saved of yarn I wanted for sure, kits I wanted to look at and choose one and notes on fiber and other materials I wanted to find.
I did finish my lap before buying anything. I bought the yarn I had screen shots of immediately, I had saved these shots for months and saw them often, so I knew it was still yarn I wanted. The screen shots of the kits had just happened in the last 24 hours so I wasn't as sure. I was leaning more towards one than the other because it was a project I had been thinking about for a while and the other was an Advent project... The Night Shift shawl kit from Greenwood Fiber works won out over the Advent kit.
Saturday of the Wool Market was also World Wide Knit in Public Day! It was wonderful! Longmont Yarn Shoppe hosted a booth for us to sit and knit and chat. They had coffee, tea, water and snacks all day. There was a fun photo booth with crazy hats and other props. I met a wonderful knitter in her 80s who is making afghans for her grandchildren as they graduate high school.
Later that afternoon I did a demo on suspended spindles. There isn't a lot to talk about with those. I did have a handout, if you are interested email and I'll send you the PDF. I covered a few different kinds of spindles and then anyone who wanted could come and try them out.
Of course there was more shopping on Saturday as well. Saturday is when I bought my hemp book and fiber, from 2 different booths. The book is this one, by Alden Amos' wife. It has been very helpful. As I have started reading the hemp section and learning what to do I am amazed the quick advances we are making in hemp. When this book was published in 2014 There were only 2 preparations of hemp fiber available, roving and sliver. Mine is neither, it is the very shorts bits, sort of like cloud. I did card some on my Ashford 108 tpi cards and then spun it on one of my tiny turkeys. So far so good.
Sunday was the big day for the team. Sheep to shawl. We are team Treadle to the Medal. We used a polypay warp and a CVM for the weft. We carded the fiber and then spun it and made a 2 ply yarn at about 16 wpi. Dick, our weaver then wove it plain weave using 12 epi. We ended up with shorter fringe than we planned due to time constraints. Out of 3 teams, we came in 3rd this year. The competition was stiff and everyone did a wonderful job. We are already planning for next year's contest and the wool we might use is growing just 10 miles from me.
I will cover my finished objects and that will be it for this installment.
I finished my third test knit for the year. It is the Creu Sweater. It is a bit short for my usual style, but everyone that sees me wearing it loves, so I will just get used to it. It was a fun knit. She did a very nice job on the instructions. As a left hand knitter who had never worked a raglan from the bottom up, it went very nicely. I did make sure I had time to think and rip if needed and that I was alone just in case, but it was no problem. Just follow the instructions how they are written for assembly and you get a good sweater.
I also finished these baby socks.
I will be taking all the baby socks I currently have finished on the mission trip with me to Montana.
I finished these socks for me. These are the ones I started so that I would have something to work on while watching Avenger's End Game. They have also seen the Secret Life of Pets 2 now as well. They will be labeled and put in the box. The yarn is Rockshelter from Yarn Rehab in their Blacksmithing Colorway.
I have also finished a couple of more hats for the mission trip as well. I had some worsted weight wool left over from my sweater, so I made 2 hats. The yarn is Knit Picks Andean Wool in the worsted weight in their Onyx colorway.
I have been hard at work on a new design that I hope to release by October. I've been processing cashmere the Orenburg way and doing a couple of more test knits. All that and mom's sock trick next time. Until then...
Power to the wool!
