Vista Fiber Fiesta

In my pursuit to understand and control

all aspects of creating my original felted hats

I realized another important component

is the wool roving I use to create my hats.

This train of thought led me to my newest adventure...

my very first visit to a fiber arts show.

These shows are extremely popular all over the WORLD!

Luckily there was one just 30 minutes away in 

San Diego County. 

Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum in Vista, CA has a barn FULL of looms.

Fiber arts encompass many pursuits including spinning, weaving, knitting, animals, shearing, dying AND felting.

I was hoping that the vendors would have unique fibers and reasonably 

priced roving and batts...

I was not disappointed!

Lots of fleece from numerous different animals in all stages of preparation.

And after reading about how fibers are carded there was a gentleman that was using a carding machine and explained the process to me.

There were many demos ongoing and just think...

spinning fibers is the FIRST STEP in creating textiles.

It was like journeying back in time.

Was hoping there would be numerous animals but, there were just these Alpacas.

They are sheared once a year and  yield 5 to 10 pounds of fiber that can be spun into yarn;

or felted.

 The best thing about using animal fleece for my hats is that the animal is not harmed.

They just get an incredible hair cut!

My ultimate goal is to source my fleece from local herds 

and even know which animal the fleece is shorn from.

I felt because knitting isn't weird enough.