Black Sheep Gathering 2018

Last weekend was the 2018 Black Sheep Gathering. This year the location was moved from Eugene to Albany, OR which meant it was only about a 30 minute drive for me. Yay! Here's a little photo recap of some of the sights.

The fiber arts competition always has some great entries. There were some really cool needle felted pieces this year.

And some wonderful crocheted items. My favorite was this many-colored cardigan. The judges apparently liked it too.

I could use this snuggly chevron afghan on my couch. 

Of course, the main attraction was fiber and yarn. This is the RedFish DyeWorks booth. They sell silk and silk blend yarns. 

Three Fates Yarns is from right here in Salem. Stephania is one of my favorite local dyers. The pretty blue and green yarn in the basket on the table was her special colorway for this show. 

Huckleberry Knits is another local Indie dyer. Check out her gorgeous gradients. So tempting!

Believe it or not, I didn't buy any yarn. Yeah, I know. Just not normal. However, I did buy these gorgeous Czech glass buttons from Aria Design Studio. I fell in love with the dragonflies, but take a look at some of the other beauties in her Etsy shop. They're amazing. I'm not sure if I'll put these on garments or make jewelry with them.

The Whimsical Ewe sells adorable felted critters.

I love this little otter and his sweater. She buys wool sweaters at thrift stores, cuts them up and felts them to make these wee sweaters. The skeleton on the Halloween kitty is amazingly detailed.

Mr. Tortoise munching dandelions!

Perhaps my favorite booth was Badger Mountain Soap because she uses vintage crocheted tablecloths to decorate her display. 

She made a "ceiling" for her booth from several tablecloths. Not only lovely, but it cuts the glare from the overhead lights.

I was happy to see the Skaska Designs booth again this year. Last year I bought 2 crochet shawl patterns from them. When I got home and looked at the patterns, I found there were no photos of the shawls. No problem, thinks I. I took photos of them. Um, no. I hadn't. But they were there this year so I was able to take some pics. Skaska also sells scrumptious yarn. I bought some last year that I think I'll use for the shawl on the right. It will be considerably brighter than the sample.

           

To end the day I joined Kelly and Marsha of the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures podcast and some of their other listeners for a little happy hour in the camping area. It was fun to see the Ewes again and meet the other folks. So nice to put a face to the Ravelry names! Kelly's husband Robert graciously grilled some sausages and for the gathering. To find us, you could just follow the delicious aroma from the grill. If you haven't already, do check out the Two Ewes' interesting and funny podcast. They also sell some of their handspun and dyed yarn and fiber on their website. Very nice stuff!

I hope everyone in the US had a happy and safe Independence Day. Remember the words of Benjamin Franklin at the end of the Constitutional Convention. He was asked what kind of government we now had -  monarchy or a republic. He said, "A republic, if you can keep it."