Yarny goodness.

My knitting has slowed to a snail's pace, so I haven't had much of that to post lately. (Though I still have a finished cardigan to get pictures of!) I'm working on a pair of socks that are stuck in some kind of time warp, as I can't seem to get past the heel on the second sock. But I do have some pretty yarny things to share!

Two weekends ago, I went with a couple of my knitting group friends to a fiber festival. Every April, I usually go to the Olde Liberty Fibre Faire {see 2014, 2015, and 2016}. But this year I decided to try out Carolina Fiber Fest. I was curious about seeing a different fiber festival, and I also realized that it would be better to go with other knitters rather than drag my family along with me (more fun for me and them!). Overall I really enjoyed it. I do prefer outdoors festivals, just because it's less crowded and stuffy, but there were more vendors at CFF.

Basically I just wanted to buy all of the sock yarn ever, but I made myself buy some spinning fiber too, so I can have more handspun yarn to sell this fall. The first two yarns above were from Twist Fiber Studio, which was my favorite booth at the festival. It's not often that I love all of the yarns from a dyer, but honestly every single yarn in her booth was beautiful. The one on the left is basic sock yarn in the Gypsy Heart colorway. On the right is sparkly fingering weight in the Harvest Season colorway. I also bought another skein from her that I can't share because it's for a Mother's Day gift. :)

I bought two other sock yarns in colorways that I had stalked on Etsy and planned to purchase. On the left is a tweedy yarn from Iria Yarn Company in the Sweater Weather colorway. And the last yarn is Bright Copper Kettles (love that name!) from Haute Knit Yarn. Then I bought four fibers to spin...the first three will be to sell, the fourth is all mine. :) There's BFL, Polwarth, Finnsheep, and Columbia/Rambouillet.

Speaking of spinning, I've probably been doing more of that than knitting lately! That lovely yarn on the bobbin is some BFL that Monica was kind enough to send me. Since taking that photo, I've finished spinning and plying it, so expect photos of that soon. The white handspun above is from local Gulf Coast Native fleece that I cleaned, carded, and spun. It seems very nice and surprisingly soft, which I'm glad about because that's the same breed as my sheep! (Which are in need of shearing right now, as soon as I can find a shearer...)

A few more yarnish acquisitions: several vendors were selling fair trade African woven baskets at the fiber festival. I'd thought about ordering one before, and I came so close to buying one there but instead decided to stick with fiber. But after I got home, I ended up ordering one. It's so pretty and it's already full of yarn, patterns, and knitting needles! And then there are more GnomeAcres mini skeins for my scrap blanket. Because apparently mini skeins are irresistible.

On a completely random note, I finally saw Moana the other day. It didn't blow me away, but it was cute and very pretty, and I've had the chorus of You're Welcome stuck in my head ever since. (You're welcome, now you do, too.)

{I know this post was all over the place, I'm sorry! More cohesive updates and projects coming soon, I promise.}