OFFFF (Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival...Finally)

Are old pictures anything like fine wine? Do they get better with time? Afraid not, but at least there are finally pictures of my visit to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in September. I've only experienced one other fiber festival on a whirlwind excursion, just an hour or so long, thanks to a big work event and a dog show all loaded up on the same weekend. It was the Black Sheep Gathering in June here in Eugene. It was fun, quite tempting, but I wasn't blown away. Then there is OFFF. Wow! It's huge!!! So many vendors in so many places, so many classes, so many animals, and so much to see. I even got to pet a camel! Talk about surreal! A camel right where we normally groom dogs for the Canby show.

Here are the camels...a male and a young female, I believe. The male nuzzled a woman as she scratched his neck. I thought he might give her a big ol' doggy slurp, but he kept his manners about him. :) Camel fur is incredibly soft. I expected just the undercoat to be soft, but the top felt just a little rougher. If I won the lottery, I'd have a couple of them, I think, though it's said they aren't big fans of small herding dog types. Hmmmm...




Look sheep in the sheep pens instead of groomers!




That's a funny show ring!



The building in the background is where the superintendents and local kennel club folks normally set up. For OFFF, it becomes one of THREE vendor buildings.



A gorgeous display of baskets caught my eye. Believe it or not, I actually escaped without buying one of those.



And here is the market bag I made specifically to fill with my goodies when at OFFF. This bag grows an amazing amount! It's the Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty. It folds up nice and small into its own self-made pouch. Love it!!!



My friend, Jennifer, came along and enjoyed two spinning classes that day. JC Briar taught a terrific class in multi-directional scarves that I took. I learned a lot and started with gorgeous, bright merino/silk yarn from Dicentra Designs. On clearance, incredibly soft, luscious colors and the perfect yarn for this technique. I'll get some pictures of the finished product to put up soon. I will definitely be sure to go again next year. I can't wait to see what classes and vendors they'll have!