June 8, 2019 – Estes Park Wool Market continued

A-buying we will go, a-buying we will go, hi-ho the derry-o, a-buying we will go!!!

So, I love ALL parts of the festival – the animals, watching people spin yarn on spinning wheels and drop spindles, the smells, the yarn, fiber and roving for purchase (ED. NOTE – the purchase part is actually her favorite part!!!) and watching all the people!  Which, by the way, there were quite a lot of men and children there also.  (There always is – most people think of fiber festivals for women only but they’re NOT.)   Two of the booths had yarn produced entirely by men – 2 Guys Yarn Company and Leading Men Fiber Arts. 

                   

The Kickstarter to pay for all this should be set up next week – please contribute to help my addiction!!!!

Anyway, the Wool Market – the place to spend your money!  They had so much! Yarn, fleece, roving, spinning wheels (loved these), drop spindles, rugs, wall hangings, bags, needle punch items, even a booth selling children’s story books with patterns in the back that go along with the stories (Slate Falls Press – I’ll be looking them up on etsy)! (ED. NOTE – the artwork is fantastic!!!)

A few booths were from local yarn shops.  I didn’t spend much time in those because I plan on visiting those stores. (ED. NOTE – I know the slogan is “Buy Local” but that doesn’t mean that you are required to buy!!!)  There were vendors from Texas, Wyoming, Illinois, Montana and of course, Colorado.  I was very choosy and only left with Sparkle Pony striped yarn from White Birch Fiber Arts and two mini skeins from Leading Men Fiber Arts in Out Damn Spot! (red) for boot socks (for me) and yarn from Colorful Eclectic Dyeworks in Chilling (speckled) and Twilight (dark blue) for a Breathing Space sweater (also for me – this is my birthday present.  YES, my birthday is in August – knitting a sweater takes me a while). (ED. NOTE – It should be finished next summer!!!)

Yes, sir! Yes, sir, three bags full!!!!

I didn’t even mention the sheep shearing and sheep dog demonstrations (FUN) or the workshops that started Thursday and ran through Saturday!  One of these days, I’ll plan better and take a class 😊.  So, even though it didn’t rival the Maryland Wool and Sheep Festival in size, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! (ED. NOTE – Sure, but you ARE in Estes Park!!!)

You mean there’s more to life than fiber?!?!?!?

After we left the festival, we needed FOOD!  We got in the car and decided to drive around and see what we could find.  I quickly realized that we’d only seen a small section of Estes Park!  As we turned the corner, we ran into tons of traffic and people walking on sidewalks on both sides of the road.  There were shops and restaurants for the next 6 blocks or more.  We parked and ate at The Egg & I, then had to walk over to You Need Pie (these are the kind of places the hubs looks for – PIE!).  We picked up a piece of apple, blackberry and blueberry. (ED. NOTE – OK, maybe that was a little overboard, but, dammit, I Need Pie!!!!)

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can we just live here?!?!?!

We walked across the street to a little park with an elk sculpture to take pictures.  Then we went down a couple of blocks to where the sidewalk runs along the river, the space lined with Adirondack chairs and benches for people to sit on.  We sat and relaxed a bit, listening to the rushing of the river – it was lovely.

To round off a fabulous day, we saw elk on the way home!!  What more could you ask for?! (ED. NOTE – Not much!!)