Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival: at least I didn't come home with a goat...

There is a reason to go to Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby with only a limited amount of cash in one's wallet. And this is it:

So many wonderful vendors occupying several buildings and a large space outdoors, all with amazing yarn, fiber, tools, toys, books, and more that if they'd all taken plastic I would have seriously risked bankruptcy. I need more yarn like I need a hole in my head, but, well, start looking for the holes in my head because guess what I came home with?

Jean, Janita, Nanci, and I drove up Saturday afternoon to have a look-see at the festival.

I didn't get many photos because I had a project bag on one wrist and kept my hands occupied with a sock, which kept my hands out of my wallet overmuch, but kinda kept my hands away from my camera, too. I did get a few shots in the barns, like the one above with everyone looking at the angora goats and admiring the mohair that they produced.

Here's an angora getting a haircut. PETA people, do note how pleased the goat looks with itself and please stop the silly rumors that beloved, valuable animals like this are killed for their fleece:

Chinchillas like this, though, used to be raised and slain for their incredibly soft, silky pelts, but these days they're more likely to be pets than pelts. Like hamsters they're nocturnal and apt to bore small children, but they're oh, so lovely to pet. They can also be combed for their downy fur.

There were many angora bunnies like this one, some for show and some for sale. Oh, boy, it's like petting a cloud. I wants me an angora bunny now! Someday. When we don't have seven cats, a guinea pig, two birds, and various strays to take care of. These guys are plucked or shorn for their soft, soft woolly hair. I saw one sitting patiently in a spinners lap while she plucked and spun his wool.

So what was I tempted into buying? Two skeins of fingering-weight natural alpaca from Klamath River Alpacas, which may end up being a narrow Henry scarf:
A skein of Cashmara sock yarn with 10% cashmere, from Fly Designs (it's not quite that dark, but my camera has trouble accurately photographing purples):


And a complete and utterly decadent indulgence: a skein of pure American-grown cashmere from Breezy Meadows Cashmere Farm up near Bellingham, Washington. Oh, my stars, this is what real cashmere is supposed to be like, not the scratchy cheap stuff coming out of China these days:It's destined to be a soft, soft, soft cowl for me and one for my sweet mother-in-law.

And finally, four bags of tea from Tea Time Garden in Kelso, Washington. I got Three Wishes (black tea with rose, grenadine, and vanilla), Lyrical Lemon (green tea with lemon), Jasmine Pear (a black tea), and Rose Cream (also a black tea):
I tried them at work this week and oh, are they ever smooooth! No bitterness, and lovely, lovely flavors and fragrance.

Mind you, I came to the festival with an idea of buying some pygora fiber, and by the time I actually found some, I was out of cash. Piffle. Well, there will be more opportunities to buy pygora.