Goodies from the 2014 Carolina FiberFest

I told myself I wasn't going to buy more yarn at FiberFest this year. After all, I still had unused skeins in my stash from last year and the year before that. I was there demonstrating on Saturday and Sunday with only an hour each day to cruise the vendors before close of day, so how much damage could I do? On Saturday,  I visited all the vendor booths, but I only bought 3 bars of goat's milk soap from Humbug Farm because I collect scented soap the way I collect yarn and thread...with not enough self-control. If this country ever experiences a bath soap shortage, just head to my house.

I'd already decided to buy some oya from Feel Good Yarn Company, the vendor who was next to my demonstration tables. So on Sunday I rummaged through all she had and settled on four different selections. It was really hard to whittle it down to only four designs because they are all beautiful. These oya are made in Turkey, which has a long history of using of these tiny lacy pieces to decorate scarves and other textles. The vendor had an I-cord necklace displayed with oya sewn on. My daughter liked the idea so I may make at least one necklace with some of these. Oya are made using needle lace, crochet, and tatting techniques. These are needle lace, and of the 3 techniques, I'm fairly certain I won't ever make any in needle lace. So that was my justification for this purchase (as if I needed one!) 

I also love buttons, but have learned over the years to use some restraint when faced with hundreds for sale. I ended up with what I think were the wildest set in Harvest Moon/Handspun/Clay Cat's offerings. Not sure what I'll do with them, but thought I was being really, really good in only buying three.

Finally, although I said I wasn't going to buy more yarn, I broke my resolve and bought this one skein of lace-weight merino wool in a beautiful turquoise called "Desert Sky" from Apple Tree Knits. I don't usually buy yarn this color, but, because I had been part of the tatting demo, I was wearing my turquoise scarf with the beaded tatted edging and somehow this must have influenced my choice. Again, not sure what I'll knit from this, but whatever it is, it's bound to be lovely.

All in all, I feel I didn't do too much damage. Which is just as well as I'm off to a knitting retreat at the end of the month with many more opportunities for stash enhancement...