Today was spa day for my two little dogs and I decided, despite a not-so-good sleeping last night that I’d zip on down to the I-drive (aka tourist) area to see what the Florida Fiber In was all about. I’ve been here for seven of their ten years and haven’t made the event yet.

I made it just in time to catch the important particulars on Cool-Aid dying fibers.

Dying Yarn with Cool Aid

I wish that I had thought, at the end of my time there, to take a picture of the finished yarn. It was amazingly colorful (and so were the hands of the dyer!) and I can’t wait to give this a try! She was working with a Brown Sheep natural wool yarn but you can use any natural fiber yarn.

The rest of my time was spent shopping and gabbing since I forgot to bring my knitting bag. Mostly because I left before having my coffee and my head wasn’t all together yet! Regardless, I loved seeing our Florida fiber truck!

Four Purls Yarn Truck

Four Purls has been in business for several years and Laura decided to add the yarn truck to make it possible to take her business out to local events, fairs, etc. What she didn’t realize was that she couldn’t be everywhere at the same time. The truck is sleek and a really great way to spread the love of fiber! Four Purls was one of the vendors this year inside the event space and the truck was outside. I did, I must confess, buy a little yarn and a new project bag … seems I can help myself!

The vendors were great. There were multiple people demonstrating carding, spinning, and weaving on a giant triangular loom.

Seven Foot Triangular Loom

The Orlando spinners were in full force as they are at all fiber events in our area.

Spinners!

I still am waffling about whether I want to learn to spin … or not. And until then my mother’s reproduction spinning wheel (which is still broken from my move to Florida seven years ago) sits idle. And I buy yarn rather than roving! The same woman who did the class on dying gave me the name of a woman who might be able to fix my wheel for me … and that would be super cool. Even if I don’t choose to spin right now.

And, as I said before, despite saying that I wasn’t going to buy any yarn, I did manage to buy some fun things including a lovely Atenti project bag. I just loved the colors so much and the size is perfect for small projects to carry around with me!

My bag – outside!

My bag inside … dontcha just love the leopard fabric?

My haul!

I got away with the Unofficial Downton Abbey book, two patterns, four hanks of Cascade’s Souk (color 5 colorway) and the Groovy shawl pattern by Annie Lee to knit with it. Swallow Hill Creations’ April (a skinny scarf with beads) and the necessary supplies to knit it up. And a Christmas present or two will be coming from my purchases so it’s not all selfish buying!

I had a great time at the Florida Fiber In! What a great start to my day!

Gone knitting!