July 27 and 28 saw the third Fibre East and the first to have an indoor venue. Anyone who visited the 2012 event won't forget the mud, although this year has been warm and dry. Redborne College became very hot at times according to some stall holders. We can't beat our fickle British weather!
The 110 stands were distributed among several rooms inside the college plus some marquees outside.
One lovely surprise was to see that Paul Brittain of
Classic Carders now has his electric drum carder ready! Here he is standing beside it.
The day wouldn't be complete without the Sheer Sheep experience, here's Michael doing his stuff. A great day for sitting on the grass with a picnic. He talked about the qualities of the wool from various breeds and how they've been mixed over the centuries.
He was shearing to order and letting spinners choose their fleece while still on the sheep.
My own haul included some long-sought-after blocking wires, some alpaca walking socks and as if I needed more fibre, 'Northern Lights' wool/silk from
Freyalyn and some amazing black alpaca from Longdrawjames.
