Bethel Mo World Sheep and Fiber Arts Festival

Bridgett and I decided to take our girls for the day to Bethel, MO.  It's about a 3 hour drive north and west from here -- an hour west of Hannibal of Mark Twain fame.  In Bethel, an 1800's German settlement, there is apparently a Sheep and Fiber fair each year during Labor Day weekend.  Who knew?!

There were plenty of sheep in attendance.

Here, M, Bridgett's nearly 3 year old daughter, chats one up.  Next to this guy, there were several empty  pens.  "Where's this sheep?  And where's this sheep," she asked.

I looked around, and saw that organizers were queuing the lambs up for a lamb show and I told M so.  She turned, looked up at me , and while swooshing her bottom hula like, she asked, "Do they dance in the show?" 

The good old boy farmers alongside the empty pens got a guffaw out of that.  So did I.

Right after the lamb show was the Mutton Busting. 

In case you can't tell what this picture is all about, let me clarify.  On the back of that sheep is a 7ish year old boy, hanging on for dear life.  Hanging on to that sheep.  What you can't see is that he's wearing a bicycle helmet and a water skiing vest (rib protection?) .  Within seconds, the sheep swerves and throws him off.  Yeesh.  Look to the upper right.  See the next little tyke in line, all helmeted up?

While M and I watched the sheep riding/ Mutton Busting, Bridgett, her other daughter S and my Dear Daughter spent time with these lovely folks... learning to spin with a drop spindle.

So much fun -- Daughter got a kit with roving, a CD spindle, and a lesson from the very patient Allena.  Much drop spindling ensued. 

While we watched the herding demonstration?  (Saturday sky for Sandy -- it was a lovely, bright, 80 degree  day.)

Daughter used her drop spindle.

While we walked?  Drop spindling.  While we ate Lamburgers, BBQ lamb sandwiches, and lamb kabobs?  Drop spindling.  While we shopped the fiber tents?  You guessed it. 

M and the sheep again.  We saw them shear sheep, herd sheep, show sheep, ride sheep, wash sheep,   and butcher sheep (um yuck).   We saw them skirt wool, card wool, spin wool, weave wool, and felt wool.  We shopped the stalls for hanks of wool, spindles, roving, and books.  There were also lots of knitted and woven wool socks, hats, sweaters, wraps, mittens, gloves... Well.  You get the idea.  It was a Sheep and Fiber festival after all.

By the time we got home, daughter spinning all the way, she had this much single ply yarn.

She wrapped the yarn from her full spindle around an afghan crochet hook we had kicking around the back of the van.  Plying is next.

The nice lady who sold me my spindle showed me how...

Neither of us has the whole hang of spinning yet.  But that's not for lack of trying...  The roving is from Dudleyspinner.  Colorway Barrelhaven.   

Daughter's roving is a wool blend.  An alpaca wool blend to be exact.  Guess what that gal tried to sell me in addition to roving...  Yep.  An investment alpaca.   For the complete Alpaca Adventure.    Ahem.