SAFF: Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair, AKA heaven
On Sunday I walked into the main vendor building and nearly fell over with excitement! So. Much. Yarn! My dear husband came with me and I relied on him much of the day to keep me walking in a straight line. I wore my wedding shawl and received so many compliments! Miss Babs even liked it (oh, did I mention that I met Miss Babs?!!!)! My main problems were how to keep from crashing into everything (since I wasn’t looking where I was walking) and how to decide what to buy. Seriously. With a whole fairground full of yarn, roving, and tools what do you spend your money on? Here’s what I came up with.
A handmade yarn bowl from The Whispering Woodturner. I’ve been wanting one of these for forever.
Roving from Hippie Chix Fiber Art. ‘Nuff said. The red and yellow are sari silk, and the grey is carbonized bamboo.
Miss Babs. Need I say more?
A simple shawl pin and a hair stick – both made by hand.
And some rose-coloured wool from Bovidae Farm by commission for a friend.
But SAFF isn’t just about buying yarn and fiber. It’s also about the opportunity to meet the animals (and people) the yarn comes from.
Alpaca
Angora bunnnies! So fluffy (I want the big grey one)!
A very nice lady let me get in the pen with a BABY ALPACA!!! Squeeee! So fluffy!
Jacob Sheep
Shearing a goat
And a very kind and informative gentleman from Wellspring Farm talked with my husband and me for quite a while about the possibility of us starting a sheep farm.
The fairgrounds SAFF uses is very close to Asheville, NC. Asheville is a very artsy, hippy town with lots of hole-in-the-wall places to hang out. My husband and I always say we want to go there, so off we went for the rest of the afternoon!
I’m going to SAFF every year from now on!
Dramatic Lyric 
Sounds like you had a great time! I’m so jealous that you met Miss Babs – I just finished Rainbow Warrior Shawl using Caroline from Miss Babs and am madly in love with her Yarns!! Just ordered the gradients for Wool and Waves. A knitty friend and I are contemplating the Maryland Fiber Festival for next year and think I need to go with cash for when it’s gone, I’m done!! P.s. – Rav ID= Moonmaid7
Oh wow! Your Rainbow Warrior is gorgeous! I love how you paired the bright with a neutral. I would love to go to Maryland Sheep and Wool, but I don’t think I will make it. The cash system is definitely a good way to go – it’s what I did. And as much as I wanted All The Yarn, I’m not sad about anything I didn’t buy.
Sounds like a wonderful day, although I was surprised to hear that you had any day left after exploring a fairground full of fibery goodness. 🙂 I’ll add this one to my bucket list…
It was definitely a full day! The fairgrounds closed at 4, so we had the late afternoon to spend in Asheville.
ahh, I wondered how you had time for Ashville!