Sheep & Fiber Festival

This past weekend my family and I went to the 16^th Annual NJ Sheep and Fiber Festival by the Garden State Sheep Breeders (http://www.njsheep.org/festival/index.html). There were plenty of sheep there, as you might imagine. Many different kinds, too. Some with tight curly hair, some recently shorn, others huge, some small.

All bleeting, but not at the same time. It was held on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Hunterdon County Fairgrounds in Ringoes, NJ. The Fairgrounds feature a midway with four large “barns” where the sheep and vendors were. It was our first time going, so we didn't know what to expect.

Vendors included fiber farms (alpacas, llamas, sheep, angora rabbits, etc.), jewelers, fiber craft vendors, strolling musicians, face painting for the children, sheep judging, and knitting, spinning, and shearing demonstrations.

Spinning at the wheel. There were lots of women, but men also. All ages were there.

Weaving demo for my daughter. Earlier the lady showed me how to knit with needles!



North County Spinners Spinning Class (I just missed it, I had wanted to take it while we were there)

It was quite an extensive display. Our daughter was fascinated by the sheep and the spinning wheels. Though my wife and I just looked and chatted with the vendors, our daughter found a couple of cute Christmas ornaments she wanted:

There were many different kinds of wonderful handspun yarns to drool over, and plenty of creative handcrafted items as well. They had food too, but we didn't eat there. I saw people eating french fries and cheesesteak sandwiches.

We really enjoyed ourselves!