This past weekend, my Mom and I went to the Franklin County (MA) Fiber Twist. It's a county-wide celebration of all things wool and wool-related. The main vendor halls and the demonstrations were held in Old Deerfield Village in Deerfield, MA. Then various farms had open studio hours where you could visit. After spending most of the day at the vendor halls, we set off for the studio tour.
The weather on Saturday was typical of the worst that New England has to offer in October- cold rain and fog, all day. However, being the intrepid souls that we are, we managed to make it to two of the farms to visit. The farms were located on back roads, well off the beaten path. When we got to Springdelle Farm in Shelburne, they were having a shearing demonstration on the sheep. The farm's studio, Foxfire Fiber & Designs had incredibly soft hand-dyed yarn spun into the most beautiful colors!
Springdelle Sheep
After we left Springdelle, we headed to Moonshine Design at Keldaby. Here the focus is on Angora goats. The mohair from these gentle animals is so lush! We got a tour of the barn, and visited the shop there. I covet the hand-dyed Sport socks made at the farm! They were the thickest, softest and most colorfully dyed socks I have seen!
Back at Old Deerfield, we met vendors from all over the Valley. Each booth was full of wool rovings, batts, finished hand-crafted items or related things. We even went to a demonstration of felting. My new obsession is now making felt (wet felting) and needle felting! I'll be sure to post my first piece I finish.
Here's some of the pictures from the hall, with links if available:
Woollies of Shirkshire Farm, Conway,MA (413.625.3236)
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