Back from BSG; summary and acquisitions

Here is the short version: We had a great weekend, my little lambs and I! The trip down and back was uneventful, the weather was perfect (on the cool side, just the way I like it), and my lambs were admirable ambassadors for the breed. I didn't win any ribbons or find homes for Beau and Boo, but I enjoyed being with other sheep people, met two more blogpals for the first time, handed out a lot of business cards, sold most of the roving I picked up from Aunt Janet AND the two fleeces I was going to send with her for processing, and made some beautiful acquisitions.

Shall we start with the acquisitions and their stories?

Before BSG, I had admired the felt totes and bags on Shannon's blog. (Shannon is a Jacob breeder and talented fiber artist that I met through Tammy last year.) When she told me she could do a custom design for me AND was willing to trade for Shetland roving, how could I resist? When I got to BSG, I was more than delighted with what she had come up with:When I picked up my roving, she chose 6 oz. of Brava's lamb fleece and 6 oz. of Browning's lamb fleece in payment.

When walking through the trade show to pick up my roving from Aunt Janet, my eyes fell on some gorgeous dyed roving of various blends. The vendor, Island Fibers, was kind enough to give me a sample of the two colorways I liked best. After spinning up both the merino/mohair and the merino/silk, I chose 8 oz. of the later:Luscious, luscious stuff!

Later, when I was walking back by with my bags of roving, the same ladies asked to see what was in the bags. After ooohing and aaahing over each of the three lamb fleece rovings I had picked up, one of them looked up and asked fervently, "Do you want to trade?" Again, how could I resist? Although they had sold the rest of the colorway I had purchased, I found the same merino/silk blend in another colorway, so I traded a pound of Braveheart's lamb fleece for a pound of this:
After that transaction, I continued through the trade show towards the sheep barns. Another vendor who was spinning commented about someone making a large purchase, so I told her I had had my fleeces processed and had just picked them up. I asked her if she'd like to see them; she did and promptly asked if she could buy a pound of Browning's roving!

On Sunday I finally had a chance to shop for a yarn (WPI) yarn gauge which I have been wanting for some time, and chose this silky-smooth number from Herndon Creek Farms.While we chatted I mentioned I have Shetlands, and the wife said, "Oh, I LOVE Shetland!" So of course I told her I had fresh roving and asked if she'd like to see it. She ended up buying 8 oz each of Braveheart's, Browning's, and Brava's lamb rovings. Her husband likes to carry local products and asked if I would be interested in selling wholesale, but at the rate my roving was disappearing, I figured I would do better to sell it on my own!

My other acquisition was this sock yarn (no trades involved :-):
Thanks to interested visitors to my area in the sheep barn, I sold Brava's skirted '09 fleece to one lady, and Dinah's skirted '09 fleece and the last 25 oz. of Brava's lamb fleece roving to another. All I have left from what Aunt Janet just did for me is a little dab of Browning's and Braveheart's lamb fleece rovings, and Braveheart's 09 fleece roving (which I picked up later). (I also have over 7 lbs. of luster longwool roving from a ram in my shearer's flock; let me know if you're interested in some of that.) I was thrilled with the reception my fleeces and rovings got, but the best part of all was the high compliment Aunt Janet paid me. She said (twice!), "Yours is the nicest Shetland I have ever processed." Who needs blue ribbons when you get that kind of affirmation on what your sheep produce?

That's it for the first BSG installment from . . .