SAFF, part 1

This is the weekend for SAFF, the Southeaster Animal Fiber Fair.  It's the south's entry into the fiber festival world.  It's pretty small (according to folks who've been to some of the big festivals, but it was plenty big enough for me.  (I get freaked out by big crowds and tend to suffer from sensory overload fairly quickly.)

I almost didn't make it to the festival.  I was sick Wednesday night and Thursday, but by Friday I was feeling much better.  So I decided to head out, in the rain, rain, rain.  It looked like this:

Yes, you can question my sanity for pulling out my camera to snap a picture in weather like this.

I stopped just outside Greenville, SC and stayed overnight there.  That left me only about a 45 minute drive to Asheville.  I got plenty of rest (and knitting!) at the motel last night.  This morning dawned bright and fair, though I did run into a little fog:

But there were also gorgeous views:

I found the arena with no trouble.  Here's a view of the floor:

I met up with some friends almost right away.

L-R: Doug, Claudia, Lou, Jane, and Famous Steve.  (Yes, he answers to that across the hall.)
There was a blogger meet-up around lunchtime, but my pictures of that were pretty crappy.  Though Jen and I had the usual blogger/duelling cameras shot:

That's Emily laughing at us.  Emily's one of the bloggers that met today.
I met Anita and Steve today for the first time. 

Anita and I have been reading each other's blogs and corresponding by email for some time, but this is the first time we've actually met in real life.  Sometimes it's nice to know that your Imaginary Internet Friends are actual real people, and nice ones too!  :)
There was something going on with lots of Lendrums nearby.  I don't know exactly what it was, but every time I passed by I called it "Lendrumpalooza" in my mind.

And I got to try this:

OMG, I think I'm in love...  It's a great wheel from Lyle Wheeler.  I want a great wheel soooooo much.  I could have played with it all day, I think.
And of course there were animals.
Alpacas:

I particularly liked the one on the left, the one standing.  But I'm a real sucker for silver/black/grey wool and animals.
Llamas:

Could these guys look any more haughty??   They're like "We are the LLAMAS! We RULE!!!"  BTW, I've been totally warped by Ogden Nash.  I cannot look at these guys without thinking "The 2 l llama, he's a beast."*

I headed home about 3:00 pm, and got back to Robert and the dogs by 6:45.  It was a good day.

Tomorrow:  My haul from SAFF.

Comments

[Beth]

Very dramatic sky in that photo with the pretty leaves. I'm looking forward to seeing where all your money went! :)

[Mouse]

Looks like you had a great time! I wish that I would have known you were going for a single day.. because the main reason I didn't go was that I couldn't afford the stay overnight!!