This post is about Day 4 of our adventure, but Day 1 of the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. This was to be our last full day in New York and the second day of the festival. Even with spending all day Saturday at the festival I hadn’t seen it all.

I got in line right away to buy a t-shirt and the person behind me had a companion with her wearing his own Rhinebeck Sweater, knit by his friend. The t-shirt line was relatively short when I got there, and fortunately there was one 2023 t-shirt left and it fit me.

The camelid parade had turned into a goat parade on this day (with llamas in the back). They were announced by the trumpeter throughout the parade around the fairgrounds.

Back in the vendor halls there was no shortage of camelids, particularly alpacas. This booth had reproductions of several famous images and each included an alpaca.

Here was a stylish alpaca.

I had just sold four Jacob skulls at Lambtown, butfor a lot less than this one. However they weren’t nearly as clean, didn’t include the lower jawbone, and didn’t have a cool stand to hold them. You get what you pay for.

I considered these yarns to finish up the projects for my upcoming Handwoven article. As much as I liked them, I couldn’t see them in that project. That’s when I went back to the Harrisville Design yarn (yesterday’s post) and ended up with that yarn.

This booth had felted and needle-work embellished artwork.

I had seen blankets in other booths that were woven using singles yarn and I noticed the same in this booth. I was thinking was about how different they look than what I weave. I think that each weaver has a style and these blankets looked like I had seen in other booths.

I talked to Peggy Hart, the weaver here, and she said that she had probably woven all those other blankets that I saw. She custom weaves for sheep owners who market their fiber and yarn, but don’t weave it themselves. I saw that she had also written a book about weaving and wool in America, and I bought a copy.

I had seen all the vendors and wandered over to some of the other buildings on the fairgrounds. This is the Bentley one-room schoolhouse, built in 1881, and relocated to the fairgrounds in 2003.

Many of the furnishings are original.

Teacher Code of Conduct.

There is also a Century Museum, a large building filled with lots of displays of old equipment. There is a club that staffs this building during events at the fairgrounds and many were on hand to talk about their various areas of interest.

I talked to the weaver here about the action of the counter-balanced loom. I was amused to see a newer copy of the old Davison book that we all use.

The sign on that blue treadmill on the left says Dog Power. There was another with a huge stuffed dog in it. Notice several other looms and an old treadle sewing machine on this level.

Back “home” we shared the day’s purchases.

One day left to this adventure, but it was a travel day.