Peterborough Fiber festival 2024

It is springtime in Ottawa, and the trees are migrating in my driveway. So now is the time to watch for fibre festival announcements!

1) Signs the migration has started by the trail of leaf debris and the new summer location of the portable forest (in front of the kitchen window). I just wanted to show you that spring has finally sprung!

Today I want to invite you to join us on a trip to Peterborough Fibre Arts Festival & Sale 2024. So set your alarm clock for 5 am and I will meet you in the driveway at 6 am!

2) 6 am, a light drizzle, but the new grass seed should be likening this weather. The sun is just starting to arrive.  (Kea hatchback, with new tiers and a few other repairs)

I have an audiobook ready to go, and a heavily caffeinated Mountain Dew drink, Glenn brought his book (and a spare). We will pick up bagels with cream cheese on the way! We are driving west across the Canadian Shield, old rocks abused by glaciers, lots of trees and the occasional lake and streams. This time of year has those amazing colours, of ambers, rusts, browns and hints of green to come. Unfortunately, the rain is dulling them somewhat. However, I am sure you will enjoy the scenery anyway.

3.1 3.2) Rocks and trees of the Canadian Shield

There are sections of the trip where you can see beaver ponds, lodges and dams, but let’s skip ahead so you don’t have to enjoy the full 3.5 hour drive of scenery.

We arrived at the sports centre where the sale was taking place around 9:30 am. They were just finishing up the setup and would be opening shortly (10 am)

4)  Spring Daffodils

Peterborough is always ahead of us in weather and is enjoying spring flowers, here is a lovely clump of Daffodils about to open, and there was a smaller clump in full bloom.

5) admission desk sign for Fiber festival

While I waited to go in, (Glenn read) I spotted this vendor in an asymmetrical nuno felted vest and was sure to get a shot.

6)Nuno felt asymmetrical vest

At 10 o’clock they let the hordes in!

As we waited we could see vendors photographing something just inside, to the right of the doors

7) The Kawartha Hooking Guild had a display and demo just as you entered.

Ah, that explains that mystery!

The space is in a large gym within the sports centre. The booths are arranged around the edges of the gym as well as a centre double row of booths with a wide aisle between them.  I am looking for the Black Lamb and Olive Sparrow in a quest for two types of felt backgrounds. But let’s stop a moment at the booth next to the rug hookers.

As the Wheel Turns:

  8) This booth has refurbished secondhand wheels and spinning accessories

You may see a couple of the smaller items that followed me home. She had a Lendrum wheel, which we both thought would be gone by the time I made it around the show, it took a little longer but it sold.  She also had a woolly winder for a Lendrum but it sold separately.

Let me pull you away from the wheels, the next booth was 3 Dogsknits and they had yarn and braids of fibre.

9) shopping at 3 Dog Knits booth, love the skirt

Wondering on,  Lang Pioneer Village had a booth. They also have a Jacquard loom, there was a sample on their table as well as the fabric for the purse was woven on their loom.

10.1-10.2) Lang Pioneer Village Museum display and banner.

11) The next booth is Irish Hill Shop and they had felt.

12) I think this is Etho Makes?  Very pretty yarn but I was looking for fiber.

13) Yarnsomiacs had a double booth, with fiber, a picker for sale, batts and yarn.

Next was the Black Lamb, which I was looking for some of her felt ground that I have used for name tags. I got very distracted and was sure I had taken more photos of the booth but seem to have bought needles, a book on felt and the felt I actually was looking for.

14) Black Lamb had a double booth, lots of colourful dyed fibre, most was merino, in both Superwash (dose not wet felt) and regular merino. I also saw cashmere, tussah silk and a lot of felting needles. If you look back at one of my trips to Twist you will see more of the selection!

The next was also a double booth,  Kim at Designs. It was full of sewing/hand stitching supplies. It was full of people most of the time I was there.  If you can make it through the throng, you can pick up some cool sewing items!

15) Slow stitching, embroidery, quilting, fine needles, scissors and other hand sewing tools in Kim at Designs booth.

If I can pull you away, the next booth was Wool for Ewe.

16) Felting backgrounds, yarn, batts of fibre, felting tools, Kumohimo and Felting kits at Wool 4 Ewe

I think the next booth was called the Living Canvas. It had hand dyed scarves and scarf hardware. It took a while before I could get a shot of it!

17.1-17.2) The Living Canvas Scarves

There should have been a rug hooking booth next, but I thot it was further down, and I can’t find a shot of that one either, I was obviously distracted.

18) Santosha Fibreworks and Farm  was a double booth filled with Ashford spinning and felting projects, their own milled felt, various breeds of fibre in natural or dyed,

19) Next was a booth using rescued wood, Turned not Burned. There were lots of spinning, weaving and sewing tools

 20) The Artisans Center is a group space with weaving, woodworking, quilting and felting on display.

Now that we are almost all the way around the outside I think you should take a look at this next booth and maybe treat yourself.

21) Cakes, Cookies, and other tasty treats at the Guild Bake Table.

If you have selected a treat, let’s take a quick look at the Guild Demo area.

22) Peterborough Guild Demo area.

I am sure by this point, you are a bit overwhelmed and would probably like to eat your treats?  With good planning, there is a seating area up by the windows! You can join Glenn (who was being good and avoided the cake) as he holds my purchases and starts his second book.

23) The Husband Resting Spot by the window and the beginnings of my purchases

Just next to the rest-full-chairs was the demo area we just looked at.

24) The very nice spinner who was doing a fabulous cross body style of long draw showed off her loot to us, she intends to blend the fibre into batts on a drum carder.

It must be old age, or getting up at 5 am yesterday, I think I should leave you resting here until next week, there are still the inner booths and the guild display to wander through. (There will be felt!) so if you don’t mind, I will be back shortly to show you a bit more then we can drive back to Ottawa and see if it has stopped raining!