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Stash-It! in Kempville On, Canada, 2025

Stash-It! in Kempville On, Canada, 2025

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From August into early September we had 3 local fiber festivals to help top up our felting and other fiber needs. You just saw Twist, the large fiber festival in Quebec, but it is now leaning more heavily towards knitters. I had no luck with long 12-14 inch locks this year, maybe I just missed them, it was very busy on Friday!

Poster of Stash-It sheep in a cloth bag with head sticking out cute image.

1.1) Poster for Stash-It!

The next one after Twist is a much smaller festival in Kempville, “Stash-It Fibre And Textile Event”!  Don’t let the smaller size detour you. There was a good selection from fiber to finished goods and multiple groups demoing diverse fiber arts, including knitting, weaving, spinning and Needle felting.   yes I did a bit more shopping and I picked up another full Shetland fleece and a few part fleeces.

my large black walker holding bags of fleece and fiber, with no room for me to sit down.2.11 ) I think I may need to get a bigger walker or one with an attached cart for shopping.  Now I have to take everything off so I can sit down!

the first section of the big “White” fleece in the plastic bag, has just come out of the soap wash and will be going back in to soak, probably multiple times….. What was that ram doing? Was he rolling in the mud and dust daily?  As you can see, the inside cut end of the fleece is glorious, if only I can get it clean. He is a lovely (Creamy?) Shetland and I hope the weather holds long enough to get him washed. (Tonight we had the first call for frost, and we have put tarps and sheets over the herbs and pulled under the overhang the hanging baskets.) I am still washing in ambient outdoor temperature water, so I have lengthened the soap soak to make up for the lack of heat from the sun, who is not working as hard as it was just weeks ago.

2.12-2.14) I have about half the fleece in the strainer buckets and this is what remains. The water is a lot cleaner than the soap soak it came out of! I am using sunlight dish soap I can’t seem to find this anymore, so what I have left is saved for fleeces.

I have already washed the little paper bags of part fleeces and they are all draped over one of my Ikea fleece drying racks. (Ikea should add that use to their description!) They were all relatively clean and only took one soap soak and a single rinse soak to be ready for the spin dryer. The brown is, as listed, a bit short in staple length, but very soft, and will make a lovely bat to spin or felt from. I will have to find time to use the drum carder at the guild. it has a finer cloth than my drum carders have.

Shetland part fleece washed and dryed Icelandic part fleece washed and dryed Gotland Fin cross part fleece2.21-  Shetland – 2.22 – Icelandic  – 2.23 Gotland/Fin

Fusha plant in hanging basket one section is white pink flowers and onther part is purple pink flowers2.3 one of my hanging baskets this year, Fussia

Oh no, today I was going to tell you about the Needle Monika of The Olive Sparrow had. Drat, I got distracted by that dirty ram and now feel like I will leave you dyeing of suspense if I don’t give you a quick tour of the event and a link to the list of vendors. (https://stash-itfibreevent.ca/)

Ok a quick travelogue (I promise not as long as Twist and there will be felting!!)

Early Saturday August 23rd 2025 Glenn and I headed south of Ottawa to Kempville. When we got there we realized i had forgotten the camera (I thought Glenn had grabbed it, he thought I had) he left me waiting first in line and drove back to Ottawa to get it.  He stopped to get Cookies from Ann on the way back.  So, a very exciting morning, and I have less photos to inflict upon you!

Lets have a quick roll around the event.

general shot of the gym full of fiber Arts related booths3.1) the event fills a gym, and has Equipment, yarn, project bags, knitted items, fiber and demos.

sample band and pacage of ridgid heddle and shuttle Judy Kavanagh - spindles and her sample mittens (she sells the patterns)3.21-3.22) Judy Kavanagh’s Spindles and bandweaving loom, she also had the cool mitten pattern (if only I could knit and follow a pattern)

Silk Hankies hand died3.3) Alpaca tracks thread lightly silk hankies hand died

Mohair and Mohair/wool blends shot of her booth, and close ups of fiber and shopping3.4) Wind Weft, Mohair and Mohair/wool blends

ladys shopping in booth with wood turned boles, handweaving and art yarn3.5)Luna (wood turning and weaving)

handwoven top and 3 handwoven baskets close up of hand woven fabric and woven basket3.61-3.62)Janet Whittam handwoven cloths, blankets and baskets

comed top hand died and wond in braids, photo below is bags of unwashed fiber3.7) Karberry Farm hand dyed combed top and fiber (its where the dirty ram came from she always has lovely Shetland fleeces)

felted wool balls, pictures, wool batts, and wool yarn3.8) Croocked fence farm

Occasionally I spot something I think one of my friends or family may truly like. This time it was the exquisitely fine needle work making this thimble into a necklace. I think I was told it was 24 count(?) cloth, with single strand floss. It required an illuminated magnifying glass to do the embroidery. Did you see the subtle shifts of blue from one square to the next? The recipient makes teddy bears, all hand sewn so I was sure she would enjoy and appreciate the delicate work.

extreemly fine cross stitch butterfly in blues with tiny pin added to thimble and has a silver necklace added to that. makes a pin holding necklace4.1) Charm N Stitches, Butterfly embroidery in incredibly fine detail (those are miniature pins in the thimble)

3 images of multiple spindles very drecritive4.2) Top of the whorl

both with hand died yarn and batts from their sheep4.3) Les Moutons de Richard, they are new vendors and had batts as well as spun and hand died yarn.

2 photos of booth with knitware tops and hats4.4) Originals by Lynne,  Knitwear

Knit sample hat and mitts with furry trim cuffs 2 pictures of knit samples with yarn or fiber KNit sample and second photo is knitting card decks4.51-4.53) Yvieknits Yarns

knitt candys in candy tin, second photo is kit that looks like take out chinese food! 3 photos, Knit comfort chiken. 2 images of yarn one is sitting in a hat4.61 – 4.62) Cactus Yarn Studio

mohair yarn with sign that says Mohair4.7) Les Belles Bouchlettes, Mohair yarn For knitting and weaving as well as combed top.

Demos:

Demos were along one end of the gym. I was looking at the display from the Kingston guild when I got distracted by the demo table at the end of the row, so i wandered over there next.

table display of weaving and close up of pinweaving loom5.1) Kingston weaving and spinners guild had a nice display of weaving

The Kingston guild will be having their sale Nov. 6th-9th (www.khws.ca), the weekend after the Ottawa Guilds sale Nov 1-2nd 2025 (www.ovwsg.com/sale/). (in case you are somewhere near eastern Ontario and would like to drop by!)

I promised there was felting in this blog!!

This demo was by Farmer Brown’s of Spencerville. Shannon and I had a lovely chat. (well, I was having a lovely time, I hope she was too!) This was her first demo and she did fabulously.  She was making play mats using wet and dry felting. We chatted about needles and felting with naps and sneaky way to persuade them to stay stuck.

Farmer Brown’s of Spencerville. Shannon sitting at a draped table with an exaple of a felt play mat Farmer Brown’s of Spencerville. Shannon and freind talking to shopper with dispaly in front of her on the table Farmer Brown’s of Spencerville. Shannon talking to shopper as shopper is admiering her work Close up of finished play mat with tags. little figures and tiny pumkins6.16.2 6.3-6.4) Farmer Brown’s Felted play mats.

I was so pleased when I found out Shannon has been reading the Felting and fiber studio and has been enjoying my odd distraction about needles and their origins. I did warn her there were a couple more chats about needles coming up soon.

As has become a tradition with fiber festivals, we should check in with the husbandly viewpoint of how the event went.  Was this fiber-festival up to Glenn reading and napping standards?

the table to pay with orginizors and Husband sleeping in background sleeping husband at fiber festival7.1-7.2)  I would say that was a yes.

Were you curious to see what followed me home? I took my purchases into the guild so I could spread them out and get a good shot of them for you. I seem to be on a fiber acquisition theme this festival I have defiantly increased my stash!

overvew of things i bot at Stash it. mostly fiber (Raw fiber, carded fiber, Combed braids, rolags and silk. Fiber vaarious bags and braids Close up of very dirty fleece the cleen bits are the inside cut ends of the staple the dirty end are the outside. look like it could be worth the work getting it cleen.8.1 8.2 8.3) jan’s shopping

I am not sure how I got distracted into another Fiberfestival travelogue, when I was sure I was going to chat about felting needles but I promise I will get back to the felting needles soon. I have got my hands on a needle I didn’t think I would be able to find. Monika from The Olive Sparrow was able to get her hands on some and I am looking forward to chatting about them in the near future. I also have the post mostly finished about odd comments from over the summer again about needle, I am not sure which will appear first.

I hope you have had fun virtually shopping again and have found local fiber venders to top up your own fiber supply in preparation for winter. Have fun and keep felting!!

Twist 2024; Part 1 – Shopping!

Twist 2024; Part 1 – Shopping!

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Today Please join me for another road trip, this time we will be heading East into Quebec!!! let’s have a quick look at a map, to give you an idea of where we’re heading. (It’s 95km’s from my home in Ottawa).

mapt showing root from ottawa to twist in Quebeck its over an hour drive awaythe site where Twist festival is held

 1.1-1.2) Map showing the Drive from Ottawa to Complexe Whissell, 530 Rue Charles Auguste Montreuil, Saint-André-Avellin, view showing Complex Whissell where Twist will occur.

Friday, August 9th 2024 finally arrived and yet again, it was raining, quite heavily…. Something about the remnants of a storm called Debby…. This is the first day of shopping for the Twist Fiber Festival it’s not too bad so far. Grab your raincoat and rubber boots, I have an audiobook ready (Wen Spencer’s “Harbinger”) and meet me in the driveway at about 8 am.

It’s about an hour and a bit east of Ottawa in Quebec but today Google Maps says it will, like, take at least 1 hour and 40 minutes. We will take Highway 50, enjoying the fabulous scenery, tall rock cuttings and usually at least 1 dead skunk. Until we reach the sign for the town that makes me think of pineapples, head north from that exit to Saint-André-Avellin. This year the drive was not as picturesque as it usually is, being somewhat obscured by waves of heavy rain…… it did decrease to drizzle for a bit so I got a glimpse of the Ottawa Valley with the river, then back to rain… traffic was slow and we all stayed on the road (no hydroplaning).

Dashboard of car with handy cap sticker with brick wall with handy cap parking sign beside door for workshop enterence2) best parking spot ever!! and the heavy rain backed off to a heavy drizzle as I pulled into the parking spot!

The construction detours and weather contributed to arriving a bit later than I expected. There was another blast of rain so no one was out to direct parking, but I did find the last handicapped parking spot (right beside the back door!!)  there was a drop in the rain intensity as I unloaded the demo display bag. The plan was shopping and photos Friday morning, then a demo for the Ottawa guild from 2-6 pm.  I checked in about my pre-booked workshop on Sunday (I will show you that later) and found out where the guild would be demoing (an amazing spot). Unfortunately, no one was there from the morning team (Due to the bad weather reports), so I put the bag of felting I had brought for display options, back in the car and was ready for shopping.

the first few people entering the arena area of Twist people walking between the booths 3.1- 3.2 ) The first few people going into the arena shopping area. (Arena entrance with booths in the background with people walking in.)

The crowds were quite damp and a bit lighter in number, but those who made it seemed enthusiastic in their shopping. There are 3 areas for shopping; the tent outside (which I understand had a small river running through a few of the booths on Friday. I did not check it out until Sunday.) There was also the Arena and the gym for shopping and classrooms down the other side of the building for workshops that started on Wednesday and ran through to Sunday afternoon.

I had a short list of things I was looking for, and a few things I hoped I might find.  If you want a full list of all the vendors, check out the Twist website with PDFs with vendor locations and names. https://festivaltwist.org/pages/program-and-site-maps

the map showing where the extra tents, halls and workshops are.4.1) Sight maps of complex and vendors

I headed for the main arena first. It has the largest number of booths. there was a good variety of things to buy; Knitting yarn, sewing and quilting, spinning, weaving and occasionally bits of felting. then on to the Gym. It’s too wet to get to the tent outside so I will leave that till Sunday and hope the weather is better. Then it will be time to demo. We have a plan so let’s have a look around before it gets too busy.

( I know it’s a bit out of order but I am going to show you both Friday and Sunday shots then we can check out the demoing in the next post.)

Booths in the Arena , 2 general shots of the arena with booths and shoppers

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5-5.91) Some of the booths in the Arena

The gym and 2 general booth shots

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6-6.3) Some of the booths in the Gym

Rare breeds tent with a Ewe and lambs7.1- ) Rare breeds tent

Display of mettle sheep, and catching the part of the organizers getting there group photo taken8) part of the Twist team about to get photographed (I snuck in behind their photographer, I had camera envy!! Look at that lens!!!!)

booth map of the shopping tent, photo of the front entrance with a big grey arrow showing the location of the tent in the background.

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9.1- )Some of the Booths in the Tent

I hope you enjoyed poking around some of the booths at this year’s Twist Festival. It’s been a lot of walking and shopping so let’s take a rest before we go check out the demos. We can also check out what I found!

Next: Twist 2024; Part 2 – Demos!

later: Twist 2024; Part 3 – Workshop

Spencerville fiber festival, For the Love of Fibre, 2024

Spencerville fiber festival, For the Love of Fibre, 2024

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Ann suggested you might want to go shopping again. This time we are going a bit closer, only about 45 minutes south of Ottawa, to the small town of Spencerville Ontario. As she mentioned, this one was called “For the Love of Fibre” (but it’s basically a fibre festival with lots of distracting things to look at!)  it’s a much smaller hall than the one I showed you in Peterborough but it is also a lot closer to get to (it was even closer for Ann since she is starting south of Ottawa!) So now that you know where we’re going today, let’s meet in the parking lot just before it opens at 10 am. From where you get off the highway (the 416), there are small (ok, Tiny) signs directing you to the hall, in the fairgrounds so you won’t get lost. If you get there early, there is one outdoor vender, we can check out first.

banner saying For the Love of Fibre tied in front of the brick exterior wall of the hall1) When you reach the building, you are greeted by this banner, (so you know you have found the correct location).

Somehow, we got there before Ann, so Glenn and I sat in the car and were ready to wait a bit. I watched vendors going in and out with last minute stuff. I noticed a tall, black, fluffy, dog, taking himself, or herself, for a walk. The dog was mellow, friendly and quite happy to be wandering around on its own. The dog also watched various people going in and out of the automatic door to the building.  After considering for a moment, the dog strode up to the door, it opened, as it had for the person who had just entered, and the dog proceeded to wander in.  ah, well, maybe the dog has some shopping to do? By this point, if they were letting dogs in, I probably should go in to line up and Ann would find me.

Glenn started getting the walker out of the car and I noticed a panicked-looking person looking around franticly. AH,  the dog’s lost owner? Yes, I pointed at the door and said the dog had gone shopping so she hustled off to collect him/her before he/she could spend all the kibble money on fibre and yarn! The Dog, now accompanied, emerged looking resigned, I guess the shopping trip had been cut short.

Dog folowing woman back towords display of baskets and Man standing beside truck close of baskets staked in a display, blues, teals, oranges blacks and creems in bands and checkerbord patterns2.1-2.2) Here is a picture of the missing dog, who is being sent back to work In the outdoor booth with all the lovely bags and baskets. As well as a close-up of the bags

It was at this time I realized something Horrible!! My camera battery was almost dead (the guild meeting had eaten the life out of one on Monday…. did I recharge it when I got home? Because this second one is now dyeing… no the backup is totally dead. Oh no….. this could be a very short blog post…  So I asked at the entrance if they had an outlet I could borrow. Why Yes let’s go in and see if we can find one. Luckily, Janet Whittam had one at her booth. She had a power bar for the lights to illuminate her booth, so I shared her wall plug. Now don’t let me forget it!!!

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3) Three shots from Janet’s Booth, she has garments, rugs, placemats, and basketry.

It was fun to watch the vendors finishing set up for a moment, but I better leave the battery to recharge and go back to start the line to pay and go in. Just in time, there are more people arriving! But still no Ann!  A bit before the 10am the organizers let the Hordes enter!! And we are off!!

Across from the entrance was Kelly’s booth, you will like Kelly she has nice sheep. She is also a member of the Ottawa Guild. Check out her beautifully painted Louet Spinning wheel!

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4.1-4.2) Kelly’s booth, Yarn, Fiber, pelts

The next booth was also Ottawa Guild members, they had turned yarn bowls (check out the little blue one that is being admired!) there was also weaving, handspun and shall pins as well as a few second-hand books.

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 5.1-5.3) Luna booth, woodworking and weaving

Across the aisle, looking back towards the entrance, was a booth of Yarn, lots of colour and seemed quite popular. I was looking for felt ground and interesting fibre so enjoyed looking for a moment then continued on.

a small crowd in front of booth dispalying yarn 6) Crazy About Yarn booth

 On the other side of the door is a booth you may recognize from the drive out to Peterborough, Twin Pines Alpacas. There was that lovely sample you saw last time, some fibre I had not noticed, the palm washboards, some interesting batts as well as stitch markers and yarn.

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 7.1-7.2) another colourful booth, Fiber, yarn tools and stitch markers

Oh, do you see what’s in the next booth? It’s the booth with spindles that was at the Guild Sale and Peterborough! They had lots of different drop and support spindles, more Naalbinding needles, support bowls, spindle cases and Fiber!

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8.1 8.2) Top of the Whorl had spindles, nalbinding needles, spindle cases and rolags

As I turned to check out Jane Macmillan’s booth with artwork (lots of Cute Sheep!) and cards. I found Ann. She had turned Right and I had turned left when I entered.

shot of artwork most have a sheep theam9) Paintings, prints and cards

 Ann and I checked out what we had found so far

Ann showing off 2 of her new batts there tones of blue and green and could be sky or water 10) Ann has been shopping!! She has a Star Wars shirt since it was May the Fourth Be With You day!!

Ann had found a couple of very nice sky /water bats as she had wandered around in the opposite direction than I had. She showed you them in her last post. I wonder if there are any more of these blue batts, and where did she find them?

We zipped past a few more booths, I took a few shots (I don’t zip as fast as I used to but Ann still does!) let me show you a few things that caught my eye

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11.1 –11.4) Ann spotted this tiny emotional support chicken it’s for really small issues

We found the booth, Alpaca Tracks T(h)read Lightly, which was the source of the pretty batts Ann had purchased.

felted ball shaped purrs12.1 Felted Purse There were felted purses that looked like they were made on a ball.

skaines of died yarn12.2) There was a selection of dyed yarn but I was quickly distracted by the batts on a shelf next to them

a shelf basket full of mix fiber batts 12.3) There were a couple interesting ones left but not as sky-like as I had been hoping for.

Ann spotted a selection of Maori short fiber carded fiber in colour collections. Each is labeled with their colour name so I can get more if need it.

SHort staple Maori batts selections of a colour way i each pacage, blues, greens, reds, black to white.12.4)Maori short-staple batt sample packs different shades and tints of a single colour

Now much more encumbered with packages we moved on.  Look! Black Lamb’s booth was directly in front of us! I checked to see if she had more of the size of thick felt backgrounds I wanted, but no luck the pieces here are not the right shape.

Oh, those tempting balls of hand-dyed super wash merino, the colours are so enticing.

balls of hand died super wash marino, lots of fun to spin 13) Supper wash Merino wool

Let me pull you away from the wool as Ann and I drift over to look at the Yarn based on bird colours (what a cool design idea!) Songbird Yarn and Fibers.

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14.1 -14.3) oh there is that cool hat again!!

Next was another booth of yarn, Yarn seems to be the theme this year! Check out the samples, what cool knitting.

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 15.1 -15.2) I have no idea how this was created, self-striping yarn? Complex colour changes? Still looks cool, and makes me think of a bed of little tulips with tiny leaves occasionally interspersed.

OH MY those tapestries look familiar. I saw similar ones being Jurried for the guild show in November. Yes! it’s the same person, I have forgotten her name, but I bet Ann will remember.  She had some very pretty tapestry landscapes with fringe bottoms. I am looking forward to seeing what she has woven by the fall.

booth of landscape tapestrys16) Booth of landscape tapestry’s

There were a few more booths, more Yarn and this one had felt key chains

flet key chain decorations17)  felt Key Chains ornaments

husband reading in huband wating area18) By the time I got to the Husband-waiting-spot, he was reading a book (he may have been snoozing earlier and I missed it?)

It was a fun event, a bit more yarn than fiber but still lots of interesting things to look at and I did come home with 2 bags of loot.  I did remember to go back and get the camera battery and charger before heading out, but I almost forgot!!

Would you like to see what followed me home?

2 bats a bag of lavender and 2 naalbinding needles19.1)  2 batts, a sachet of Lavender and 2 more Naalbinding needles

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19.2-19.3) Dark blue batt close-up  

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19.4 – 19.5) Light batt

gotland curls (locks)19.6  Gotland fibre Locks (Curls)

Maori short stple batt sample colour packs19.7 Maori short-staple fibre batts  

3 colours of silk hankies19.8 Silk hankies

There is one more item that followed me home,  but did not get to come into the house.  As I was about to leave I looked again at the fleeces in Kelly’s booth, the white one had been sold but the really pretty grey/beige coloured fleece was still there. I was trying to think of who I could split it with and finally caved and bought the whole fleece. It’s out in the side yard so let me take the camera out and see if I can get you a shot. It has a lovely crimp. And the staple length looks like it will be fun to spin or felt. It is a large fleece so it will take me a while to sort and wash each section. Hummm, we have had so much rain this spring, do I really dare wash a fleece we know what happens when I try to dry fleeces!!

BLue Faced Lester/ Romny cross good staple lenght19.9) this is Cupcake, she is a 6.4lbs/ 2.90299kg  BFL (Blue Faced Lester)/Romney cross

I have to find the little Shetland fleece that I purchased at the April (?) guild meeting. I guess this means that there will be fleece washing in my near future! (I will just warn everyone to keep the Umbrellas handy!)

PS: Ann, I see your inspirational garden Violets (did I send you the speckled ones? They look like the ones I got in Oakville) and raze you an inspirational Purple Sand Cherry Blooming!

close up of flowering purple sand cherry branch20) Inspirational Purple Sand Cherry Blooming

Have fun and keep felting!!

Twist Fibre Festival

Twist Fibre Festival

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Last week end I went to Twist. It is a fibre festival in Quebec. It is about 1.5 hours away from where I live. I shared a double booth with 2 friends.

our booth 2 our booth 3 our booth

we had lots of stuff. Elizabeth had some yarn and spindle kits and lots of cool roving she had died in a special way to create really cool yarn.   I only got a blurry picture of it close up I am sorry to say.  This is some of Judy’s wonderful hand spun yarn.

yarn 2 yarn 1

Next to us we had a sweet lady who was displaying some fabulous dolls and selling some books. This Traveling yarn store was the other way.

spirit dollstraveling yarnstore

The lace makers were there they had a big display celebrating  the Rideau canal in winter. it is the worlds longest skating rink. Everything on the board is hand made lace.

lacemakers

Of course there was a lot of fibre for sale there was a whole booth for qiviut from raw to finished product.  Qiviut is musk ox fibre. and some beautifully dyed mohair.

Quiviet mohair

and of course Ashford was there. I imagine they are on tour. I can’t imagine they cam just for Twist. They where very nice and had lots of equipment there for people to try. My big purchase was a new e clip for my spinning wheel.

ashford ashford 2

we stayed at a very nice bead and breakfast in the tow where twist was held, Saint-André-Avellin I didn’t get a picture of that either but I did get a picture of the great “club” sandwich we had at a local restaurant.  On the bottom was duck confit and bacon, on top was green apple onion and celery, the bread was apricot, rain and hazelnut bread. It was so good we eat it both nights.

duck sandwich