Kid'N'Ewe & Llamas Too

For this trip to Texas I combined a family visit with work, although I'm not sure that I should say that visiting a fiber festival is all work. Kid'N'Ewe & Llamas Too is in it's 27th year. It is held in Boerne, TX which is about 50 minutes from my family's home so it was a convenient event to visit. When I was planning my trip I found out that the organizers were still looking for instructors so I applied.

I taught two classes.

The first was a rigid heddle weaving class with four students.The second class was a new one I developed using the Schacht Zoom Loom. There were 7 students in this one. They had all purchased Zoom Looms previously but had not used them yet.I couldn't bring 16 different cones with me but I had wound off several  groups of all those colors in 8 yards (enough for a Zoom Loom square) each. It wasn't difficult to separate the colors.Students learned how to use the loom and went home with flowers and the knowledge to go further with the little loom.

After that Sunday morning class Katie and Kirby and I walked around the vendor buildings.These are batts of fiber ready to felt......on the needlefelt loom that this vendor brings to the shows. Customers can needlefelt the fiber they buy from her for no charge or pay a fee to use the loom for fiber that they bring.Angora goats are common in Texas and there were some at the show.

Where you have Angora goat producers you're going to have dyed mohair.

A few other images from the show:

I think I know where I'll be next year on the second weekend of  November.

Road Trip to Texas - Day 6

We had done our Texas homework by watching Texas Rising, a five part fictionalized series about Texas Independence. It was not, in my opinion, great TV, but it prompted me to google the historical events as we were watching. So we felt prepared to see some of the sites that are important to that part of Texas history. Today's goal was to visit the Alamo, about an hour away.First we stopped at Katie's office and went to lunch with her co-workers. Then we drove to San Antonio.The Alamo site is an interesting juxtaposition of the old and the new. The lower stone wall  surrounds the Mission grounds.The Alamo site encompasses a block in downtown San Antonio with newer buildings rising around it.  Photography is not allowed inside the church at The Alamo. There was a long line waiting to go in, but the line moved quickly. I was amused to watch Kirby's reaction to waiting in line. It is as if there are two separate worlds--the upper level and the stroller level. There were plenty of strollers and wheelchairs to keep Kirby interested during the wait and the walk around the grounds.One of several magnificent trees on the grounds. Dan and I have commented that we have seen some of the most beautiful big oak trees while driving through Texas.

After touring the church and walking around the grounds we walked along the downtown's River Walk.I admired this building for it's colorful tower and the unusual shape.After a long drive and a lot of walking around in the heat what better way to end the day?