I had a very exciting reason to leave the house this weekend.
On Saturday, my mother-in-law and I met up in Lacombe, AB for the 5th annual Prairie Fibre Festival — a two-day fibre trade show and craft fair. Craft fairs are already my Kryptonite, but a craft fair dedicated entirely to beautiful indie-dyed yarn and handmade tools? That’s downright deadly!
Besides ogling yarn, I came to the event with my mother-in-law, who shall henceforth be referred to as Mama D, on a particular mission: to find alpaca-focused vendors and learn from them a few tricks of the alpaca-rearing trade as we prepare to bring alpacas up on the homestead once Mama D retires.
We spoke to Twisted Sisters — an alpaca fibre mill, and Prairie Spirit Alpacas — an alpaca breeder, who were both very willing to give us advice. Carmen of Prairie Spirit said she wished she knew who to trust earlier — to find reputable sources for the animals and their supplies. Leanne of Twisted Sisters said she wished she knew earlier on what the focus of her family’s business should be.
We were graciously invited to visit both farms, and Mama D and I are very excited to peek behind the curtains and see how it’s done.
Being the only knitter in the family, the Prairie Fibre Festival was a fun opportunity to bring Mama D into my world. I was delighted to watch her get drawn in. She was particularly enamored with needle felting, especially after meeting Arlette of Wool, Stone & Prairie Fibre Artwork.
Arlette makes these stunning felted figures and canvas art pieces. She told us about a larger art project she’s working on that’ll include over 100 sheep, wolves, and guard dog figures that she’s felting by hand. Mama D was so inspired that she wanted to pick up felting too, and I helped her find some tools at another booth — Dewedlebug Emporium. What can I say, I’m an enabler!
My own haul consisted of cross-stitch and embroidery kits from Under the Elm — a mobile yarn store in a retrofitted trailer, and alpaca yarn and roving from Twisted Sisters.
Our afternoon was capped off with lunch from Totally Gluten Free Bakery. As the name implies, this warehouse-based bakery down the road from the festival is exclusively gluten-free, which came in handy for Mama D as she lives with Celiac Disease among a laundry list of other food allergies, making it very challenging for her to dine out. We scarfed down the pizza buns and cookies we bought, and could hardly believe how far gluten-free food has come. And nobody went into anaphylaxis, score.
We both had a fabulous time in Lacombe, and our first Prairie Fibre Festival won’t be our last. Who knows, you might see us as vendors sometime around the 10th anniversary event! 😉
You picked up on the enthusiasm of this event perfectly!!