A little bit of the Ozarks....

biped...."Last weekend we went to a "fiber fest" in Springfield. It was the first year of this festival so there wasn't any crowds thus making it a lot more fun."

The first booth was demonstrating lace making and tatting. Both of these are almost a lost art. The little stick things are bobbins full of thread. Each bobbin has a unique glass bead on it which helps the lace maker to tell which bobbin to use next."







biped..."This gentleman is a retired surgeon. He's demonstrating needlepoint, but unlike the needlepoint that I'm used to where the pattern is printed on the fabric, he's doing his from a paper pattern. The process is much like counted cross stich."





biped...."These are drop spindles. They are used to "spin" either fleece or fiber into yarn. They are relatively inexpensive to buy and often times are used to teach children how to spin fiber. These are rather plain, but you can find absolutely beautiful ones made here in the Ozarks. The weight of the spindle helps you draft yarn. When your yarn gets 8 to 10 inches long it's wound around the spindle and you continue "drafting". I have a friend that has a loft in her house and we had a contest to see who could draft the longest peice of yarn by dangling the spindle over the railing."



biped....."and of course a farm cat had to show up for the fiber fest."



biped...."This was the booth for the Springfield Quilt Guild. In September they're going to have one of the largest quilt shows of the state. There show is every three years and during that time they make goods to sell in a gift shop. Part of the money raised goes to charities and the other funds pay for guest speakers for guild meetings."





Please drop by tomorrow cuz we have more photos of neat ozarkian products.