Great Basin Fiber Fair

Great Basin was all about fiber friends for me! I had such a wonderful time reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones.

Susan picked me up at the airport and whisked me through two of the SLC Stitch n Bitch grrls' favorite LYS, and then we got to spend parts of Saturday and Sunday together, including our Advanced Spindling class Sunday morning. She also won a first prize for one of her Mountain Stream scarves made from her handspun! Margene has a wonderful photo of it here.


Susan and Margene stir their dyepot during their Saturday class.

Margene and her DH, Smith, were the most wonderful, considerate and nuturing hosts! Besides all of the fiber fun, they also toured me around Salt Lake, finding some of the best Italian food at Canella's Friday night with their dear friend, Creek, and an awesome Mexican food dinner at the Rio Grande Cafe, located downtown, on Saturday night (not to mention that Smith is wicked with the bar-be-que). We also toured the backcountry east of SLC, all the way over to Sundance on Labor Day, and you can see Margene's wonderful photos here.


I also got to hang out with Laurie while she sold her fabulous soap like hotcakes. I wish she lived next door, so we could sit out on the porch and have a beer together every now and then. Of course, the soaps all smelled heavenly - I think some of the best I have found, and you know how unbiased I am... so go over and buy some from her!

Lots of the Utah grrls made it to the Fiber Fest, and I met up once again with Anne, who was my Better Pal last winter, as well as a traveling companion to Estes Park in June. Karen also spent part of the afternoon with us in the soap and t-shirt booth, working on a sock from her handspun... it was Karen's beautiful spinning during our group sleepover in June that got me hooked on spinning, so it was good to be able to thank her and show her my progress.

Miriam was also there, with her loving and tolerant husband Caleb (he smiled a lot but wasn't mashing fibers like the rest of us). Her sister had a booth selling many delightful crocheted items and displaying some of Mim's work, as well as her prizes and ribbons from recent fairs.


The shawl at the back is her newest design, Hidcote Garden, which she entered in the Utah State Fair, opening today.

I met so many new friends, too....


Katherine's shirts are the best knitting-related design I have seen, so I had to buy a brown one and a light pink one. She had very few left over, but if you can't resist either, pay a visit to her blog and put in your request. Plus, we connected over geographical family history! I almost felt bad, making her homesick for the California foothills.

Elizabeth Dailey, of Greensleeves Spindles, and her husband Bart (who liked my name so much that he asked permission to use it in a book!), more Utah bloggers and/or SNBers, including Terry, Nicole, Anne, Bonnie (who I had met in June) and Dave.


And a new friend who taught me how to spin on a 250-year old great wheel... awesome experience that put me in touch with the days when most yarns were made that way here in the U.S.

Yes, I did make some purchases, thanks for asking, and they will be on display tomorrow, as well as photos of the dye class and spindling class. I also grabbed some prizes for y'all, as my 375th post is right around the corner, and there WILL be a contest.... stay tuned!