Samples of Yarn Entered in the Yarn Competition 2009 MO Fiber Retreat

The past three years, DJ and I have attended the Missouri Fiber Festival in Jefferson City, MO in March.  This year, through a series of circumstances that made getting away that particular weekend difficult for both of us, we decided to delay our excursion til this coming weekend.  We missed the Fiber Festival.

Each year, the Fiber Festival, presented by the University of Missouri Extension Center, offers classes in a variety of fiber related arts and crafts.  There is knitting, weaving, tatting, dyeing, felting, preparing wool from shearing to yarn, beading, and other classes.  Crochet usually gets short shrift here.  DJ and I know and accept this, although not without complaint.

After each class, the teachers pass out evaluation sheets for the classes.  After each day’s events, there are evaluation sheets to be completed by all who attend.  Each year, I carefully write down our strong desire to have crochet classes.  I’d like to see a cable class.  I’d like to see Entrelac taught.  I’d like to see courses on crochet pattern design.  I’d like to see crochet and crocheters treated as first class.  Apparently, this is not forthcoming.

So, who loses?  Well, this year, the folks at the Fiber Festival didn’t get a penny from DJ or me.  We chose to turn our annual Fiber Festival into a Women’s Weekend Out and will teach ourselves a new technique.  When we’re not applying ourselves to the tasks at hand, we’ll be haunting the great thrift stores in Jeff (as we locals refer to our state capitol) and consuming far too many pancakes and ice cream cones.

Classes or not, I’m really  looking forward to this weekend.  I’ve lined up my book, my yarn and hooks, a pattern I want to work on, and plenty of cash to indulge myself with a few crochet-related goodies and hidden treasures only to be found (in my price range) at the thrift store.

I’ll let you know how it goes.