ARTISTIC LICENSE - COSTA MESA

I have been blog compromised recently as I wind up my preparation for two shows but I'm coming up for air to post about last weekend's Artistic License Fair. This is a wonderful juried crafts fair held annually at Estancia Park in Costa Mesa. The weather this year was beautiful. I enjoyed seeing so many friends who stopped by.

I brought my spinning wheel and spun on it to show that, yes, there are still people making yarn by their own hands. Many of the handknits and handwovens in my booth were made with my handspun yarns.

I had many skeins of handspun yarn and loads of handpainted rovings.

Handspun chunky novelty yarn was a hit. And my "Pastiche" fiber mixture that I put together for spinning chunky novelty yarn flew out of my booth -- I sold every bag I brought. Yeah!

Another surprise was the overwhelming interest in my felted shawls and scarves.

It was such fun to see some of my other vendor friends - Carrie Sommers - of Sommer Designs.

And Michelle Hoffee in her Lovecraft booth. She had beautiful handspun yarns. And shawls and scarves made with her yarns.

Michelle also brought her spinning wheel and was spinning.

TORRANCE FIBER FEST - SUNDAY, NOV. 1ST

My final show for the year is coming up this Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Torrance Cultural Center. This is the fiber fest hosted by the Southern California Handweavers Association -- a fun day with great local fiber vendors for weavers, spinners and knitters. There is always a raffle and a fashion show, too.

My booth will be stocked with handpainted rovings and yarns. My boothmate, Margie Bell, will have some of her beautiful handspun chunky mohair yarns and she'll bring lots of bags of washed fleece. We hope to see you there. For more information, check the handweavers' guild website: www.SCHG.org