2022 East Texas Fiber Festival

Finally!  Finally, I got to go to a fiber festival last month!!  Due to COVID, as you know, many festivals got canceled.  And though the DFW Fiber Festival happened this year, I made the difficult decision to pass on it because of the COVID threat.  But since the East Texas Fiber Festival is so much smaller, I decided I could mask up and go, finally, to a fiber fest!

And it was so much fun!  I went with my mom and my knitting bestie, Cheryl.  We all really enjoyed ourselves!

Vendors

I felt like this fiber festival had really taken off in 2019 when we attended.  That year, the festival moved to Canton (from Lindale) and the fully indoor facility was much better.  Granted the convention center was a bit worn, but it was serviceable.  This year, however, the festival seemed to have taken a big step back as far as vendors went.  There were not as many….and there were fewer attendees.  It made me feel horrible!  

But the yarn dyers that were there, were super friendly and only too happy to help us!  Vendors included 316 Dye Studio, Chaos Fibers, Charming Ewe, Chicken Coop Dye Works, Enchanted Fibers, Fiber Fanatic, Homestead Fibers, Savvy Skeins, The Modern Skein (a yarn shop from Montgomery, TX), Wander Luck Fibers, Lazy Cat Yarn, Red Stag Fiber, Euphoria Knits, and Jems Luxe Fibers.

Location

As I said, the Canton Civic Center is a small, dated convention center.  It fulfills the needs of the festival and, as long as you can avoid the bathrooms, it’s really not too bad.  Part of me misses the open air pavilion in Lindale, but at least this indoor facility is warm and well lit!

Purchases

No, I don’t need more yarn.  The only one in our group who actually needed yarn was my mom and she found some good stuff, thank goodness.  I gravitated to my usual pinks and found too much to like.  Ha!  

My surprise, luxury purchase was two skeins of decadent yarn (top fo photo) from Red Stag.  Wow!  This base, Riad, is an amazing mix of Camel and silk.  Cheryl and I could not resist enough for some shawls! 

Conclusion

This fiber festival, though small, was a great re-introduction to yarn festivals after years of COVID isolation.  I’m an introvert and have grown accustomed to being away from people so the fact that this fiber festival wasn’t overly busy was very welcome.

But, at the same time, I hope this festival can regain the momentum it had in 2019.  There are no yarn shops in east Texas so this festival serves a great need in the community for hand dyed yarn!